It's the most wonderful time of the year and today is one of the most exciting days. It's the Seasonal Simplicity Home Tour week and today I get to invite you in for a Christmas home tour. 

If you've arrived here from Dannyelle's home at Life Is A Party, welcome! My name is Jennifer and I live in a centre hall plan, Colonial style house in Toronto. I've embraced the traditional style I love and added touches of classic Christmas decor throughout our house. Come on in!

While I love decorating for Christmas, let's be honest: I haven't been in the mood to "go all out" this year. There'll be no large family gatherings or our annual Pancakes & Pajamas Party so really, any decor will only be seen by the three of us.

This year I've decided on minimal decor, except for the living room. A small vignette here, a wreath there... just enough to make our home feel festive.

I've also fallen deeper in love with traditional style. It's fun to play with accessories and decor but this year I've stuck with the tried and true for my Christmas decorations. 

You'll see magnolia leaves and candlesticks, skirted tables, and satin ribbon. Perhaps it's the need for comfort and nostalgia, but a classic look is what I've tried to achieve this Christmas. 

Sources: Ginger Jar | Magnolia branches | Wallpaper | Rug

Here in the dining room I've decorated just one small corner. Faux magnolia leaves placed in a blue and white ginger jar and accented with a satin ribbon are enough to give a sense of the holidays. I knew classic blue and white vases were versatile and this proves they really do work for every season!

I love how the earthy green and red of the magnolia leaves repeat the colours of the wood furniture and floral wallpaper. Increasingly, I'm drawn to these deeper tones. They give me a sense of history and the familiar.

Let's head around the corner into the kitchen.

Ignore the dated tiles and terrible faucet and focus on how pretty our kitchen window looks ;) I'm of the opinion that Christmas kitchen decorations shouldn't be elaborate or too ornate. After all, lots of cooking and moving about happens in the kitchen and you wouldn't want your decorations to get in the way or pose a safety hazard.

Our kitchen has very minimal holiday decor with only this window area getting some decor attention. A kitchen window is a beautiful feature to highlight for the holidays. A simple easy way to do this is to frame your kitchen window with garlands. 

The cedar garlands (I've used two) are ones I used on my mantel last year. They tuck in nicely behind the valence and look like they were meant to be there. A few accents like the nutcracker and red velvet ribbon on the pinecones add a dash of bright colour.

Living Room Christmas Decor

One of my favourite things is coming up with my Christmas palette and this one - well, I have to say the colours and patterns are ones that are most "like me".

The combination of navy blue, blue grey, cream, and black is one you'll find throughout my home, and in my wardrobe! I'm always drawn to these hues.

Our traditional mantel is a natural focal point in the room. My favourite detail is the glittery wreath on top of the mirror, hung with tartan ribbon that matches the bows on the tree.

Across from the fireplace is this pretty scene. The modern art above the traditional roll arm sofa is one of my favourite moments. The faux fur and tartan pillows are classic and comfortable. 

Here are the only touches of red you'll see in the room. They act as a gentle tie-in with the adjoining red accents in the kitchen.

At the other end of the room, you can see the one design risk I took in this space. I decided to move our pair of arm chairs down to the basement and replace them with this skirted table and ottomans and tabletop tree.

I've always wanted a tabletop tree and this year I thought it would be fun to have two trees in the living room. This particular tree is 3'. It's tall enough to catch your attention without overwhelming this side of the room.

This particular tree is a plug-in and has a cord with a pedal to click the lights on and off. You can also find tabletop trees that run on batteries but I find battery lights don't shine quite as bright so I opted for one that plugs in. Just need to be wary about tripping on the cord ;)

I've decorated this tree with my smaller, more classic ornaments. I have a collection of glass egg-shaped vintage looking ornaments that disappear on a bigger tree but are just right in this instance. I've paired them with mercury glass ornaments, glittery birds, and the clear glass icicle ornaments I've had for over a decade. Those where the ornaments I bought for my first Christmas tree in my first condo and always bring back special memories.

I've styled the floating shelves with just a few Christmas accessories. The faux garland and the real wreath I made (hanging on the peg rail) add texture and colour. We don't get much natural light down here so it's nice to have a touch of greenery for the season.

I've hung one other DIY wreath on our craft room door. The craft room is our headquarters for gift wrapping, card writing, and crafting so it's a fun bustle of activity this time of year!

Sean has also used this room as his work from home office during the pandemic. The shiplap wall provides a nice background for all of those zoom meetings, ha!

I keep this room pretty true to its nautical style, so a few blue and white pillows keep it looking crisp and bright.

I've had a bit of fun styling this area though! We installed a new hand rail and pickets during our basement renovation and I knew I wanted to deck this area for Christmas.

I've used the same magnolia garlands I have on our living room mantel. Here I've accented the garland with simple black ribbon.

The black ribbon picks up on the black vintage skates and the black handle on the laundry room door. I usually use the skates to style my front porch so the blades are quite rusty, lol!  

Isn't the decal on the laundry room door cute? With the skates and wrapped packages, this vignette has charming vintage appeal

I love how joyful and happy this display is. It truly puts our family in a happy, festive mood. I hope it's done the same for you! 

Now I hope you'll hop over for a tour at April's home at House by Hoff and visit all of the lovely homes showcased this week.

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