After my live video tour on Facebook yesterday, where I gave you all a little look around Baylyn House & showed my festive decor, I thought it’d be a good idea to follow up with a blog post to answer any questions I may have missed & tell you all where everything was from.
Last year was our first year at Baylyn House & I blogged about how I had found it really hard to get it looking ‘just right’. It just wasn’t me & it didn’t really suit the house. This year we’ve had some BIG changes which you’ll notice if you compare 2015’s Christmas tour to this years; we turned our leaking conservatory into an extension which meant our lounge moved out here, what was our lounge turned into our dining room & our dining room became a playroom.
To see last years post click here. As you’ll be able to see, it was very traditional with golds, reds & greens. Not really my style but I thought ‘Hey, it’s Christmas, I can’t be beige & boring!’
Fast forward to this year & I feel like I’ve wrapped Christmas around my little finger. My decor may be a bit too neutral for some but it’s definitely hit the Scandinavian inspired trend on the head which I’ve seen many others embracing this year & it’s really come in to it’s own.
Lets start this tour from the front door & work our way in.
First up is this (if I do say so myself…) gorgeous wreath that I made at a brilliant workshop run by Rock My Wedding supplier Clair Lythgoe. I was going for an oversized messy/rustic look which I think I achieved & it looks just perfect sat on Baylyn House’s 1880’s wooden front door painted in Farrow & Ball ‘Manor House Grey’.
Taking you inside, not much has changed in the hallway since last year on the decor front as we’ve kept the handrail garland from last year.
Going in through the kitchen door leads you out into the main living area, as we’re very open plan you can see all the festive decor including the Christmas tree which was my main aim when choosing where it should be positioned.
In the kitchen I’ve placed a garland over the top of the tall kitchen cabinets then decorated the ‘aeroplane wing’ on the island with a prelit wreath & hurricane candle holder in the middle. You’ll also see similar on my Laura Ashley tablescape I wanted two lots for the table as one would get lost with more than 4 people PLUS, how gorgeous does it look here too? I found the ‘NOEL’ letters in The Range a couple of years ago for around £4.00 & the little silver star battery powered lights are M&S.
Leading into the dining room you’ll see my tablescape in collaboration with Laura Ashley which I’ll be taking to my sisters for Christmas day. She’s hosting us so it’ll be 10 adults & 6 little ones (good luck to her…) but I was tasked with the festive table so this is being packed up & reset up at her house. To see the full guest post, including tips on how to set the perfect Christmas table, head to my guest post here.
Finally you’ll see the gorgeous Christmas tree that is new this year. Our last tree was lovely, but a few years old & was the traditional PVC needles rather than the new PE which are SO much more realistic. I did have my eye on the £450.00 The White Company tree which made my heart flutter but it was quite expensive & sold out really quickly.
I decided that if I couldn’t have that tree then I wanted a real one. I’ve always loved the idea (& that smell!!) but husband was so against it due to the needle drop issue. I eventually decided he was probably right as the positioning of it would mean it’d be right next to 2 radiators so it’d probably be bald by Christmas day.
I tasked myself to recreate the tree from The White Company, but on a smaller budget.
I found the wicker tree skirt for £11.99 from Longacres garden centre (& should be on commission for the amount of sales they must have got from people purchasing through my Instagram stories/comments!) & then this beautiful prelit 7.6 foot Thetford Christmas tree from B&Q which was £190 but I managed to find a 20% off discount code online. It was SO easy to put up (including no faff untangling those pesky tree lights!) & is incredibly realistic looking.
Baubles/decoration wise I went with a mixture of crackled silver, white & glass. These were either from The White Company (can you sense a theme…), The Range or B&Q.
I also discovered ‘Sentsicles‘ sticks which are INCREDIBLE!! I hooked a couple on & refresh them every week or two. That gorgeous real Christmas tree smell but without all the hassle. The ‘Winter Fir’ smell is most realistic but they do other scents too.
Dotted around the lounge you’ll see a few other festive bits including this silver Christmas tree candle holder from Homesense along with the gorgeous set of 3 Christmas tree ornaments from Culinary Concepts which I recently did a giveaway on Instagram for.
Finally, my new footstool which takes pride of place in the centre with a tray (including stand to make it into a table!) from Pretty Little Home decorated with candle holders from TK Maxx, some pinecones, a stag snow globe from Laura Ashley, some magazines & the scent of the season, The White Company’s ‘Winter’.
How do you decorate your home for Christmas? Last year I asked everyone to hashtag #thehomethatjingled & loved seeing your pictures so if you’d like to get involved then make sure to tag me in your pictures on Instagram.
Love,
Hi Charlotte – love the site! where is your fabulous new footstool from?