Decorating Diary: Holiday Decorating From Fall Through Winter
Blogger Lauren McBride shows how her holiday decor evolves through the seasons
Faith Towers
December 24, 2016
Houzz Contributor. Faith Towers is a designer, writer and crafter with a passion for all things creative. She received her art degree from Skidmore College, and her work has been featured in Forbes and Yahoo. She writes her blog called Design Fixation and also spends her days designing wedding invitations and stationery.
Houzz Contributor. Faith Towers is a designer, writer and crafter with a passion... More
Blogger Lauren McBride’s home in New Haven County, Connecticut, is an ever-changing exhibit of her family’s favorite seasonal items, from autumnal pumpkins to textured throw pillows to festive centerpieces. Her main living spaces have become an evolving canvas for her love of the fall and winter holidays, for which she decorates profusely every year.
McBride’s signature farmhouse style naturally tends toward a neutral color palette, providing an easy backdrop on which to layer her seasonal decor.
For Thanksgiving, McBride decorates with pumpkins in varying shapes, sizes and colors. As with most of her seasonal decor, some elements are real, while others are artificial. This allows her to continue to add to her collection year after year.
“My mom is an interior designer, so I grew up with very festive holiday decor,” McBride says. “She put her heart and soul into making our home beautiful for our family, and she definitely passed that down to me.”
McBride loves to use her beautifully decorated space as a gathering place for family and friends. So when she happened upon this Gather sign, it felt like the perfect piece of artwork for the space above her Thanksgiving mantel.
Mantel: The Upcycled Farmhouse; Gather sign: Feather and Birch, Etsy
McBride loves to use her beautifully decorated space as a gathering place for family and friends. So when she happened upon this Gather sign, it felt like the perfect piece of artwork for the space above her Thanksgiving mantel.
Mantel: The Upcycled Farmhouse; Gather sign: Feather and Birch, Etsy
McBride began cultivating her farmhouse style long before it was popular and continues to perfect the look each year. The subtly worn finish on the mantel itself adds to the aged look for which she strives.
Although the accents are always evolving, the main pieces in the room stay the same. She always keeps within the neutral color scheme to ensure that the seasonal accents complement the furniture.
Vintage map: Brimfield Antique Show
Vintage map: Brimfield Antique Show
Soft fabric pumpkins and sage green leaves add a bit of Thanksgiving style to the coffee table.
Pumpkins: Jo-Ann Stores
Pumpkins: Jo-Ann Stores
Meanwhile, in the dining room, a similar autumnal style adds character to the table and surrounding furniture. A variety of materials, including metal, wood, fabric and more, play off one another perfectly.
Heirloom gourds act as a centerpiece. They’re paired with a starfish, a subtle reminder that the family’s home is just a mile from the ocean.
Feather print: Volume Twenty Five
Feather print: Volume Twenty Five
Pumpkins and other autumnal accents decorate the console table, which sits on one side of the light-filled dining room.
On the console table is another example of the mix of materials that McBride loves so much.
Once Thanksgiving has passed and December hits, McBride switches gears and transforms her space into a winter wonderland.
Framed artwork: Between You and Me Signs
Framed artwork: Between You and Me Signs
More natural elements decorate the table in the form of wooden slab chargers and small evergreen branches.
A set of wooden shutters leans against the wall, providing a subtly textured backdrop for seasonal wreaths, such as this boxwood wreath with a vintage horn accent.
Candles and tiny white houses line the console table in December, taking the place of the pumpkins that were there weeks before.
During the Christmas season, stockings and evergreen garlands on the mantel also replace the pumpkins from the previous month.
The stockings are made of a variety of materials, adding soft texture to the front of the mantel.
Metallic candleholders give dimension to McBride’s elegant tablescape. She mixes various types of greenery, both real and artificial, to bring depth and richness to the table.
The McBride family celebrates Christmas, so a tall, generously decorated Christmas tree takes center stage in the living room. The white-flocked artificial tree is the perfect backdrop for their collection of silver and gold ornaments. A burlap garland and sprigs of artificial foliage accent the metallic decorations.
Christmas tree: King of Christmas
Christmas tree: King of Christmas
Small personal touches can be found throughout the holiday decor. This photo of Lauren, husband Pat and their son, Landon, was taken a couple of years ago before their daughter Noelle was born.
Cozy blankets and pillows are more prevalent in the living room as the days get chillier.
Candles are the other focus of their Christmas mantel, with pillars of all sizes decorating the top surface, and tall tapers adding some style to the fireplace itself.
And once Christmas comes and goes, it will be on to the next holiday, as McBride continues to build her well-curated collection of seasonal decor.
Stay tuned for a full tour of this home in the coming weeks.
More: 15 Key Pieces for Modern Farmhouse Style
And once Christmas comes and goes, it will be on to the next holiday, as McBride continues to build her well-curated collection of seasonal decor.
Stay tuned for a full tour of this home in the coming weeks.
More: 15 Key Pieces for Modern Farmhouse Style
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Lovely indeed :--)
very nice~
I love winter decor, I keep it around until February https://happyhautehome.com/2018/01/08/winter-decor/