The Rest of the House Gets Dusted With Holiday Fairy Dust, Too

Another day, another dose of Christmas cheer. I've already share my manicure, my mantle decorations and my wreath tutorial. Now it's time to let the rest of the house join in the fun, too.

When I walk in the front door I am greeted by this pillow, a family favorite, resting on my vintage bentwood chair. I blogged about this pillow last year, but I couldn't resist sharing it yet again. Last year it sat in a chair by the fire, this year it mans the front door. I love a pillow that doesn't mind a change of scenery.

Speaking of vintage bentwood chairs, the twin of the guy above is sitting next to our media stand holding a present that was too large to fit under the tree. Some may like to cram everything within the confines of the tree skirt. Not me - I like to spread the presents around the room to double as decorations. Guarding the present are two ferocious cuddly stuffed bears. I am not a fan of stuffed animals in general* and also try to avoid decorating with anything that seems precious or childish. However, I make exceptions during Christmas and my inner-softy comes out.
*I read the Velveteen Rabbit too many times as a child and therefore am convinced stuffed animals have feelings and know they've been outgrown, abandoned, etc. Feel free to have me committed after the holidays.

Just around the corner from the media stand is our wine bar which also got the Christmas treatment. I put out Luke's Santa plate (just waiting for cookies), a copy of The Night Before Christmas that was mine as a young girl, my milk glass pedestal candy dish (stuffed with Andes mints) and my year-round fruit bowl sitting atop a stack of Christmas books and filled with - you guessed it - pine cones. I'm tellin' you, you really can't beat free stuff.

Next up: the guest bathroom! As you may remember the guest room got decorated last year, and this year is no different. Some people find it odd to decorate a bathroom, of all places, but I like to be lazy and only decorate the rooms that visitors interact with. So that narrows it down to the living/dining/kitchen (you also may remember that I have an open floor plan and that all those are essentially one big room) and the guest bathroom. I also like to be lazy with my decorations. All it took to get this room into the spirit was swapping out some wall art. Bathroom - framed pictures + wreath = decorated.

I added a cheap yet adorable felt basket from Target's Dollar Spot, filled with pine cones (it's really a sickness at this point) and a swanky red candle to one side of the sink...

... and another of my childhood Christmas books on the other side. If you haven't read The Year of the Perfect Christmas Tree I highly recommend it. It is a sweet story about a little girl living in the Appalachian Mountains during the Civil War and it is, hands down, my favorite Christmas book. Heck, it's one of my favorite children's books in general.

Last, but not least, we have an item that has been hotly disputed in many an online forum: bathroom reading material. Some find it gross that a book or magazine lives so close to the toilet and is handled by folks while they do their business. Others find it courteous to leave things in the bathroom for guests to peruse while they sit a spell. I look at it this way: my grandmother, one of the most polite, most concerned-with-etiquette women I know has reading material in her guest bathroom. If it's good enough for her, it's good enough for me.

Long story short, my usual reading material tableau - a stack of books with a spare roll of TP on top - got replaced with a Christmas book and a fancy gold basket. Swanky, no? So if you come to my house and have to use the restroom you will see that I was thoughtful enough to supply you with something to read AND some holiday cheer. You're welcome.