This BC Blogger’s Vintage-Style Holiday Home is a DIYer’s Dream

The front door’s charmingly festive holiday wreath is the epitome of DIY genius. “I made it from the sleeves of an old sweater and a Styrofoam wreath,” says Jamie. “I usually go for wreaths that are simple with lots of natural greenery, but a cozy sweater-wreath is perfect for Christmas and winter.”

“I’m obsessed with crocks,” says Jamie, who once made a Christmas tree out of these earthenware vessels. “I have one in nearly every room and use them for practical things like holding umbrellas or rolled up towels.” For the holidays, she added tied birch logs to this one in the front hall, plus greenery and a metal Christmas holder. “Because the foyer is usually bare, it’s nice to add greenery here so the decor is cohesive throughout the house.”

“The long pieces of garland are faux and the small pieces are real,” says Jamie. “I’ve had entirely real garlands before with real holly, but they died before Christmas and made such a mess with falling fir needles.” This savvy combo avoids that mess and makes a strong simple statement. “My small foyer doesn’t need bows and lights. Simple draped greenery is a beautiful way to add a touch of Christmas.”

We love how Jamie’s living room feels like a cozy cottage you want to cocoon in. “I’m glad!,” she says. “I wanted a cozy French vintage feel when you entered the room. That is the look I’m crazy about and I like my holiday decor to match my decorating style.” We do too!

Jamie continues her crock theme with these beauties that were once used as chicken feeders. “These crocks have an unusual shape, and the putty colour and black labels are so simple and vintage.” Tiny Christmas accents positioned in front of the crocks give them a holiday feel.

“This is a flocked tree and I don’t think I’ll ever go back to a real one,” says Jamie, who opted for this style after her kids were born. “With needles everywhere, real trees were too much of a worry. At first, I had a green faux tree, then a white one and now a flocked one, which is my favourite.” Their ease isn’t the only draw. “When there’s an empty spot on a regular tree, it’s very noticeable, but with a flocked tree, it’s like everything is camouflaged.”

Jamie replaced her home’s original ’80s brass-surround fireplace with this magnificent limestone-look concrete mantel and hearth. It’s embellished with faux garlands that pool onto the floor and are gussied up with velvet ribbon. “There’s actually wire in the ribbon so I can shape it the way I want,” says Jamie. We love the look and also how she repurposed a vintage sled as a wintry display for candles.

“I looked everywhere for European-looking stockings and couldn’t find any so I decided to make my own,” says Jamie. “I have the free pattern that these were crafted after on my blog.”

The mirror above the mantel gets festive with these sparkly letters, which impart just the right amount of glitz to a neutral backdrop. “Cream or white decor with wooden walls and rustic touches throughout is my favourite decorating combination,” says Jamie.

Jamie found this table on Craigslist and fell for its weathered finish. “Apparently it sat outside for years gaining this patina – it’s one of my favourite pieces.” It usually sits where the living room’s Christmas tree is, so Jamie moved it behind the sofa and gave it new purpose. “I used it to create a mini wrapping station, then tucked rolls of wrapping paper in an olive bucket underneath and added some pretty ribbons on top.”

This handsome vignette is a lesson in scale and how to layer in subtle holiday touches. Jamie says, “I brought the printer’s tray from my office and placed it here to add some height, or else the typewriter and glass terrarium would look funny beside each other.” Some extra ornaments, twine and washi tape hold up garlands to give the tray a Christmas look. Jamie’s design trick: the “snow” in the terrarium is a bed of Epsom salts.

We love how Jamie added an additional Christmas tree to her dining room. “This is where we spend the most time as a family during the holidays, and the lights from the tree make the whole room feel cozy. I found this narrow flocked one at Hayneedle and love it as much as the tree in the living room.”

We defy anyone to resist creating this amazing DIY tabletop at home. “I first put down some aluminum baking sheets from the dollar store, then a gallon of Epsom salts and bottle brush trees and jingle bell ornaments,” says Jamie. “It’s a really great conversation piece and guests just dish up food that’s spread out on the kitchen island.”

Jamie likes to think outside the (ornament) box. “Tree ornaments don’t always need to be on the tree. They make for pretty vignettes around your home too,” she says, referencing these ones on the dining table.

“I bought these glitter letters from a craft store and they originally spelled out ‘Merry Christmas.’ As such a long phrase wouldn’t fit on the green garland below, I hung the ‘Merry’ letters from twine, attached them to green organza ribbon and placed them in front of the mirror.” Their effect is festive, cheery and charmingly DIY.

Jamie adorned the dining area’s bar cart with fresh greenery for a holiday look, and to add to the beautiful smell of pine throughout the house. The bottle brush tree beneath the cloche jar is a nice continuation of the table’s centrescape and here the “snow” is cotton batting.

Even though she’s the decor expert, Jamie gives her family some room to flex their holiday design muscle, too. “I love decorating my trees a certain way, which I know isn’t fair to my kids, so I got them their own Charlie Brown-like tree from IKEA and set it in a galvanized tub in the dining room.”

Every parent knows kids love a space they can call their own, and Jamie created one for her children in this corner of the kitchen. “My kids eat and do homework at this little table every day. I added a green garland along the windowsill and put a stuffed Santa in the doll highchair for fun. It’s nice to have their little area decorated for the holidays too.”

That decoration continues to the backs of the kids’ chairs, which Jamie adorned with whimsical “reindeer feed” sacks.

Jamie’s love of natural and subtly cohesive holiday decor is evident in her kitchen, which features a few well-chosen accents. We love the sculptural addition to the island in particular. “It’s a large moose antler, naturally shedded from the wild, and it holds more greenery and candles.”

Jamie purchased the wreaths in her kitchen windows at a local hardware store. “I added green organza and striped red-and-white ribbons, then hung them from Command Strips over the two big windows.” A driftwood tree from HomeSense sits on the countertop and is complemented with pinecones and an Eiffel Tower snow globe.

Jamie is a big fan of decor that extends beyond the holidays. “I love this little twiggy tree on the open shelving in the kitchen,” she says. “Small pots of greenery around the kitchen make it so festive without being obviously Christmas. It looks so pretty to have these around all winter long.”

Jamie says she loves to bake during the holidays, and pies and cookies are her specialty. “The kids have such a fun time creating these gingerbread men cookies with me.” Bonus: they also look yummy and festive on display.

Jamie chose judicious spots for holiday decor, including the range hood, which she adorned with a frosted twig wreath. Its simple silhouette is festive without being frou-frou.

We can’t get enough of this ingenious idea, which rocks a kitchen as well as any other room in the house. A string of mini clipboards (easily attached with an adhesive plastic hook) displays classic Christmas cards and imparts that cozy vintage feel Jamie desired.

We love how Jamie created the illusion of wallpaper in her powder room by using a large stencil with grey paint on one wall. “It’s a French-inspired touch to the space,” she says. Subtle holiday touches are also in place and so is Jamie’s trademark crock element, here used as a waste basket.

A bough of fresh greens on the windowsill effortlessly and instantly channels a holiday aesthetic, and smells like Christmas. “The artwork is silhouettes of my children both at 18 months old. Framed in brushed-gold frames and linen mats, they look so nice in this room. I love the mix of golds and silvers here.”

This vignette is an eclectic mix of accessories. Jamie says, “I spray painted the twig tree gold and added greenery around to continue the smell of pine. Gold ornaments sit on a small French pottery dish I brought back from a trip to France.” For more of that French flair, watch for Jamie’s book on DIY French vintage decorating, which is set to hit stores next year.