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Christmas

Vintage-Traditional Cozy Christmas Entryway

Happy December dear friends! Today I am extending a cozy Christmas welcome into our home as I share how I have decorated our living room entryway and staircase in vintage-traditional Christmas style, as well as a few sneak peeks of how other areas are coming along for the holidays! *This post contains affiliate links.

 

I am so excited to be joining 29 fabulous bloggers this week for the Blogger’s Best Holiday Home Tour hosted by Kelly at The Tattered Pew and Mansa at This is Simplicite. If you are coming over from Midwest Life And Style or if you are just stopping by for a visit, I am so happy you are here! At the end of this post you will find links to all of the beautiful homes on the tour this week.

 

This past week the weather turned cold which was great for Christmas-vibing, but not so great for porch decorating! The fresh evergreen swag that I was putting together for today’s tour actually got snowed on so I didn’t get around to finishing it up. Since today’s post is a “Vintage- Traditional Cozy Christmas Entryway,” I still wanted to invite you in through the front door, so here’s a shot of last year’s door swag and simple porch decor.

 

Last year for a bit of whimsy I added a vintage school bell to my swag in lieu of sleigh bells. This would be even more befitting right now, since I am a music teacher and I am currently teaching virtually from  home! I am going to use the same beautiful plaid ribbon on my swag this year. It has a bit of yellow which picks up on the yellow bricks on our porch.

 

Christmas banister plaid bow ribbon and gold bells

This year I am also using the same plaid ribbon indoors on the staircase banister and on our Christmas tree. Green is my favorite color, so I love that this particular plaid is green dominant. When you enter our home you immediately see our staircase decked for the holidays with a gorgeous winter woods garland from Balsam Hill, the plaid ribbon, and gold jingle bells. 

 

 

At the foot of the staircase sits a large olive green demi john filled with faux greens. I love how the demijohn matches the plaid ribbon so perfectly. Once the snow is melted I plan to replace the faux greenery with foraged fresh greenery. Fresh pine, cedar and juniper will smell wonderful in the entry! 

 

 

Traditional Christmas Decorating ideas Christmas Staircase garland with plaid bows. Cozy Christmas pillows. Using vintage finds and antique in Christmas decor

The Christmas decorating all through our home is still a work in progress, so today I am concentrating on sharing the entryway and staircase area as well as a few ideas I have for other areas and some throwbacks from last year. Due to the stress and negativity we have all been facing in the “real world” this year, my goal is to create cozy Christmas with elegant, (yet homey) old-world Christmas vibes, reminiscent of simpler times.

 

 

Cozy Christmas staircase with traditional Christmas plaids and antiques. Unique English Country Christmas decorating ideas. Victorian Christmas decorating

 My overall decorating style is “collected vintage-cottage” (a mix of various vintage styles) but I have come to realize that our nearly 100 year-old home with all the original dark woodwork is best dressed for the holidays in traditional green, red, and gold…and lots of plaid! The Ralph Lauren plaid blanket draped over the back of the antique pressed back chair is one of my favorite Christmas accents.

 

 

As a Kentuckian (with Scottish heritage) who happens to adore Victorian-English country style, I love the chance to incorporate extra hints of equestrian decor and tartan in my Christmas decorating.

 

 

Cozy Christmas staircase with traditional Christmas plaids and antiques. Unique English Country Christmas decorating ideas. Victorian Christmas decorating ideas

Visions of Victorian, English Country, and a bit of colonial Christmas have been dancing in my head for weeks! I don’t usually decorate for Christmas before Thanksgiving, but I actually did start creating a beautiful vintage Christmas vignette on the little shabby entry cabinet a few days before Thanksgiving. 

 

I used things that I could easily grab from around the house and in my craft stash, and just a few easily accessible Christmas accents since I wasn’t ready to go digging through the holiday totes. 

