The big elephant in my living room is the wall unit that takes up the whole wall in one end of the room. It is big and tall and has lots of room for decorating. And I always try to please it by filling it up! The smartest thing I ever did was to flip all of my books around and so now I have a neutral canvas to add all the decorations I want.
Let’s begin at the top. I have one of those spot light units on the ceiling and it is perfect for hanging things. Last year I had hung globe ornaments in red, but this year I am trying to eliminate red as much as possible. These globes were painted green with acrylic craft paint. I love being able to transform things without having to spend money. I just buy a bottle of the paint and I have it for months.
Thank goodness for my friends who inspire me because now I feel that the room is really done! Maybe even over done, but that’s okay because if you can’t go overboard on Christmas, when can you?
Moving on we come to the middle shelves. Do you see those tall white objects? We have taken to calling them the Empire State Buildings in our house.
And that little tree, it is a thread spool. I wrapped some green velvet fabric around it and placed it on a base which I had painted white. The base is from another broken snow globe…. are we seeing a theme here?
The handle of the basket has been wrapped with a string of tri-colored beads. Those beads have been with me forever and I reuse them every year. Timeless!
And placed on my Chivalrous trunk is the natural wood centerpiece switched out for Christmas. The box holds an assortment of sentimental Christmas cards. And in the place of honor is my sweet Pumpkin man.
The trunk was a hot mess but I decoupaged it with book pages last year and it made a world of difference in the look. You see how easy it is to transform something without spending a ton of money and you have the satisfaction of knowing that you actually made it yourself. The trunk is one of my most cherished pieces in the house.
The red tree topper is a pretty piece of paper rolled into a cone shape. Easy peasy!
I hope you have enjoyed my living room tour. And if you’d like to see what my living room looked like last year, take a peek here. I’ll be back next week with some more and I want to show you the spice rack vignette. Do you re purpose your existing decor or do you buy new things each year?
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Hi Mary, i hope you are sitting in your Christmas living room and finding the time to enjoy it! What fun to surround yourself with meaningful and fun repurposed items. I wish you and your family a wonderful Christmas!
Your decorations are lovely and it’s great how it cost so little to do everything! I spend far too much on new decorations every year! Merry Christmas!
I try not to spend money on these things. And also I think it is a shame that we buy so much stuff and then throw it out.
Oh wow, Mary!! You’ve gone all out for your Christmas decoration, haven’t you! I love everything – but especially the spice rack vignette, the framed Christmas card (so simple but ingenious) and of course the dangling keys because they actually remind me of Alice in Wonderland 🙂
You really did put so much thought and effort into this. And your little emergency DIY reminded me to make a snow globe with a jam jar some time….
Sending you some love!
Maisy
Maisy everything is DIY in my house and I hate to spend money for decorations when I can repurpose things.
Those keys stay up all year long they are so much fun to look at.
I love every one of your ideas. As I read this I kept thinking, I like this one, no this is my favorite. They all are. Your house looks great.
I’ll tell you a little secret. My house looks exactly like this right now. I haven’t had time to take anything down yet. We are living in eternal Christmas!
You know Mary, there’s a lot of inspiration out there in blog land, but few are as inspiring as your blog. You really know how to create something pretty and useful from items most of us wouldn’t give a second look to. The garland is so pretty and unique!
xxx
Wow. I really enjoyed the tour. Everything looks beautiful. I especially liked the framed Christmas card in the green frame. Looks so nice. And the empire state buildings! Looks like art pieces. 🙂 Have a Merry Christmas!!!
Thank you Krista. There are so many easy ways to change the look of your home without spending any money at all. I hope your Christmas was wonderful.
These are great ideas! Your shelves really are a canvas and I love the idea of turning the books around.
You are the real deal recycler, Mary. Most of us borrow that word just because our projects include an old piece, but then we go and spend a fortune on brand new supplies and accessories, not to mention the waste in the process.
Great job as always 🙂
Merry Christmas!
Everything’s looking so festive, Mary! Loving your new fabric garland and the painted table leg accents. Thanks for linking up with Vintage Charm, and Merry Christmas!
I really liked that you use white with splash of colors! the keys are the vest decoration I’ve seen this year! Well done!
Mary, I like your wall unit. The books don’t bother me. The way you have it arranged makes it look interesting, & if I was there, I would be looking closely at every little thing, and wanting to read the titles of your books.
Just wondering why you don’t want red in your decor….
Like the globes hanging from the ceiling. I like that you are using what you have. Me, I use the same things every year, trying them out in different places in the house. I don’t do much repurposing, mainly b/c I don’t think of an idea.
Florence it was an experiment. That’s all. I had plenty of red last year and was trying to go for a different look. Last year it was an apple red that I used extensively. This year I wanted to do green and white. Florence it’s just me challenging myself to see what I can come up with. I hope that I’ve given you plenty of ideas because I hate shopping for new things too.
You have made and repurposed so many lovely things Mary. My favourite is probably the fabric scraps garland, that looks so classy and I’m also a sucker for a good fabric scraps project! #HandmadeMonday
Mary, your creativity and resourcefulness never cease to amaze me.
