Do you love to be HOME for the holidays as much as I do? I'm thrilled to welcome you inside our holiday home.
Please come into the living room, I've started the fire, let's sit and have a cup of coffee or tea in here.
This year, our theme at FrenchGardenHouse is A PARISIAN NOEL. It sounds very fanciful, but really it just gave me a little bit of a "theme" to stick to.
I love Christmas so much, and celebrating the birth of our Savior, that if I don't reign myself in, I can go a little crazy. {shocking, I know!}
Every Christmas brings a new opportunity to reinvent our decorations at home, using different techniques, colors and themes. This year, since I received my new Tree, I decided to decorate in a totally different way, with colors and ornaments that look like French jewelry.
I was blessed with this gorgeous 9ft. Evergreen Snap Tree, by Tree Classics.
I'm so happy to be joining some of my most special designer friends again this season for our bHOME for the Holidays Home Tour. My bHOME friends always inspire me with their creativity and the beauty they create in their homes.
Also, it's a thrill to sponsor the GIVE-AWAY for this tour. Make sure you read all the way to the bottom of the post to see how you can enter to win a $250.00 gift certificate to our own FrenchGardenHouse!
If you are joining me from any of my other friend's gorgeous holiday homes, WELCOME. If you’re a regular, I’m so glad you’re here. For all of you who aren’t quite sure how you ended up on this tour, I hope you’ll feel at home and join me at FrenchGardenHouse again!
At the bottom of the post, I will be sending you on to all the other holiday home tours. {And a source list is included at the bottom of the post.}
In the living room, our cathedral ceilings make smaller Christmas trees look really small. So I opted for a 9 ft. tree again. I added gold glittered fern and leaf picks to really catch the glittering lights, and they glimmer and glow in the evening. My colors echo a Parisian jewelry box, rich metallics, deep reds, and brilliant blues and aquamarines.
To personalize our tree, I added antique French Crowns and Tiara's. Because you knew that there would be some antiques on the tree, right?
This year, I set up a small table in front of the tree for afternoon tea with a friend. Or a romantic dinner with John.
I decided to go all out and set it with an antique lace tablecloth, garnet red KPM dinner plates, antique French silver, ruby flashed glassware and my favorite red embroidered linen napkins.
Because Christmas is the perfect time for a little all-out romance, and using the most beautiful things you own.
Here is the little table set up with some antique silver pieces, to be used for a small luncheon.
On the opposite side of the room {you can see the tree in the antique French gilt mirror} I displayed one of my favorite antique Christ child figures.
From an old cathedral or church, wearing his original crown and velvet clothing, isn't he so beautiful?
I always try to display something beautiful on our antique hand painted sideboard in the living room. The windows on the other side and the tree usually capture everyone's attention, but this little area is another place where our antiques really shine, especially during the holidays.
What I love most about this antique religious figure, is that he carries a lamb on his back. I, like many of you, have a complete "thing" about sheep.
And this one? This symbol of the Lamb of God, is especially precious.
The antique "Napoleon" Mannequins from France are also simply dressed for the holidays.
On our coffee table this year, I placed a vintage Florentine tray holding an antique crystal biscuit jar with a simple bouquet of winter white roses with seeded eucalyptus. A few Christmas ornaments and one of my favorite signature candles is all this needs to add a simple grace note.
My flowers during the holidays are always white. They are calming, and you can never have too many fresh flowers.
And I added some greens to the antique French basket on top of our armoire too. The first picture shows it "in progress" - I decided I needed more greens!
I dressed the mantel in the living room dressed simply with greens, two topiaries in black French urns, and a stunning 17th century madonna & child. Bought on our recent buying trip to Italy, this is such a precious piece.
While they are still mine before a lucky client purchases them, I'm displaying them in their full glory on the mantel in the living room.
Do you have a favorite scent that reminds you of Christmas? For me it's the scent of our FrenchGardenHouse Holiday candle. Perfumed with the fresh scent of fir needles and fir balsam, cedar wood and grapefruit, the fragrance flourishes into holiday orange, eucalyptus and bergamot. Everything about it says "holidays!"