 

 

Christmas paperwhites

I love any excuse to play around with beautiful velvet and satin ribbon. I love the green satin tied around the paperwhites. I love decorating with paperwhites for the holidays and throughout winter! I choose faux due to the unpleasant fragrant of fresh paperwhites.

 

Inspiration for my yearly holiday decorating themes rarely comes from a retail store. Instead it is usually an unexpected thrifted item, like this vintage picture of a lady in a beautiful green dress. I scored the picture for a few dollars at Habitat Restore in late fall, and I knew immediately that I wanted to create some sort of Christmas vignette featuring the picture. Here I have reimagined her as a classically trained soprano singing a solo in a holiday performance of Handel’s Messiah. When decorating for Christmas, I tend to think outside the box. The big box store, that is!

Isaiah 9:6~For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.

 

With Handel’s Messiah and the nativity story in mind, here’s a quick detour into the music room where I always put my vintage Italian nativity on display each year. You will see more of the music room in upcoming holiday tours.

 

Victorian Christmas Decorating Ideas Traditional Christmas decorating with gold, red, green and plaid. Vintage Christmas vignette. Old World Christmas decorating.

One interesting thing you may notice on today’s tour is that I haven’t used any Santas so far. I am a Santa collector and you will see a few favorite figures and vintage Santa ephemera in other areas of the house on upcoming tours, but this year I really want the focus to be more on Jesus and sacred themes.  I also realized that not having any massed- produced Santa figures in this vignette made it unique, evoking a truly old-world vibe.

 

Beautiful French Country Vintage and Traditional Christmas decorating ideas Christmas Home Tour Green and Gold Christmas

To see a few of my favorite German Belsnickel style Santas and more of my traditional-vintage Christmas decorating, you can check out this post.

 

Now it’s time for a Christmas Entryway (Decorating) Game…Musical Pillows!

 

Okay friends…my biggest Christmas decorating dilemma always involves pillow arranging! I have quite a few festive pillows and it seems like no matter where I put them they look “perfect,” until I switch them around, then I become indecisive! My rustic winter buck pillow that was previously on the chair by the staircase is now cozying up our comfy chesterfield along with a plush cable knit throw.

 

 

Christmas Entry Christmas Staircase traditional Christmas decorating with plaid, evergreens, pheasant feathers. Red, green and gold Christmas decorating. English Country Christmas and Victorian Christmas decorating with antiques and vintage #victorianChristmas #plaidChristmasdecor #Christmasstaircase

After taking most of the photos for today’s tour, I started messing around with my pillows again and decided that my “Joy” pillow pops a bit more than the buck pillow did over by the staircase, which prompted the switch. What do you think? I just love this view looking over toward the entry and music room with a peek of our main Christmas tree! I will be sharing the tree and music room on Saturday, so if you love all these vintage-traditional Christmas vibes, you won’t want to miss it!

 

While we are over by the sofa, let’s turn around and take a look at how the sitting area looked last year, since this year’s sitting area and mantel styling aren’t finished just yet. I loved last year’s traditional look, and many of the elements would certainly tie right in with the staircase and entry theme this year.

 

 

When I finish decorating the living room this week, I might move the buck pillow back to the recliner as shown here, but keep the red plaid throw over on the chair by the staircase. 

 

 

Christmas Home Tour 2018

Instead of draping my red plaid throw over the back of the recliner, I might use my blue and green tartan throw in it’s place. Now we are talking “musical throws!” 

 

 

I am thinking about using these old French farmhouse stockings again this year instead of the red grain striped ones, so the blue and green tartan throw would look pretty on the chair. I loved the red striped stockings, but I am already using quite a bit of red this year and think I need to tone it down and balance it out with some neutrals and maybe a bit more green. (Our non-matchy-matchy real stockings are hung by the chimney with care on Christmas Eve!)

 

 

Loosely draped cedar garland tied up with either red, green, or ivory velvet ribbon will adorn the front of the mantel, along with some kind of beaded or dried fruit garland.

