Christmas isn’t quite here yet but it is close enough to start thinking about! If you have been reading this blog for any length of time, you know hardly anything gets quite as exciting as talking about Christmas decorating! Since I can hardly contain myself and have been counting down the days until I can start playing Christmas music, I have done a little looking to see what the trends are for Christmas in the year 2022. One of my favorite things about decorating is choosing a color palette and there are some really fun options this year.
An Overview
As far as an overview of the trends goes I am seeing three main categories:
A return to traditional Super classy and simple Cutting edge with crazy colors A Return to Traditional
This is one of the first years in a long time that I am seeing a return of the traditional Christmas color palette in a big way. Yes, red and green are traditional colors and by definition never completely go out of style but you haven’t seen these colors being featured as the main attraction. This year there is a resurgence of bright red in the Christmas color palettes—especially when paired with golds and champagnes. If you are a red fan, you can go all-out with it this year and be totally on-trend.
Super Classy and Simple
If you aren’t a big red person and don’t want the traditional Christmas feel in your Christmas decor this year, then another option we are seeing a lot of this year is green with whites, creams, champagnes, and light gold. This is a super classy look and can be paired down quite elegantly to keep things simple this holiday season.
Cutting Edge with Crazy Colors
I am not a trendsetter who enjoys being the one to push the limits but even I can enjoy some fun Christmas decorating this year in the form of neon Christmas colors. Fuchsia pink, electric blue, and bright purple are fun options that are showcasing this Christmas. I think this is a super-fun option for a child’s room!
Christmas Color Palettes That Are on Trend in 2022
So those are the main pockets of Christmas color trends but what about actual Christmas color palettes? In the traditional bucket of Christmas color palettes, I am seeing:
Red, gold, and, of course, green. Royal blue, silvers, and, of course, green. For simple color palettes:
Greens, beige, gold. Green, white, silver Green, white, gold Or basically any combination of the above colors!
For the Cutting Edge with Crazy Colors
Neon as mentioned above:
Fuchsia pink, electric blue, and bright purple Greens, silver, and lilac. I am seeing a lot of taking one main color, like lilac, royal blue, or red and running with it. The traditional colors are back, but this time they’re separated. Pick one classic and run with it!
What Else is Trending?
We are seeing a big return to pine greens this year. In the past few years, there have been lots of eucalyptus and non-traditional greens and that’s great! But traditional pine is coming back in a big way. Speaking of pine, that leads to the next trend.
Botanicals
Imagine having a Christmas greenhouse explode in your home and you’ll get the idea for the botanical trend we are seeing this year. Pine greenery, all other greenery, organic wood, and pinecones are hot this Christmas!
Velvet
Velvet has been making a comeback for a while now and, just like we are seeing lots of velvet pumpkins in the fall, we are seeing velvet Christmas bulbs this Christmas!
Go Simple by Adding a Big Bang
While Christmas vignettes sprinkled throughout your home are always lovely, try simplifying your decor with a few big “wow pieces” rather than several small vignettes. Try creating one big focal point for each room. Can you add a huge garland to your mantle and hang a big star ornament above it and call it a day? What about adding a pine garland someplace you might not usually add it—like your headboard?
Group Your Decor
If you have a collection, be it Christmas trees, a ceramic Christmas village, or candles, try grouping them all together to make a statement. This is always a good rule of thumb but it is also on trend for Christmas 2022.
I hope this helps to inspire you and get your creativity flowing for how to decorate your home for Christmas this year. Christmas is such a special time of year. I hope you can enjoy decorating your home—and then are able to slow down enough to enjoy it with the ones you love most and remember the reason for the season.
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So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.
1 Corinthians 10:31 NIV
I had a month left of my pregnancy and I was over being pregnant. I started off with minimal symptoms—I hadn’t gotten bad morning sickness or anything—but going into the third trimester I started getting carpal tunnel syndrome in my right hand and arm. My right hand was almost totally numb by the last month and at night I would get a horrible pain in my arm, a pain so severe it would awaken me and keep me up for hours.
It was after one such Saturday night that I found myself stumbling around trying to get ready for church. After finally pulling together an outfit, I couldn’t find any shoes that fit because my feet were so swollen. I found myself in a meltdown in front of my husband (remember the post where I said he is longsuffering!). To top it all off, it was time to leave—past time actually, but we wouldn’t be too late if I could find shoes that I could get on my swollen feet. As I stood there, having hardly slept, blubbering about how nothing fit, how uncomfortable I was and how tired I was, my husband, who was ready and waiting to walk out the door, mentioned that perhaps I should do church from home that day. I resisted this idea—we should go to church! But since I still had no shoes that fit, I was easily swayed into watching the sermon with my feet up at home rather than from a hard pew.
My husband left for church and I moped around for a few minutes. I was mad. I was so uncomfortable—I was mad my feet were swollen, and mad at myself for not pulling it together and going to church. I looked around, I didn’t want to waste my day being in a bad mood—I needed a distraction! The floor needed mopping and I had just enough time to do it before the church service started. So I started mopping.
There is something about using your hands and putting your whole body into something that is totally absorbing and grounding. There is something about the mundane that anchors us in a way that cannot be done through technology. There is something about experiencing the tactile world through this kind of work that can bring us closer to God. This kind of work can be done as a type of worship.