I love the buildings…very creative and invokes the feeling of a city Christmas! How very Miracle on 34th Street!! (One of my favorites!!)
Those are my favorites too Kim. The empire state building.
Mary, your home looks so beautiful all decked out for Christmas!! I like the greens and neutrals you’re going with this year. I just reuse what I have each year with the exception of the new ornaments for the kids and me and hubby. I don’t really have a lot of Christmas decorations. Hopefully over the years I can make more like you have done here and just repurpose the things already on hand. I really like your tassel garland and your use of the blocks of wood to make fun decor. You did a wondeful job Mary!
Keri I think it is such a waste of money to buy new decor each year and contribute to the landfill. It is so easy for us as DIYers to make our own and fill our home with beautiful handmade things that have special meaning.
Mary you did a wonderful job making your living room look pretty for Christmas! Your blue, white and silver color scheme is so timeless and I like how you re-purposed decorations you already had, even the pumpkin!
Life is getting busy for me so I’d like to wish you a very Merry Christmas in case I’m not online much next week.
Although a bit late I am replying to all the comments and I also hope you had a wonderful holiday Pat. Thank you for your ongoing support.
You never run out of ideas, Mary! Nice save with the snow globe! I think my favorite is the spice rack! Brilliant idea! And the pumpkin man survived! Ha! You decorated your little heart out, no wonder you were so busy lately! Now you can sit back for a while and enjoy! Happy holidays, my friend!
I really had a lot of fun this year Jas. The more I repurpose things, the more I find other things to repurpose. It never ends. haha!
Oh, Mary! I love how your scrap fabric garland turned out! I don’t think it is possible to “over do it” at Christmas and in your case I think it is just perfect. I love the idea of using the back of the canvas…is that a Mary Englebreit print? I have had a fascination with her work for over 20 years and it looks lovely in your room. I am so glad that we have become bloggy friends! Merry Christmas!
Jolena, thank you for the inspiration. Adding that garland made such a huge difference to the room. It really adds coziness and warmth to that behemoth of a wall unit. I don’t know what the print is, it is just a Christmas card that we had which I display every day. I think some of these cards are works of art in of themselves and I love displaying them all over the house. I too am glad we have become friends. I hope you had relaxing holidays.
Mary I repurpose a lot and I bought some things new this year, but really only a few because repurposing is so much fun!! How cozy and lovely is your living room Mary! I love all your details and that they all have a story! I want those empire state buildings too, they are so great and that house you drew, I love it! Your garland is perfect for the wall unit, it looks great! I’m sure you’ll enjoy this room a lot with your family!!
Katrin when I figured out what I was going to do with those empire state building wood pieces I was so excited. Sometimes the silliest things will make you giddy!
Mary your decorations are lovely,I love your sitting room its so inviting and cosy.Happy Holidays
Thank you so much Mary. I may sometimes go overboard but I love that cozy feeling especially in the winter when the fireplace is lit.
It’s so much more fun to re-purpose, and by the looks of things you’ve been having loads of fun re-purposing all your red Christmas decors and table legs 😉 And it;s so nice to see Mr Pumpkin man again. I missed that little guy. Where’s he been hiding Mary?
I was truly a re purposing queen last month Michelle. I didn’t want to spend money on things I won’t use again.
Mr. Pumpkin man has actually managed to survive all these months. It is mind boggling.
While all the latest trends are beautiful to see, I personally love the repetition and tradition of bringing out the same decor year after year. Love how you’ve pulled your all together. Pinned 🙂 .
Thank you Jane. I cannot see changing things to such an extreme that it does not look like your home at all. I always try to reuse everything.
I loved the hanging globes Mary! Great upcycles!
Mary, you are the Queen of decorating for any occasion with fabric. Those cool salvaged wooden legs really do like NY skyscrapers – love that idea! I also love how you display sentimental Christmas cards from years gone by. I have several but keep them stored in my Christmas card writing box…that is changing today! Framing Christmas cards is a great idea too. I chuckled when I saw that Paranoid Man has been invited to the holidays and moved up the ranks to “Sweet” Pumpkin Man. Wishing you and yours a Merry Christmas, Mary! xo
Marie I love Christmas cards. Some of them are so beautiful like little pieces of art. I just went through my son’s stash and boy oh boy! He has some beauties.I can’t wait till next Christmas to display them. Look at me already thinking about next year!
Great decorations and tips! Love the centerpiece against the green velvet! Happy Holidays!
Sarah Bell
Trendy & Tidy
Hello Mary,
this post is so full of lvely ideas. I especially like the idea of flipping a canvas over and adding a Christmascard.
Have a lovely day!
Marjan
A lot of the ideas are very easy to do but they make a huge difference and when the holidays are over you can just reuse the canvases in the normal way.
Love your unique Christmas! You come up with the neatest ideas! Hugs and blessings, Cindy
Thank you so much Cindy. I always try to find new uses for what we have around the house. I hope you had a wonderful and relaxing holiday season.