 

Whichever stockings I choose, I will still decorate the mantel with simple accents such as cozy candles, pretty candlesticks, cloved oranges, pomegranates, and a vintage Christmas postcard or two.

 

 

As I dig into my Christmas totes to finish up the living room this week, I will do a little more tweaking to the shelves on the grandfather clock by adding a few vintage Shiny Brite ornaments or some other small Christmas treasures.

 

 

Cozy Christmas Home Tour Entryway with Christmas Pillows, Plaid throw, evergreens, banister greenery, plaid ribbons and antiques. Traditional Christmas Decorating ideas

 I love the staircase garland as it is, but if I get time I would love to make a dried orange slices, cranberries, and cinnamon stick garland to drape up the staircase. I think it would add even more of that cozy old-world Christmas vibe to the entry!  Just thinking about all the possibilities for holiday crafts, decor, and home tours and sharing ideas with blogging friends and readers brings me so much JOY! 

 

Now back to Musical Pillows…

So… here is the pillow combo I used for the promo graphic for The Blogger’s Best Holiday Home Tour, even though I didn’t end up using either of these pillows in today’s post! I also ended up moving the “Merry Christmas” sign elsewhere, and removed the lighted bulb garland from the cabinet top vignette because it just seemed out of place. The toile pillow is probably going to end up in the dining room or music room, but I have found the “perfect” spot for my new Kentucky Christmas pillow…

 

 

Cute Christmas breakfast nook ideas plaid pillows ticking stripe pillows on a window seat. World Market Marble Bistro Table and herringbone brick floors. Christmas kitchen

I am loving the Kentucky pillow paired with plaid and ticking stripe pillows here in the cozy window seat in my brand new kitchen! All the kitchen details will be finished up in time for Christmas, including the vintage wood cafe style plantation blinds that my brother is repainting for me this week. I can’t wait to share more of this corner and my Christmas kitchen in an upcoming Christmas home tour! 

 

 

Here is a peek at how the lighted bulb garland and “Merry Christmas” sign are adding holiday cheer to my new 1920’s style cabinets! I am having the most fun decorating my new kitchen! 

 

The kitchen leads right into the dining room where I always decorate for Christmas with vintage farmhouse goodness, old world Santas, snowmen, and a little vintage Christmas-kitsch! I will probably use most of the same treasures shown here from last year’s Christmas Dining Room, but style some of them in new ways.

 

What’s that I spy on the church pew? The plaid throw! It looked so good there last year…here we go… back to musical throws again!

 

 

 

 

 

 

I do hope you take to relax with a cup of tea or coffee and stop back by to visit often during the holidays. As a reminder, you can see more of our Christmas tree and music room on Saturday, Dec. 5th. I will also be sharing a full Christmas Home Tour featuring our new kitchen on December 11th! Here’s one last sneak peek of the Christmas beauty to come:

 

Beautiful Christmas kitchen with herringbone brick floors

 

 

I hope you enjoyed this cozy and traditional Christmas welcome! If you are a new reader, be sure to subscribe by email so you don’t miss all of the upcoming holiday fun! Now it’s time to continue the tour by heading over to Noting Grace. Don’t forget to check out all of the other beautiful tours via the links below.

Thanks for visiting and have a very Merry Christmas!

Amber

*Affiliate Disclosure: If you purchase a suggested item, I may receive compensation at no additional cost to you. See my full affiliate disclosure policy for details.

