Christmas Planning & a Look Back at Christmas 2013

I have been busy beginning to deck the halls for this year.  One of my favorite things about having a blog is being able to look back at last year's decorations to plan out what to do this year.  I like to look back and see what I especially loved last year and what didn't really work out so well.  Here is our family room last year.

Lots of changes have happened in here this year!  The wall unit is now white and the gallery wall is now planked and painted white.  The deer head that hung over our fireplace last year is now a part of this year's winter gallery wall so I will have to come up with something new for this year.  Last year, we had a quiet Christmas Eve dinner in front of the fire, just the 5 of us, and it was definitely one of the highlights of the holiday season.  I hope to do something similar again, although this year our larger family gathering will be Christmas Eve so we will have to find a different time.

I already unpacked the melamine plates I bought at Target last year and I still love them.  They are affordable, adorable and unbreakable so they are perfect for us.  I think they have similar plates this year.

Our living room will probably look similar this year, although we are planning a real tree this time around.  Last year, we had an artificial up here, but that tree is getting old and looking tired.  Plus, our teenager works at a farm that sells Christmas trees, so he has become a big fan of real trees.  I think I will let him choose the "perfect" tree for us this year.

This is last year's Christmas kitchen.  I am working on a candle chandelier for over the island this year.

Last year, I painted a few signs for our entryway and created a "tree farm" theme.  I think I will find a new location for those signs this year.

Last year, we added some Christmas touches to our master bedroom and we will definitely do that again.  Cozy Christmas bedding makes me happy on a cold winter evening.  Last year, we used fresh greenery over our bed and that was a mistake!  Pine needles would fall onto the bed as it dried out.  Not good.

Our window seat also got some Christmas cheer.  I will probably add another fresh wreath this year for the smell.  I may skip the tree in here though.

I enjoyed the touches of red in our master bathroom last year.  I love Philosophy bath products and their holiday scents are my favorite!  I usually get them at TJ Maxx or on Philosophy.com during their Black Friday sale.

I also like to plan our Christmas cookies early in the season.  I make them early and freeze them so they are fresh on Christmas.  Last year, we went all out with lots of cut out cookies with royal icing.  They are very time consuming though, so I think we might stick to our family's more traditional favorites this year.

Finally, our mudroom got a few Christmas touches.  Right now, our mudroom is a mess of coats, hats and book bags and it is going to take a lot of effort to get it to look like this again! ;)  

Are you getting ready for Christmas too?  Before I was a blogger, I thought it was important to wait until after Thanksgiving to start thinking about Christmas, and then it was a mad rush to decorate.  I have learned that it is much more enjoyable for me to take my time and enjoy the process.  Which means starting before Thanksgiving and that's okay.  Even if our family and friends think we are nuts!