Transformation Tuesday: Simplifying Holiday Decorating

I love all the ideas for holiday themed home decor I find on Pinterest and in the home decorating magazines. Let's just say I have home envy. I am blessed with a nice house in a wonderful neighborhood and I don't take that for granted. And we are slowly renovating said nice, but 40-year old house, so it is not always so perfectly presentable. In addition, I think my tastes have grown up (again, thanks to Pinterest) and I'm ready to release some of my older stuff for a new look. But, alas, my budget and time is limited. So my new philosophy for home holiday decorating is: Keep It Simple Silly!

When we moved, we also lost a lot of storage space. As a result, I have a keen interest in decorative products that have multiple purposes. In addition to a lack of space, with three kids, working full time and numerous activities, I also don't have time or brain bandwidth to be switching out tons of decorations each season. However, I love marking the little celebrations of life and making small changes that make life more festive.

My new inspiration is to find everyday items that can be altered in a small way to celebrate each season and reserve the big changes for Christmas.

For instance, my front entry buffet is a welcoming spot to my home. I would like this to reflect the time of year. I do this by adding a seasonal piece of framed artwork to the display and changing out the floral arrangements such as the Spring Subway Art Canvas pictured below. Sometimes I add seasonal trinkets as well. Im planning to put out cute miniature pink and blue mail boxes for Valentines.

On the sidebar in my kitchen, I have glass jars in which I switch out the "fillings" to reflect the season. I found red glittery star ornaments over Christmas and thought they would do double duty for July Fourth. During fall and winter, I fill with pine cones and add small gourds for autumn and red glass balls for Christmas. For St. Patrick's Day and Spring, I added these green ceramics and enticing green candy.

I've seen a number of great ideas for how to fill these jars for each holiday.

These plate holders in my kitchen can also be switched out with seasonal plates and signs. Right now, they hold artwork my kids created over the winter break. Note: The Sharpie on plate from the Dollar Store Pinterest trick does not work. We heated the finished project in the oven as directed but the ink washed off anyway. I managed to save a few for decoration anyway.

This adorable memo board can be switched out to highlight seasonal photos and drawings by my kids.

And  I switch out these 12x12 frames with scrapbook pages that mark the season or the birthday child of the month or whatever I want to highlight.

I also found these metal heart ornaments that can be hung up from Christmas through valentines and even reappear around patriotic holidays paired with white and blue items.

This adorable tree is a great place to hang seasonal decorations. I found these black frame ornaments during Christmas and plan to leave them hanging all year (need to actually put photos in next). I'd like to make some seasonal ornaments with the kids to add on. During advent, this becomes our Jesse tree. It looks like the kids found some beads and have already decorated for Mardi Gras.

Hand towels, place mats and salt and pepper shakers are another easy thing to switch out by season. 

Now, the front door and front porch is an area I'd like to focus on this year. There are so many creative holiday wreath ideas out there. I also love the idea of switching out a front porch sign or flag by season. Another idea is to use natural items such as pumpkins in October/November and the spray paint them white and stack them and turn them into a snowman for Dec./Jan. then toss! Brilliant. 

I'd love to hear your ideas for simple, interchangeable holiday decorations. Please share a tip in the comments below.