Cozy & Rustic: Our First Christmas Home Tour in a Renovated 1900 Farmhouse
Welcome to a truly special occasion: our very first Christmas tour in our beautifully renovated 1900 Farmhouse! After years of dedication, transformation, and countless DIY projects, we finally get to celebrate the holidays in the home we poured our hearts into. Join us as we invite you inside to explore a festive wonderland, rich with cherished heirlooms, cozy knitted accessories, and thoughtful Christmas decorating ideas. You’ll also catch glimpses of our mostly DIY renovated main floor, showcasing how far this beloved old house has come.
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It’s hard to believe it’s been over three years since we embarked on the major renovation of our 1900 farmhouse fixer-upper. Each nail, each paint stroke, and every decision brought us closer to the dream of calling this place home. We finally moved in during the spring of 2021, which made this particular Christmas season feel extra special. The anticipation of unpacking all our familiar Christmas decorations and discovering how they would perfectly fit into our new, old home was immense. It was truly more than just “looking forward” to it; it was a deeply personal milestone in our journey.
Decorating this farmhouse presented a delightful new challenge compared to our previous homes. It’s certainly a different canvas from our ranch-turned-cottage, which boasted a grand mantel and two expansive bookcases flanking the fireplace – a decorator’s dream for holiday displays! In contrast, the manufactured home we inhabited during the farmhouse renovation accustomed me to fewer decorating spaces, with no mantel at all and just a single bookshelf.
This charming 1900 farmhouse, surprisingly, also lacks a traditional fireplace, wood stove, or mantel. This meant I had to adapt my decorating strategy, sticking with the single bookshelf for key displays and creatively finding other unique spots for our festive adornments. (You might be as curious as I was about the absence of a fireplace in such an old house! We later learned from a former resident that a small wood stove once stood in the original wall separating the two front rooms. However, by the time we acquired the property, all traces, including that wall and the chimney, had been completely removed.) This unexpected detail truly shaped our approach to holiday styling.
While it took a little longer this year to envision and execute our Christmas decor, spreading the process over a couple of weeks, doing a bit here and there, made it incredibly enjoyable. It wasn’t a rush, but a delightful unfolding of holiday magic, allowing each corner to be thoughtfully adorned.
There was one area, however, that we absolutely couldn’t wait to decorate completely the day after Thanksgiving (yes, I still adhere to that tradition!): the porch! I had been dreaming and planning its festive transformation for months, envisioning its welcoming glow and how it would greet our guests. Enough chit-chat – let’s dive into the photos and a video, which is the only place you’ll truly see everything lit up beautifully at dusk!
Experience the Farmhouse Christmas in Video
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A Warm Welcome: Our 1900 Farmhouse Christmas Porch
Stepping onto our porch, you’re immediately greeted by a vision of classic Christmas charm. We opted for a simple yet impactful aesthetic: all white lights intertwined with abundant, fresh greenery. This combination creates a timeless and elegant look that perfectly complements the farmhouse’s historic character and provides a truly inviting ambiance.
To add a touch of rustic sophistication, I used black and white buffalo check ribbon. This classic pattern not only serves to hang our wreaths securely but also creates a couple of charming bows that beautifully coordinate with the throw pillows on our porch seating. It’s a small detail that truly ties the whole outdoor theme together, creating a cohesive and stylish holiday statement.
This particular corner of our porch holds a special place in our hearts, adorned with cherished vintage items from Brian’s family. The old “deacon’s bench” carries decades of memories, having spent many years as a fixture in his childhood kitchen. Beside it rests an antique wooden sled, a tangible reminder of the few precious snowy days Brian remembers enjoying as a child. These pieces aren’t just decor; they are storytellers, weaving family history and sentimental value into our first farmhouse Christmas. (And yes, you can spot all the necessary cords artfully hidden to bring our porch to life with lights – a necessary behind-the-scenes detail for all that welcoming glow!)
The “JOY” crate, a delightful DIY project I completed a few years ago, is filled with more lush greenery and several battery-operated candles. These fantastic outdoor candles are a personal favorite, programmed to automatically illuminate each day, creating a continuous festive ambiance without any effort on our part. For anyone looking to achieve a similar effect, this set of outdoor candles with timers comes highly recommended – they even feature a silicone seal to prevent battery rust, a thoughtful design for outdoor use in any weather!
You’ll find more of these versatile outdoor candles nestled within a charming glass house-shaped hurricane, adding another layer of soft illumination. Look closely, and you can also spot a window candle inside – a detail I extended to ALL the farmhouse’s windows this year, and I absolutely adore the effect! (And yes, that’s our sweet little dog, wishing she could join me outside, but needing to stay warm and safe indoors. She’s always curious about the festive happenings!) Driving up to our home after dark, the sight of these automatic lights glowing warmly in every window is incredibly welcoming, a true beacon of holiday cheer. In fact, I love them so much, I plan to leave them up throughout the entire winter season, extending the cozy glow beyond Christmas.
