We Need A Little Retro Christmas

When the television show, Fixer Upper, started several years ago, we all became instantly enamored with Joanna Gaines. And, why wouldn't we be enamored with her? She's a lovely person who reminded us that chipped up corbels make great book ends, that giant farm tables are romantic and she brought the words "ship lap" into homes across America.  As someone who already likes old, rustic, rough around the edges type items, I was hooked.  I wanted the farm table, the white ship lap walls, the ginormous chandeliers...then I remembered, I live in a ranch style home built in the 1960s.  

There's nothing wrong with being inspired by the top trendy designers, but its ok to realize that maybe your style and your home can incorporate something else other than the current craze. Joanna knows her style. She made that style into a trend that so many of us want to have a piece of.  I tried it, I did. But, it just didn't work in my house. I had to think about what would work and would bring me joy in the objects and design I live with everyday.   Somehow I ended up in the mid century look of my Grandma's house that I loved to visit so much.  

During quarantine this spring, I decided to embrace a change inside. I painted a couple of walls turquoise, I ordered a crazy wild chandelier, I insisted to my family that the record player become part of our daily routine and I found a dining table that reminded me of the one my Grandma had.  Thankfully, my family embraced the changes and they were even ok with decorating for Christmas completely different than we've ever done before...we went retro. 

My Mom had a set of antique Christmas bulbs that she treasured. Since her passing, I have come to treasure this set as well. I've been too afraid to put them on any Christmas tree, in fear that they would fall and break, so they have been boxed up for several years. This year, I placed them in a glass candy jar so we could enjoy them and they would be protected.

Our favorite Christmas albums have been on heavy rotation this season.

On the shelf is a decorative nod to my camper and Wagoneer.

If you've known me at any point in my entire life, you'll know that I am a lady who loves plaid.  The first question I received when I revealed parts of our retro Christmas was, "What? No plaid!?" There's no way on earth that I could remove plaid from my life, especially at Christmas. I found ways to incorporate it in other rooms of the house, still with a bit of vintage flair. 

On the enclosed porch is a table set up for hot chocolate. The morning of our first snow of the season, we enjoyed making hot cocoa while watching the snowflakes fall outside the window.

The small front room in our home was a perfect place for a small tree with my plaid ornaments.

This particular Santa is engrained in my memory from childhood. While antique shopping with a friend, I found this one and couldn't wait to bring it home to put on the wall.

A few of my thermoses and an old cookie tin make a cute little stack of color by the Christmas tree.

After a year of being socially distanced, it was important to me to make my home a place that felt colorful and cozy.  Redecorating has turned out to be a fun experience I can share with my daughter as well. She took many of these photographs to post as  part of my weekly Instagram posts to encourage some colorful holiday cheer.  Whatever your style, be it cozy and angelically whitewashed, vibrant and patterned or earthy and neutral, I hope you will discover your own ways to incorporate it into your daily and holiday decor.