Today I want to share some of my Christmas home design with you. I started this post and erased all of it more than once. I could talk about so many things- the holidays are a hard time for me personally but I’d rather just let you see my family room and tell you about why I chose to do it this way, this year.

I have become enthralled with the concept of hygge ( pronounced hoo-ga). There is no one word definition for it in English but it embodies the idea of coziness, well-being and enjoyment of simple things of life. I usually go crazy with the decorating and spend days making everything just perfect. This year I wanted to be different. I wanted to come home, sit on my couch with a lovely cup of tea and feel peace. And I just didn’t have it in me to spend hours decorating.

I wanted to have lots of soft materials to put my feet, hands and body on so I have  fur and throws on the floor and furniture .It feels so lovely to sit and curl up with a book or a bit of Netflix.

 

I love the light that flows into the room during the winter. When the leaves fall from the trees it actually feels bright in the room.  I take advantage of the brightness and add more white to the room.  It helps the days feel less dreary.

Candles and greenery add more light and bring the outdoors inside.

The mantle is simple, houses from Target and Michael’s, a mirror, pinecones and lights.

Looks like Layla decided to get in on the photo shoot!

Lastly is the tree. Every year we got a real balsam fir, last year it was pitifully dead very soon after getting it up. I made the executive decision to get an artificial one this year and I am glad that I did. This is a simple tree from Target and I have both the 5 and 7 foot tree. I put my own lights on it. It looks very sparse but that makes the decorations really pop. It is simply sitting on top of that basket…I love this tree….

 

I chose a simple color scheme of natural colors of winter; whites, creams, grey, browns and black. And the sign back there is my personal daily goal:

Choose Joy

Despite the sadness we feel because we are missing a big part of our family, we try to choose joy. I love sitting in this room, music in the background, a warm drink in my hand and the dog at my feet ( ok…probably trying to sit on my lap on the couch) . It feels safe, warm and comfortable.  It feels like home. And (some days) home feels pretty ok.