A small word of advice based on my experience: I initially made a mistake and ordered dusk-to-dawn window candles. I didn’t fully consider the heavy battery usage from being on all night, especially combined with the fact that many of our winter days are so dark and gray they would remain lit during daylight hours. This meant replacing batteries more frequently than desired. If I were to do it again, I would definitely opt for a set like this with a timer that allows you to set them for 6 to 8 hours, ensuring they turn on and off at the same time every day, optimizing battery life and providing a perfect light display each evening.
Our front door area features plants that are permanent fixtures year-round, which I simply enhanced for the holidays. I draped them with delicate lights, added a few festive candle holders, and placed a beautiful lighted garland over the top of the doorframe. The “happy holidays” doormat, a lovely find from Target, completes this inviting entryway. The overall effect is one of understated elegance and warm welcome, perfectly matching the rustic charm and historic character of the farmhouse.
Stepping Inside: Our Farmhouse Christmas Tour Begins
As you step through the front door, the very first festive display you encounter is our entryway bookshelf. For the past few years, and especially in this new home, it has served as our charming substitute for a mantel, proudly displaying our family’s Christmas stockings. It’s also the revered spot where I’ve placed my grandmother’s cherished nativity set, a tradition that brings immense warmth and meaning to our holiday season, connecting generations through shared memories. During the decorating process, I quickly realized that we hadn’t been able to incorporate electricity into this newly created wall, which meant more creative solutions were needed! My answer came in the form of more battery-operated lights, set on timers, illuminating the shelves beautifully each day. I particularly love these flat-top flickering flame candles, which offer a surprisingly realistic glow, adding to the cozy ambiance without the need for an outlet.
The creamy white cabled stockings are a central theme for this Christmas, a labor of love that began knitting them back in the summer to ensure all five would be completed in time for the festivities. Finding a pattern that perfectly matched my vision proved challenging, so I took on the delightful task of creating my own, starting from a basic plain pattern. This creative liberty means each stocking possesses its own subtle, unique character, making them even more special and truly one-of-a-kind!
Beyond the stockings, I was thrilled to also find time to knit a coordinating cable table runner, further solidifying the handmade, cozy theme throughout our home. It truly warmed my heart to see these personal touches come to life, adding a layer of comfort and bespoke charm to our holiday decor.
To the immediate left of the entry, you’ll discover our living room, where we aimed for an atmosphere of relaxed comfort for the holidays. Here, the festive touches are kept intentionally simple and elegant. A selection of soft pillows and cozy throws invites relaxation, while our coffee table, which also functions as a footstool, features a beautifully arranged tray of decorations. This approach allows the room’s inherent charm to shine through, enhanced by subtle holiday accents rather than overwhelming them, maintaining a serene and inviting space.
As you can see, the coffee table decor is wonderfully simple and mirrors the understated elegance I strive for each year. It’s a delightful arrangement of battery-timer candles that cast a soft glow, intertwined with a mix of both real and faux greenery for texture and freshness. Small, sparkling ornaments and glittered pinecones complete the display, adding a touch of festive shimmer without overpowering the space. This curated collection ensures a consistent, cohesive holiday feel, even with fewer surfaces to work with, demonstrating that less can truly be more when it comes to elegant Christmas styling.
The only other significant Christmas display in the living room rests atop the old cabinet we repurposed for our television. This is where I found the perfect home for the charming village I hand-painted many years ago. It was a creative challenge to find a spot for them with our reduced surface area, but this cabinet proved ideal. Furthermore, all the tabletop trees I initially thought I wouldn’t be able to use also found their rightful place here, creating a delightful miniature forest scene that brings a touch of whimsical magic. Now, I even know where I can incorporate a few more if I discover them!
Initially, I arranged the houses in a single row, but as you might imagine, it looked a bit sparse and was hardly visible when seated. To remedy this, I ingeniously grabbed some books and boxes, strategically placing them to create “hills” and varying elevations. I then draped these makeshift landscapes with a piece of cream felt I had on hand, instantly transforming the display into a captivating scene. This simple adjustment was precisely what was needed to ensure the village could be admired beautifully, whether standing or sitting, adding depth and visual interest.
Looking to the right from the entryway, you’ll notice the new wall we meticulously constructed – or rather, re-established, as this space originally comprised two distinct rooms. This architectural modification created a cozy, defined entry area, opening gracefully into our dining room. The Christmas tree, a beloved center-piece, is strategically positioned to straddle the threshold between the dining and living rooms. This thoughtful placement ensures its beauty can be admired from both spaces, and it even casts a warm, inviting glow visible when driving up to the house at night, welcoming us home with its festive sparkle.
