edie's housevia Life in Grace

Did you see Edie’s house decorated for Christmas? There are a million photos of pure gloriousness, click over and then come back here so we can talk about it…

Y’all, I wait for Edie’s tour every year with anticipation. Seeing her house decorated for Christmas is like my grown-up version of Christmas morning.

This year did not disappoint and I cannot stop thinking about her house. I love it so much and really in many ways it the opposite of mine because it is fully of color and every surface is a glorious statement in meaningful beauty. It’s been a busy year of writing and moving into a little house with three boys, a man and a dog so surfaces are at a premium around here and white space is hard to find resulting in my need for white walls and empty surfaces. But, Edie’s house is brimming with colorful beauty. It’s overflowing with creativity. It’s honest, good old fashioned decorating from the heart and I cannot get enough of her house.

openhouse25Life in Grace

My favorite part about Edie’s decor is that there was nothing that Edie did for Christmas that was overly time consuming or crazy expensive. All she did was embellish her everyday house (which is FANTASTIC) with greens and ornaments and ribbons. Although her mannequin skirt is crazy creative and took some time. But I have a feeling she won’t be packing that mannequin up after Christmas. Now a mannequin with a seasonal skirt is going to be Edie’s signature piece and in three years Target will be selling mannequins with 4 interchangeable skirts, one for each season. Basically Barbies for grownups.

Here’s what she says about creating the skirt:

“We had  the determination of Rocky Balboa and the spirit of Sanford and Son. We wired the tops of the branches together and then wound some ribbon through them and tied them on. That makes it sound easy, which it wasn’t, but it wasn’t hard either.”

 

She has me obsessed with thinking what I can create out of evergreen boughs in my own house. I love how inspiration works.

openhouse26Life in Grace

And now that I see this photos I’m like a wild woman searching all the boxes in our barn for my fur pillow, WHERE IS IT?!

openhouse12Life in Grace

My favorite kind of Christmas decor is the stuff that doesn’t need to be packed up in a bunch of plastic bins. What makes Edie’s house Christmasy isn’t a bunch of store bought decor. It’s her everyday stuff layered along with embellishments. That’s the trick to getting that handmade, unfussy Christmasy look.

living-room-fireplace-fullJones Designs Company

Another inspiration of mine is Emily from Jones Designs. Her house is so Christmasy, but there isn’t a lot of stuff to have to pack away when the season is over.

mustard seedMiss Mustard Seed

Marian does this well too. Simple embellishments.

Christmas color

After looking at Edie’s house online for hours I made sure to grab some $4 flowers at the grocery store. And instead of sitting them by themselves in the middle of the coffee table like I normally would do, I pulled an Edie and grouped them with my little stand of bright colored fruit. Edie’s house also reminded me about my other planter head so I brought him in and consolidated some herbs and paperwhites in his head, I’m sure it’s the worlds worst combination and my family will die of paperwhite poisoning. But it is SO pretty!

herbs

Christmas

Emily’s house reminded me to layer greens and everyday stuff. So I incorporated a little $3 grocery store poinsettia.

I’d love to hear what’s inspired you this season.

Is there something in your house you did differently after seeing a great idea? Leave a link in the comments (one link per comment please or else my blog will think you are spam) of something online that prompted you to do something different in your home this year that you are excited about.