If you’ve been around here long, you know that earlier this year we moved into a teeny, tiny condo in a downtown high rise. While I have lived here long enough to figure out how to live my daily life, the holidays are a new thing. So what’s a Christmas decoration-loving girl to do?
It turns out that little bits of Christmas go a long way in making our space festive. Here’s what I’ve done:
A small Christmas tree set on top of a plastic storage bin and covered with the tree skirt. It gives the illusion of height without the bulk, fits neatly in the window and I hope spreads some Christmas cheer to all who look up at our building in the dark. This year, I decided to only use our “travel” ornaments—those we have purchased on various trips throughout our 31 years of marriage. Maybe next year I’ll do all the “kid” ornaments!
With no mantel for my stockings (oh, how I miss my fireplace!), I actually discovered a lovely alternative—my bookshelves! I love how this turned out! It makes me smile every day!
A Santa hat brings a bit of festivity—and do you see the book behind it? Everything I Need to Know About Christmas I Learned from a Golden Book. Perfect for holiday decorating—and reading!
My mom and dad just got back from Israel and brought me this nativity. I’m so very happy since I have no where to set my lovely, but much larger, Ghanian nativity set my daughter brought home to me years ago. This is the perfect reminder of the reason for the season—and just the right size.
Another gift from my mom many years ago. I do love my Santas, for they remind me of my grandmother, who we called Nanny.
Finally, the simple accents of tea towels and throw pillow finish the space. All in all, it feels Christmasy but not cluttered, both of which make me very happy.
So my question to you is this: do you always put your Christmas decorations in the same place every year or do you like to change things up from year to year? I’d love to hear how you create that Christmasy feeling in your home.
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I love this. Thank you for sharing ❤️😊❤️
You are welcome! 🙂
With our daughter grown and out of the house, my husband and I decorate mostly the living area with a touch of decoration in our kitchen/breakfast room. Instead of fussing with a large tree, we have an artificial “bush” on which we’ve strung some lights and from which we hang some ornaments. Then I put little nativity scenes, little angels, candles, etc. around on the furniture, the hearth, etc. I hang stockings at the fireplace and some cute bells on a couple of doorknobs to give us some sounds of Christmas. It’s all very simple but easy to do and easy to remove and store away after Christmas.
That sounds lovely–and so easy to put up and take down!
We downsized and moved so decorating is a lot different for us. We have had 3 trees in the house along with a train display. Now I do good to have one smaller tree. Although the placement of the tree may be the same, I like to change up little bits of decoration through the house with different items in different places from year to year.
Yep, downsizing sure does change the decorating process. In a lot of ways for the better. 🙂
What a nice job of down-sizing and keeping the Christmas spirit. We’re at a point where we’re losing our physical ability to maintain the decorations we’ve traditionally put up. This may be the last year, so you’ve given me some great ideas.
Merry Christmas!
Glad to hear that! A few throw pillows and hand towels go a long way and those are easier to deal with than all the garlands and lights–though I do love the lights! My mom has found some battery operated lighted garlands which have been easier for her to deal with as well.
This is great! In addition to downsizing, another issue with decorating is dealing with small children with developmental delays. I have two of those! I try to put most of my decorations higher up. So instead of stockings, my nativity goes on top of my mantle. I use a high shelf to put many knick-knacks. I have a lower balcony shelf where I LOVE to put my stockings, but my 3 year-old just doesn’t understand “no touch” (at least not until we’ve said it 50 times) and the heavy stocking holders can fall down and break a toe. (He already broke one of the stocking holders two years ago.) So, stockings are tucked safely away until Christmas Eve. I remind myself that they are only little for a little while. Then I’ll be missing them run around house one day, right? You did a fabulous job with your space!
So true! Small children make for new decorating ideas. One I did last year (when we lived in a different apartment that we were renting) was to hang the stockings on wall using those command hooks that come off cleanly when you are done. If you have some space on a high wall, that might be an option, too. And when my kids were little I tried to have Christmas decorations they could play with–like a soft nativity or a stuffed snowman or reindeer or something. It’s always nice to have things around that are festive that they can touch! 🙂
Great idea about the command hook! Why didn’t I think of that? Perhaps there is still time to hang these stockings! And yes, we do have toys the kids can play with, including those M&M Candy stocking stuffer candy toppers I saved over the years. I don’t eat candy any more, but those M&M’s toys from the past are a hit with my son! So glad I saved them. Thanks for the ideas!
Happy to help! 🙂
For the most part, I place all the decorations in the same spots year after year. I may make a minor change and like it. But if I try a major change, I inevitably realize that I put things where I put things for a reason — because that’s where they look best. 🙂
So very true! Sometimes we have to trust our original instincts!
I love this. I appreciate your creativity and moxie!
Love you! I think YOUR creativity has rubbed off on my over the years! 🙂
Hi Anne,
What a wonderful job of adjusting you’ve done. I can’t imagine downsizing like that at this point in our lives. However, I thought we bought a tree ample for all our ornaments this year and discovered it wasn’t big enough. So we didn’t use all the ornaments and let our grandson decorate the bottom half with his ornaments and we decorated the top with ours. I also collect lighthouse ornaments from the lighthouses we’ve visited, so I got a small tree to put those on, and the cat has adopted its tree skirt as his napping place. This year, we’re remodeling our kitchen, so our decorating has been slow and the kitchen might not get the lights we usually put around the top of the cabinets. But that’s okay. I’ll just be thankful if the kitchen is finished before Christmas!
I’ve lived through a kitchen remodel before, so I know what you mean! I hope it gets done! Yes, it was hard to “limit” my ornaments on a smaller tree, but it makes next year seem exciting because I can use a whole different batch!
Anne, I love how you made this work. We’ve give away a lot of Christmas decorations since we downsized a few years ago. Now we’re back in a bigger home but we’re trying to keep things simple. A smaller tree helps. This year I used all of my beach ornaments and took a smaller artificial tree and put The Twelve Days of Christmas ornaments we found at a clearance sale on it. It sits on the dining table by a window. I like to try new things each year. I’ve learned from letting go that things don’t have to be perfect. They just have to fit and make you happy. Seems like you’ve discovered that, too!
Thanks, Lenora! And I agree–your decorations just have to fit and make you happy. 🙂
My first thing I put up is my Willow Tree Nativity set. I decorated every room and i switch some of the things around each year. My shelves are usually set up the same way. I love Christmas and decorating.
I’m sure that Willow Tree Nativity is beautiful! 🙂
Beautiful! We are living in an RV right now, waiting to build. So, all decor is in storage. I’m having to relearn how to decorate in a tiny space. Not much can happen, but dollar store battery light strings are great! We have a tiny tree and I’ve collected a few ornaments that go with what’s in storage. Merry Christmas!