Festive Retreat: Holiday Home Tour

....And we have finally reached the end of the Holiday Home Decor series. Let’s just say that its been quite hectic around here with all the holiday activities to fit in a blog post here so I am a bit behind. Disclaimer: Lots of pictures in this post!

Red and Gold: This Wreath says it all!

Cookies and two pies to welcome guests

As you take a tour of my home today, you will notice that I am definitely not a minimalist but I like simple and clean design. So you will notice not a lot of clutter, just a few things and definitely nothing over the top. You will also notice that I changed the mantel and the Tree.  The previous mantel style was a bit cluttered for my liking so I went with a simple setup, with pieces that I already had. I basically moved things around from other areas of my home.

Yummy!

I always take out my fancy dishes during the holiday season.

Above the Cabinets in the Kitchen! I'm carrying the gold theme over to this space!

I think the Gold theme is just so glamorous!

Tablescape
For this season, I have already done three separate tablescapes, one for a small dinner party, another for a Ladies Tea Party and finally, the one I've decided on for Christmas Eve Dinner. As more time passes, I find myself thinking about more ways to be creative at dinner time. I've actually left this one staged for the past week, its wonderful.




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The Tree:
the Tree topper used to be a bow but is now topped with Jingle bells! Actually they are simply old bulb canopies from a chandelier that is now refinished and hung in the guest bedroom. They have the look of jingle bells so I simply strapped them into the tree using ribbon and the slack of the ribbon hangs on the left side. I added some globe paper lanterns as more lighting within the tree which is so beautiful in the night. These are again repurposed from my balcony vignette from the summer. I added a few other tree picks to add some texture to the tree with faux greenery which again is repurposed from the previous mantel. And finally a few more empty boxes wrapped with gift paper and placed under the tree for effect.

The Mantel:

I didn\t stop in the living room. Inspired by one of my friend's home, we added some Holiday cheer to the Guest Bedroom and the second bathroom.  Ofcourse I stuck to the colour schemes of the room and coordinating the Holiday decor with the colour schemes was a great opportunity to be creative.

The Guest Bedroom

Green Ornaments with Green Potpouri!

Second Bathroom:

Purple and White to coordinate with our purple and white bathroom!

 After linking up and viewing way-too-many Holiday decor posts from other bloggers, I think by far my favourite ideas from this holiday season came from Brooke at her home design blog.
She used brown craft paper for wrapping and old fused light bulbs as gift decor. Both of these options are cost effective and are so beautiful. The bulb ornaments are such a great upcycle. I am definitely saving all of my fused bulbs now. Thanks Brooke for these fantastic ideas.
Hope you enjoyed your trip through our Festive Retreat. Join me tomorrow for two cookie recipes that Ive made four times already this December.
See you soon,
Ameera