In the dining room, our chairs are adorned with charming faux cedar wreaths (a treasured find from Hearth and Hand, though unfortunately no longer available), adding a touch of rustic elegance. Above, on the chandelier, I draped real cedar boughs, a natural choice known for its longevity indoors compared to other evergreens. This combination of faux and real greenery creates a layered, authentic holiday feel, bringing the freshness of the outdoors inside to complement our farmhouse Christmas decor.
A personal joy this year has been rediscovering and hanging a beloved large three wise men ornament from our chandelier – an ornament I hadn’t been able to display since we moved from our previous cottage. Seeing it illuminated again brings back a flood of sweet memories and traditions. The DIY chalkboard I crafted also found its perfect home in the dining room, where I adorned it with the enchanting wool pom-pom wreath and garland I created a few years back. This particular DIY remains one of my absolute favorite holiday projects, and its whimsical texture adds a lovely contrast to the more traditional elements, creating a visually interesting focal point.
And, of course, prominently featured is the cable table runner I joyfully knitted to perfectly match our entryway stockings. Once I laid it on the dining table, I realized its intricate beauty deserved to be the star, so I chose not to obscure it with excessive greenery or elaborate arrangements. Instead, I opted for simple glass candlesticks, a scattering of elegant glittered pinecones, and just a few delicate sprigs of greenery, allowing the runner’s craftsmanship to truly shine and become a conversation piece. For those interested in replicating this cozy touch, I am making it a priority to create and share a pattern for this runner – it was surprisingly simple to knit, unlike its more complex stocking counterparts!
Here is a full, glorious shot of our Christmas tree this year. It’s a magnificent Noble Fir, which has always been my favorite type of evergreen, especially since it’s native to our region. While it did have a few yellowing parts, which we carefully turned towards the back, this was a common sight among many trees this year, a lingering effect of the extreme heat we experienced last summer. Decorating it is always a cherished ritual; each ornament, whether handmade, vintage, or store-bought, tells a story and brings back such sweet, poignant memories of Christmases past. To tie everything together, I added a creamy white crocheted wool garland, perfectly coordinating with the stockings, table runner, and the subtle textures found throughout the house. I’m absolutely loving how this cohesive element brings a unified, cozy feel to our entire holiday decor, making the tree truly the heart of our Christmas home.
As you transition into the kitchen, your gaze will naturally be drawn to the stairs on the left. Adding a garland to a stair rail was something I had been eagerly anticipating since we moved in – it’s the first time we’ve had stairs to decorate since our Portland bungalow many years ago! This particular project took me about three tries to get just right, using only the materials I already had on hand. In the end, the result is one of my absolute favorite elements of our new home and this festive season, embodying the spirit of creative problem-solving and making do with what you have to achieve a beautiful holiday display.
At each of the gentle swags of garland along the bannister, I lovingly attached one of the 3-D music sheet ornaments I had crafted. I hadn’t quite known where they would fit into our new home’s decor, but they found their perfect, harmonious placement here, adding a touch of vintage charm and musical elegance to the stairway. The main garland itself was made last year using creamy white felt balls sourced from Etsy, a soft and tactile contrast to the greenery, creating a rich and inviting texture.
At the base of the stairs, you’ll find our dedicated coffee bar, complete with its own sink and custom cabinets – a functional and stylish addition to our kitchen. While I still plan to install a couple of decorative shelves above the sink in the future, for now, a beautifully simple wreath serves as the perfect, understated nod to the holiday season. It’s an elegant and unfussy way to bring festive cheer to this practical corner of the home, demonstrating that even small spaces can make a big impact with thoughtful seasonal touches.
And here, we present a view of our kitchen that many of you haven’t seen before, as we only just completed the DIY stove hood a few weeks ago! This significant renovation project truly defines the space and we’re so proud of the result. For Christmas, I kept the decor light and airy: a simple wreath graces the new hood, echoing the greenery found throughout the house. On the kitchen island, a charming tray holds an enchanting collection of small, glittered “putz” style houses and miniature bottle brush trees, creating a sweet and whimsical winter scene. The entire kitchen radiates a feeling of fresh, simple holiday elegance, perfect for family gatherings and festive baking.
And with that, our first Christmas tour of the 1900 farmhouse concludes! This year, I made a conscious decision to keep the decorations focused on our main living spaces, opting not to extend them into the bathroom or bedroom. My goal was to truly embrace simplicity, utilizing only what we already possessed and what could be easily stored from year to year, fostering a sustainable and heartfelt approach to holiday decorating that prioritizes meaning over excess. I sincerely hope you enjoyed this journey through our festive home and found some inspiration for your own holiday decor. And mark your calendars – we promise to unveil complete before-and-after tours of all the renovated rooms on the main floor of the farmhouse in the new year. So, stay tuned for those exciting reveals!
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