 

     

 

 

Monday’s Tours

The Tattered Pew // My Thrift Store Addiction // Simply 2 Moms

Worthing Court // Bricks N’ Blooms // Open Doors Open Hearts

Tuesday’s Tours

Lora B Create and Ponder // This Is Simplicite

Shiplap and Shells // The Ponds Farmhouse //

Wednesday Tour’s

Stone Gable // Midwest Life And Style // Follow The Yellow Brick Home 

Noting Grace // My Wee Abode // The Farmhouse Life

Thursday’s Tours

Aratari At Home // Caitlin Marie Designs // Sweet Pea

Fiddle Leaf Blog // First Day Of Home // White Arrows Home

Friday’s Tours

Cottage On Bunker Hill // The Aspiring Home // Lantern Lane Designs 

DIY Beautify // Cassie Bustamante // The Flowering Farmhouse

 

Sharing at these great link parties:

Tuesday Turnabout  Charming Home and Gardens  A Morning Cup Of Joe  Snickerdoodle Sunday  Best Of The Weekend Saturday Sparks Flaunt It Fridays Tuesdays At Our HomVintage Charm  You’re The Star  Happiness is Homemade  Silver Pennies Sundays  Create, Bake, Grow, Gather  The Farmhouse Friday Link-Up  Funtastic Fridays  Fridays At The Fire Station  Wonderful Wednesdays  Waste Not Wednesday   Keep In Touch    Share Your Style Party in Your PJs  Celebrate Your Story Inspire Me Tuesday  Love Your Creativity   Over The Moon  Fabulous Party 
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23 Comments

  • Reply Aliya

    Amber!! I loved your home, but I also loved playing musical throw/pillow! That is a thing at my house too… although it generally occurs because the kids are playing “the floor is lava” so all my pillows and blankets get thrown on the floor to act as bridges to get from one place to another hahaha Glad to know I’m not alone in this game!!! PS I loved all your ribbon. I’m definitely adding more next year!!

    December 2, 2020 at 7:17 am
  • Reply Jennifer Fancher

    Loving this tour, Amber! Being a vintage lover, I adore all the nostalgic Christmas decor that you have. But I’m seriously swooning over all the rich tones from those vintage frames. Your home is always so beautiful and it’s a joy to be a part of this blog hop with you!

    December 2, 2020 at 8:10 am
  • Reply JENNIFER GULIZIA

    Oh my goodness! Your house is gorgeous decorated for the holidays. I can tell you spent so much time making everything look festive. Happy Holidays!

    December 2, 2020 at 10:04 am
  • Reply Rachel Harper

    Amber,
    I’m so happy to see so much vintage and traditional decor on this tour. You totally nailed it. Stunning!

    December 2, 2020 at 10:56 am
  • Reply stacy

    Amber your home looks so gorgeous! I love your stair garland and your mantel looks beautiful! xoxo

    December 2, 2020 at 12:42 pm
  • Reply Cindy@CountyRoad407

    You know I love your home and all you do. This year’s old world Christmas is no different. Everything looks stunning and so welcoming. At first I thought you added a plaid slipcover to the wooden chair in your entry but not until I was reading about the musical pillows did I realize it was a blanket. Such a great idea. Love the Joy pillow too. Still waiting to buy a ticket for an in-person (mask on of course) Christmas tour. LOL But yeah, not kidding. 😉 Merry Christmas!

    December 2, 2020 at 12:42 pm
  • Reply Cassie Bustamante

    your home is just gorgeous- love the stairwell gallery! SO lovely!

    December 2, 2020 at 3:36 pm
  • Reply Kim | Shiplap and Shells

    I am loving your vintage and traditional holiday decor Amber. You have such a great style and I always take away a wonderful idea or two. It is so fun to see your beautiful new kitchen! That floor gets me everytime!

    December 2, 2020 at 7:54 pm
  • Reply Paula@SweetPea

    Your Christmas entryway is gorgeous, Amber! I loved reading about all of the details and I admired every single picture. It also was fun to get a sneak peek at how you are decorating your newly remodeled kitchen for Christmas. I’m looking forward to seeing more of your Christmas decorations this holiday season!

