Are You Whimsy or Classic?

As a designer, most of us have already decided what our theme will be for the year. I do not tend to jump on all the trends each year or spend exorbitant amounts of money on decor just to change it every season. Plus, storage is at a premium in every home. Love pulling out the ornaments and decorations from years past and clinging to all the memories from each one.

With that said, what is your design style for Christmas? Do you lean more toward the whimsical or classic? I guess this would all depend on what season of life you are in. When my children were little I went more with the whimsical style due to all that Christmas wonder in those little eyes. We would make homemade ornaments, my eldest son and daughter even had a business where he sold the ornaments he created to purchase gifts for his family and the Angel Tree at church. Those were definitely precious memories that I will always treasure. Some adults love to decorate in this style too so you really do not have to have small children. (We are all children at heart)

Whimsical can take on a lot of different meanings. You can have a total theme of snowmen, gnomes, woodland creatures. Santa's workshop, and even Candy Land. Our you may not be able to choose, so you incorporate them all. Whimsical does not have to be the traditional red and green either. Here are few examples of some beautiful whimsical homes for Christmas.

Here is a wonderful lady that goes all out with whimsy. She lives in Dallas, Texas and you know what they say, "everything is bigger in Texas". That is definitely the case in her lovely home. Her name is Jennifer Houghton and she has a wonderful blog with all her fun and creative designs at Turtle Creek Lane.

Talk about how fun it would to live in this home during Christmas. She definitely goes all out. Jennifer uses the traditional color red this child fantacy Christmas but adds that crisp aqua blue to really make it pop. There is no detail left out. The snowflakes hanging from the ceiling and a place to take pictures with Santa. You can even see where he left his boots.

Here are just a few more examples for some inspiration.

All white tree with red and bright almost neon green.

The Grinch Christmas Tree

Using a black Christmas tree Star Wars Fans can even create Darth Vader.

This is one even an adult Star Wars Enthusiast would love to have in their home.

This year I am going with the more classical look. My theme is berries and birds. I love to see the birds in the winter time. Their feathers all fluffed to keep warm as the temperature drops. Blue is my signature color in my home and so I tend to go towards that even during Christmas. Juniper is gorgeous in the winter and has the flush blue berries that I love.

You can find preserved juniper on Etsy at many shops. I love the look of real greenery but I sure ate that mess when it starts dying and I have to vacuum three times a day. I will be adding the juniper to some faux swags up my stairwell. This is the first year we have had a stairwell so it will be fun to decorate. You do not have to have the traditional garland to make it feel like Christmas.

Here is my Design board for my tree and overall look in my home. I am a little behind a lot of bloggers and designers decorating this year. We just moved in July so a lot of client projects, starting my business in Virginia and has been my main priority and getting our family totally settled. I will post pictures when I get it complete here in the next few week and I hope to have a few DIY's to add as well.