Cheery and Bright Christmas Front Porch


This year I am really excited about my holiday decor.  Not just because I think it is pretty but because I feel truly content.  Yep, I said content.  I must be getting wiser in my old age and long years of marriage...!  

Over the last few weeks I have been looking around my house and what I truly love.  Like our bedroom and our kitchen.  I love the colors, I love the decor, and it just seems like me.  

Over the last year I have experimented with painting our walls and trying out different trends that I like.  But I am learning that though I see so many other homes that I covet, none of them are quite me.  And only I can be me and my home should reflect that.  

I am happy to finally be finding a happy medium...to embrace the things I love, how we live in our home, and finding ways to take inspiration I see online and making it into my own version that reflects who I am and my life with my husband.  I want to live simply.  I want to be wise with our money.  I want only to have things that I really will use and that when I see them that it makes me happy. 

And so, a perfect reflection of that right now is in our Christmas decor.  So all this week, I will be showing you our holiday home...filled with a heart of joy and contentment!  Enjoy!

 

Somewhere on Black Friday, I saw a store decorated in bows.  Maybe VS...but I am not sure.  But it was lovely...and it inspired our front door wreath.


I am proud to report that besides a few ornaments and some replacement light strands for our tree, I have not bought anything new for Christmas decorations this year.  Because that ultimately is a sign of contentment...being happy with and using what I already have.  Now I realize, I have a lot {Christmas decorations, that is}.  So if you do not have a lot or have budgeted money for Christmas decor, shopping for more is a-okay with me! Just my own personal convictions and accomplishments being celebrated here!  :)


Leftover ornaments from last year's ornament wreath in a lantern...


And some thrifted ice skates from a few years ago...


Free Christmas greens my mom picked up for me...supposedly at Lowe's they leave out cut greens from trimming their Christmas trees that are for sale out for free to grab!


This door makes me smile every time I walk into our home...


It is no secret I get stressed during the holidays...I get serious real physical pain...stomach aches and chest pains...it is not good.  But though I am not 100% stress free something is different this year.  I am learning to let go.  I am not getting upset that people do not RSVP to evites.  I am not letting the pressures of making everyone happy motivate me to spend more money than I should on Christmas gifts.  With how busy my husband has been at work, I am accepting that we probably won't put outside lights up this year and that his sanity is more important than a pretty house.  As I type this I cannot help but feel silly about stressing about such minimal things...but they are real things that I have let get to me.  But this year I am choosing to be thankful for the opportunity to learn how to have boundaries and to let go of the pressures of this holiday season.  Instead I am embracing the things that are most important and enjoying those moments with my husband in our simple but beautiful home.  

More colorful fun to come this week!  What colors do you decorate with?

Linking up with Hooked on Houses Holiday House Tour.