    December 2, 2020 at 9:28 pm
  • Reply Cecilia

    Amber, your entry is such a charming space, and I love how you styled it for Christmas–pinned! I hope you have a joyous holiday season! Blessings, Cecilia @My Thrift Store Addiction

    December 2, 2020 at 10:48 pm
  • Reply Kelly Radcliff

    Amber I always look forward to your home tours! Your Christmas one this year was spectacular! Your stairwell is decorated to perfection…magazine worthy! I love the switch to the joy pillow! You have a great eye. Praying the virtual school time wraps up nicely so you can enjoy Christmas with your family. I think of you often as I know we are both on the journey together! Merry Christmas!

    December 2, 2020 at 11:20 pm
  • Reply Rita C at Panoply

    Drop dead, gorgeous, Gorgeous (that’s you I’m talking to!). I love that dresser vignette in your entryway. It is everything you described in your hope after finding that green gowned lady. I think I love the buck on the chair with the equestrian hat and RL throw! That’s the problem with so many beautiful things…..where to put them, where to put them. So many details, Amber, all so beautiful. The vintage items just make my heart sing.

    December 3, 2020 at 7:57 am
  • Reply Cindy

    Amber,

    You never disappoint sharing your home. I love the first mirror on your stair, gorgeous. Love the pheasant feathers in the garland too.

    I see you found a perfect spot for the picture you found this summer. Love that find.

    I enjoyed seeing a bit of what you have planned for your kitchen.

    Oh, and I love your Kentucky Christmas pillow.

    Cindy

    December 3, 2020 at 10:42 am
  • Reply Marlene Stephenson

    I always love seeing what you do, it is such a joy and so inspirational. Old world charm is a great way to decorate and enjoyed seeing every piece. Thank you.

    December 3, 2020 at 4:08 pm
  • Reply Crissy

    You always do such an impeccable job with your seasonal decor, Amber! I think I might have the same plaid ribbon. I love it SO much, and it looks wonderful with the wood tones on your staircase. I think you hit the nail on the head when you said it’s an old-world-Christmas vibe. So charming!

    December 6, 2020 at 12:40 am
  • Reply Debra Oliver

    Every square inch of your vintage entry is just amazing. I love it all but I have to say adding that bit of dark leopard print on your entry commode was brilliant!! Gorgeous, Amber as always!!

    December 7, 2020 at 2:06 pm
  • Reply Michelle | Thistle Key Lane

    Amber, your home tours are always such a delight. I’m especially excited this time to see your new kitchen cabinets all decked out for Christmas. So beautiful!

    December 10, 2020 at 7:47 am
  • Reply Cindy@CountyRoad407

    Just popping back in to let you know we are featuring your fantabulous Christmas tour on the Farmhouse Friday Link Party tomorrow. Thanks for sharing it with us.

    December 10, 2020 at 5:39 pm
  • Reply Michelle @ The Painted Hinge

    What Cindy said! 😀 Your entryway and Christmas tour is gorgeous Amber!!!

    December 10, 2020 at 8:59 pm
  • Reply Cecilia

    Thanks for sharing your beautiful trees at Vintage Charm, Amber!

    December 13, 2020 at 4:51 pm
  • Reply Barbara Chapman

    What a wonderful holiday tour, Amber! I love the piano with the vintage Nativity… I went simply this year, too. Just didn’t feel like it this year. Happy to have featured your post at Share Your Style #285 this week, plus I pulled your Joy pillow photo to use in my Week #3 of Advent post, since the third week is about Joy! <3

    Have a great week, and now we get a couple of weeks off (after this week teaching!),
    Barb 🙂

    December 14, 2020 at 7:40 am
  • Reply Kathy A

    I always love seeing your beautiful home! The only thing I disagreed about was the scent of paperwhites. I would inhale ALL of the smell so you wouldn’t have to!!! Did miss your Belsnickels, tho; it was my new vocab word last year! I bet it was so much fun decorating your new kitchen. That Kentucky pillow among the plaids is just perfect!

    December 14, 2020 at 10:03 pm
  • Reply Cecilia

    Thanks for sharing your lovely tour at Vintage Charm!

    December 5, 2021 at 4:35 pm
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