decking the living room

I've actually been working on Christmas decorating for over a week,

but kept playing with and rearranging stuff.

We don't put up a tree anymore.

We stopped doing that after Phil (our firstborn son) passed away

a couple of years ago.

We would put up a tree if Tim (secondborn son) still wanted us to, but he doesn't.

Perhaps "someday" we'll feel like putting up a tree again.

Maybe when (hopefully!) we have a grandkid or two someday.

I still like to decorate in the living room and kitchen though,

since I do like the holiday decor and these two rooms are our

main living areas.

At first, I had these vintage Christmas cards hanging above the fireplace...

but, changed my mind and now have "current" Christmas cards hanging 

above the fireplace instead.

I found this cute, little wooden sled decoration at Goodwill.

It seems very well made (Germany?) though there's no label

of origin on the bottom.

I always have a hard time with vignettes on the console table

no matter what the season. I think it's because of the

vast amount of white space between the table and the picture

that hangs on the wall. I think it helped to use this 

cake stand for elevation to fill in that white space.

I've had this ceramic reindeer and sleigh forever.

My aunt made it for me when I was first married.

It always has a place of honor in my Christmas decor.

I found these two holiday pillows at Target last week.

I like how the red bird adds a pop of color to the beige sofa.

It's hard to tell in this picture, but the tree on the beige pillow has 

some sparkly sequins.

Hardrock, Coco, and Joe sure liked the pillow! ;-)

Another wishlist project...have a big "window" cut out in this

main living room wall. It's the main supporting wall of the house,

so we can't knock down the entire wall, unfortunately. 

The kitchen is on the other side. It would be so cool to have

one, big open space.

I don't think I ever showed you our new front door.

It's hard to get a good picture of it because of the light, 

but it looks so much better than the old, ugly white door 

that was there before.

My favorite part of the door is the leaded glass windows.

They let in some light, but it's diffused nicely in the summer,

so that the room doesn't get too hot.

I hope to show you my kitchen holiday decor later in the week!