It’s official, the Christmas season is finally here! Christmas songs and movies, peppermint hot chocolate and marshmallows, friends and family, good vibes, and one of my favourite parts – Christmas Décor!

This year was especially exciting for me in the décor category as it’s my first year with my own full sized space to decorate! The previous few years I’ve been back at home with my parents or living in a condo, so I only had a mini tree and my decorations were sparse and mix matched.

Living with someone who dislikes Christmas (side note: I don’t even know how that’s possible) definitely makes the design process a bit tougher, and a bit harder to convince of this early in the season. But hey, it’s the most wonderful time of the year!

This year I stuck with my current favourite Christmas colour palette, white / cream with accents of champagne gold. Since we’re still renting for a few more months, I had to make due with our beige wall colour and bring in as much cream and white as I could to balance the colours out. Next year, in our new house with light grey walls, I will be adding much more green, and pops of colour!

One of my favourite parts about my space this year is that we have somewhat of a mantle. I’ve never had a fireplace, neither growing up nor on my own, so I’ve always dreamed of designing a mantle space. The fireplace we have now is electric and built into a TV stand, so it’s not a true mantle but is definitely a start. Up until I started styling it, I had never thought about the possibility of creating a mantle space without any mantle at all. But, it’s really so easy and there are many ways you can style a space with a faux mantle.

For example, you can create your own faux mantle by using a coat rack and 3M hooks (they don’t damage your wall). Hang a long string of garland across the two 3M hooks, creating a focal point on your wall. Centre your rustic coat rack between the two 3M hooks, and level it so that the garland is lightly touching the top of the coat rack. Add in an oversized wall clock above the garland, a folded tree skirt up against the wall, some festive pillows and lean some wall art behind the pillows and voila! A simple faux-mantle that serves as a beautiful focal point in the room. I wish I had thought of this in my previous condos!

INSPIRATION BOARD

This design is so easy! I found all of the items above on Wayfair.ca, and have linked them for you. Wayfair is great because they have so much selection for so many styles. I could literally sit on my couch scrolling and adding things to my idea boards for hours…I even asked my secret Santa for a gift card so I could get some extra items for our new house, cause you can never have too much, right?!

Anywho, this year with our new fireplace, I was finally able to hang some stockings! I’m not a huge fan of the big and bold stocking holders for mantles, so all I did was pick up some 3M hooks, positioned them a little further back on our mantle, and hung the stockings up at the perfect height. Covered it up with some garland and accented the corners with these sparkly table top trees, and my favourite Bath & Body Works seasonal candles.

As mentioned, I incorporated as much white as I could to brighten up the space. With our medium beige walls, dark floors and dark cabinets, I find that our house is always dark especially now that there’s much less sunlight. I came across these cable knit sweater pillows (and of course, I found em on Wayfair!) and couldn’t resist. My favourite part of winter is getting to snuggle up with a blanket in a thick sweater holding a cup of hot chocolate, so these sweater pillows were the perfect addition. I actually chose my stockings and tree skirt after I received the pillows because I loved the look so much!

For my tree, I’m definitely still an amateur. My mom is the queen of tree decorating and I feel like I’ve got big shoes to fill and a lot to learn, but I’m getting there! I lucked out big time this year and scored this fake tree for free from a coworker which I am extremely grateful for. This year, I mixed in some white ornaments to tie in the white and cream elements throughout.

And there you have it! My simple Christmas décor. I’m sure I will be periodically adding a few things here and there throughout the season, but this is definitely a nice start and I feel like an elegant compromise when living with someone who isn’t anywhere near as Christmas crazy as you are.

So tell me, what do you think?! What are your Christmas palettes this year, and where is your favourite place to shop for Christmas décor? I’d love to know!

Want to shop my Christmas décor?

I’ve linked some similar products below, as well as some inspiration pieces for you!

PSST. Looking for some gift ideas?

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