One of the best parts about decorating for Christmas, in my opinion, is putting glowy lights up all over the house. You just can’t beat the cozy glow of Christmas lights when you’re relaxing on the sofa watching a holiday movie, or cooking dinner…or doing just about anything. It truly is one of the easiest ways to bring some holiday cheer to your home decor. If you caught my holiday home tour a few weeks ago, you probably saw a few of our decorations in the daylight hours – but now I’m really excited to share how our home looks at nighttime with an abundance of warm, cozy Christmas lights. I am thrilled to join my friend Brittany from Our Home Made Easy, who is hosting today’s Christmas light home tour.
Our Living Room
This is where we spend the most time as a family (other than the kitchen!), so naturally, we like to make sure we decorate as much as possible in here. We put our artificial tree up in the living room, mainly so we can put it up earlier in the season. Also, the lights can be changed from white to multicolored, which is great if you have kids and they like colored lights and you prefer white lights. 🙂 We also started collecting pieces from the Department 56 Colonial Williamsburg Village a few years back, and this year, we decided to display them on our media console. They definitely add to the warm glow of lights in our living room and I love how cozy this room feels while wrapped up in a blanket watching Christmas movies!
TIP ONE: If your room layout allows, try to put the tree in a spot where you can admire it while watching television or sitting on the sofa. Trust me, it makes the room cozier!
Our Kitchen + Hearth Room
Since we also spend quite a bit of time in the kitchen, I really love the mini cabinet wreaths I made last year. However, the focal point of this room is our fireplace and mantel, as our kitchen opens up into a big hearth room. I always put lighted garland on the mantel along with some festive decor items that I tend to move around from time to time until I get it just right. We also hang our matching Christmas stockings, which adds a little punch of color.
TIP TWO: Lighted garland can really amp up your holiday decor! Whether it’s on a mantel or wrapped around your stairway railing, it adds instant festiveness and a warm glow to any room.
Our Dining Room
Chances are, if you saw my holiday home tour, you got a good glimpse of our dining room Christmas decor. But at night, oh, it’s magical. We always put up a real tree in here and try to put as many lights on as we can to achieve a beautiful glow out the front window. I keep the decor simple on this tree – it really is beautiful on its own – and just wrap some festive ribbon around the tree. We also put the girls’ 25 Books of Christmas beneath this tree!
TIP THREE: If you like putting up your decor early, but still love a real tree, consider buying an artificial one for a room in your home (even if it’s just a mini tree!) that you can decorate early while waiting for the time to get a real tree.
Our Girls’ Rooms
Both of our girls have mini tinsel trees in their rooms with a few decorations. They love going to bed with the glow of Christmas lights, and I can’t say I blame them (we do the same in our room!). The girls love having a touch of holiday decor in their rooms and it’s fun to let them help decorate their trees, too. We also put a strand of Christmas lights over their bathroom mirror for a little extra holiday fun.
TIP FOUR: Don’t underestimate the power of a simple strand of lights! Not only did we put a strand of lights over the girls’ bathroom mirror, we also did the same in our bathroom, on the railing leading upstairs and around the windows in the girls’ playroom.
Our Home’s Exterior
My husband’s goal is to one day be on Clark Griswold’s level with exterior lights – but while we’re not quite there, we’ve definitely added more and more lights each year that we’ve lived in this house! We put up big white lights around the exterior of the house every year and I got a prelit front door wreath last year for the first time. This year, I also decided to get prelit mini trees for each side of our entryway, which really adds a little something extra! And, because we can’t say no to more lights, we also strung white lights from the trees in front of our dining room. I also like to put candles in the windows, but you honestly can’t see them that well since two of our windows are floor to ceiling windows. I still like knowing they’re there, though!
TIP FIVE: Take advantage of sales when it comes to stocking up on Christmas lights and decor! Admittedly, the mini lights don’t last very long when you leave them on much of the season, so we go through them pretty quickly. We tend to stock up on Black Friday and during post-Christmas sales, too!
CHECK OUT ALL THE OTHER MERRY & BRIGHT CHRISTMAS LIGHT HOME TOURS HERE!
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So pretty! Love your Christmas village!
Thank you! I have to give credit to my husband for that one! 😉
super fun! looks great!
Thank you! <3