I am probably the biggest consumer of these candles, I light one in the early afternoon and keep it lit until we go to sleep in the evening.
I'll let you peek into my "secret" wrapping room, but don't tell anyone what you see in there!
I decorated the French gold mirror with a dried rose-leaf garland, and an over-sized holiday decoration I love. It's covered with real German glass glitter, which really makes it sparkle when the lights are on in the evening.
Our gifts are wrapped in gold and white this year, with gold ribbons and embellishments. I'm adding gold leaf picks, tassels with a lot of sparkle, or glass ornaments to every package as a special surprise.
{A beautiful stack of gifts is also a perfect and easy holiday decoration in your guest room or entryway.} Our Parisian Atelier ornaments and tassels are almost sold out, but we're expecting another parcel of tassels in silver from the Atelier this week.
Here is what our living room looks like after dark. The tree all lit up truly sparkles!
I hope you have enjoyed this little glimpse into our holiday home at FrenchGardenHouse. I'm not done decorating yet, I'm still sprinkling little holiday touches around the house.
You can see what I've done to the mantel now that our fresh garland arrived HERE {I like to play around with several options for our mantel before making a final choice!}
I'll be sharing some of our other rooms over the next two weeks with you.
Antique French Pink FleurdeLis Crown | Vintage Art Deco Salt&Pepper Set | Antique Silver Server | Vintage Silver Plate Bonbon Server
Signature HOLIDAY Candle | Gorgeous Holiday Paisley Napkins | Parisian Atelier Gold Tassel Ornament | Moi et Toi Glasses
Enter to win a $250.00 Gift Certificate to FrenchGardenHouse.com just in time for the holidays. It's easy!
All you have to do to enter is visit FrenchGardenHouse.com and tell us what antique has captured your heart in the comments. You can get extra entries for following @FrenchGardenHouse on Instagram,and FaceBook too.
Just tell us in the comments, we trust you! The give-away is open to readers in the USA and Canada. Good luck! Winner randomly chosen on 12/7 and notified by email )
I hope you are having a beautiful week, decorating your home for the holidays and enjoying this heart-warming season.
BE SURE TO VISIT MY FRIENDS FOR MORE HOLIDAY INSPIRATION!
French Garden House
If you missed Thursday's line up
If you missed Friday's line up
66 comments
I love the Antique Minature silver French Art Nouveau Table Jardinere, the floral details, the elegance of the lines, just beautiful. There are more then this one that caught my eye, but this one is truly beautiful.
I love the surprise of seeing the beautiful crowns decorating your tree. Especially in the pink Fleurdelisé crown. The entie house is like a Christmas dream.
I think the hand carved rose wood curtain tiebacks speak to me. I wonder whose hands have touched these over the years and the beautiful homes and families they have served.
Cindy, I LOVE this! Thank you for blessing me with this, I love the idea that you will display your grandmother’s statue! xo
Lidy, I love your entire house. It is beautifully decorated for Christmas!I love the antique Christ child figure. It has such a presence in your home! Have a blessed Christmas!
Thank you so much for giving me the idea of displaying on my mantle a religious statue inherited from my grandmother not only at Christmas, which is such a special time, but also throughout the year. I look forward to your posts and always take away so many wonderful ideas. I wish you and yours an abundance of blessings this holiday season!
Your home is gorgeous. This my first time on your site. For Christmas I especially like the antique religious figure carrying the lamb and the way she is looking up to the sky. I love your cabinet with glass doors next to the fireplace. Truly a lovely piece! I also really like the gold mirrors in your pictures and the one you use as a tray. Love that idea.
Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays from my family to yours!
The Madonna and child on the mantel are my favorite all though the other decorations through the house are lovely.
Norma, thank you. I wish you the happiest of holidays!
Oh my what inspiration!!!! Your home is beautiful!!! I have visited your store… I could not pick just one thing everything is beautiful if I could I would get one of everything…God bless.