Decorating A New House For The Holidays Part Four: Exterior!

Decorating the exterior of the house always takes some thought and planning for me, especially when I'm living in a new house. I want the decorations to match the style of the house. In the colonial, we had window boxes and wrought iron railings and lamp posts to consider, which dictated the style. This house feels a little more cottage farm house to me, so we chose rustic and simple for the theme.

Two years ago, I decided to get rid of the fake greenery and artificial trees, simply because I was tired of packing and storing them. So now, we purchase real roping and evergreens and add lights to whatever we put out that year.

I found the sweetest potted Christmas tree at Lowe's! For fifty dollars, I have this adorable tree for my front porch that I can plant in the back yard next spring. Who knows? Maybe it will grow up big enough to hide the view of my neighbor's garbage cans! Ha ha.

We got new lights for the exterior of our house! Do you like them? I'm not sure about the scale. Do they seem too small for you? I hope we chose the right ones. At any rate, they're better than the mismatched light fixtures that were formerly on the exterior.

I added some potted arborvitae to the urns. Again, my plan is to plant these in the back. I sense a privacy screen/hedge project in our future!

I have had these grapevine stars for so many years now. I think I bought them at Frank's Nursery and Crafts for two dollars a piece (and Frank's has been out of business for years!). They look just like the expensive ones that are always featured in Pottery Barn holiday catalogs.

And here's the house at night, all lit up and sparkly.

We could have gone over the top with roping and lighting, but I wanted it understated this year.

 I purchased net lights for the bushes, and then brought them back to the store. It seemed silly to spend $45 on lights. That's money I can put to the local shelter that our church is helping this holiday. So instead, I bought warm hats and socks and gloves for those in need, and hauled out the leftover red and white lights and called it "good enough".

Merry Christmas, cafe friends!