Of course I am not suggesting that we stop attending church and start cleaning during this time instead! Church and the Sabbath are important. But this particular Sunday I committed my mopping to the Lord and did it as an act of worship. I put my whole self into it and prayed while I mopped. And do you know what? I believe God honored it. I finished the mopping in time to start the service but I felt like I had already been to church and had worshiped.
There are many things we have to do in this life that we would probably rather not do; the boring, the mundane, the difficult, and the dirty things in life. It’s easy to write it all off as meaningless, pointless, worthless. It’s easy to get sloppy with it and think that it doesn’t matter. It does matter though. In Colossians 3:17 we are told, “And whatever you do or say, do as a representative of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through Him to God the Father.” We also hear this again in I Corinthians, “So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.” (NIV) We hear echoes of this throughout scripture.
So whatever you are called to do, be it boring and mundane, or exciting and interesting, do it as unto the Lord, do it as worship, and commit your works to Him.
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Can you believe that Thanksgiving is less than a month away! I wrote my posts on Fall Decorating Trends 2022, and Fall Decorating Ideas 2022 to give you some ideas for fall decorating but, if you are hosting, you might like a few ideas of how to tweak things so your decor looks a little more … Thanksgiving-ish. Sometimes it is nice to just give a nod to the fact that by Thanksgiving a lot of the leaves have fallen, and while it’s not quite Christmas time yet, it is definitely starting to look more like winter—particularly if you live in the north! Here are a few ideas to tweak your fall decorations to welcome in the Thanksgiving season. Say goodbye to spooky and hello to the time of year to be especially thankful and remembering our blessings.
First Thing First
You know what I always say is the first step before decorating—purging and tidying up! Time to put away any of those jack-o-lanterns and anything of the spooky nature. For fall, including Halloween, I like to stick to more of a harvest theme: pumpkins, branches, cornstalks, that sort of thing, rather than anything spooky. If you are someone who likes to decorate with ghosts and skeletons, now is time to pack them up.
Your Color Palette
If you do more of a traditional decor color palette for fall that consists of yellow, orange, and red, try editing down your colors. I would take out anything yellow and anything that is a super bright, fall color. By the time Thanksgiving rolls around, the colors in nature have started to fade considerably. I did a neutral fall decor this year consisting of white, creams, green, and browns and I love how this naturally lends itself to fall decor!
Mirror Nature
Another thing I always say is to mirror nature. As I mentioned before, Thanksgiving isn’t quite winter—but almost! I think mixing in a few red berries into a centerpiece is totally within reason. Items like twine balls, pinecones, and real or faux branches are perfect filler decor for this time of year. Now is also a great time to incorporate deer antlers into your décor. Antlers, also known as sheds, fall off of the male deer every winter so take a walk—you just might find some!
You can also try adding frosted greenery, or a spray of frosted berries to your decor. Play with adding these to your centerpiece or to a fall vignette. I love adding some sprays of evergreens (dried, real, or faux) to my late-fall centerpieces.
Warm It Up
This is the perfect time to pull out your white candles—be they pillar candles, votive candles, or a traditional candlestick. Remember, all of these come in battery options too, if you aren’t crazy about an open flame in your home. If you want to dress it up even more, you can place votive candles in mercury glass votive holders and thereby add some sparkle.
Also if you were waiting, I am giving you permission to pull out all the warmest throws you have packed away! Pull out those chunky knits, faux furs, and plaid throws and enjoy them!
I hope this helps inspire you to play with your decor this Thanksgiving and helps you to create a cozy home that you and your family can curl up in and enjoy as we enter this holiday season!
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Ready or not, here fall comes! I love summer so much but I have to say fall is one of my absolute favorites when it comes to decorating! I’m not sure why—I guess in my mind the season conjures up pictures of cozy comfort, coupled with the fall scents, and adorable mini pumpkins that make a decorating season that can’t be beat! Here is a sneak peek at what is trending this fall.
Tons of Texture!
Texture it always in vogue, especially in fall but this fall in particular we are seeing lots and lots of texture. We are seeing terracotta pots, braided jute, chunky throws, fuzzy pumpkins; if it appeals to the tactile senses it is in!
How to Apply This Trend in Your Home
If you have a smooth vase vs a textured one opt for the texture!
Colors
I love color! The past few falls we have seen lots of neutrals in the fall décor. Last year we started to see pastels in muted shades of greens, blues, and even purples. This year the colors are coming in with a bang! We are seeing lots of super saturated colors—think mustard yellow, wine red, emerald green, and burnt orange—lots and lots of burnt orange! Additionally, we are also seeing navy blue (I like to call it denim blue because it has a touch more indigo to it than a traditional navy blue would), plum purple and browns. Yes, browns are starting to make an appearance again. We are also seeing dashes of washed-out pinks, dusty rose, and blush this fall—again paired with neutrals and wheat tones.
How to Use This Color Trend in Your Home?
We are seeing a lot of these color trends mixed with some lighter neutrals. Mix in these saturated tones with white, cream, and beige.
Naturals
We are seeing a lot of natural materials this year: wheat, dried grasses, preserved flowers (preserved flowers are my favorite). See my post A Third Option here to read more about ways to use dried flowers, feathers, wood and terracotta.
How to Incorporate This Trend into Your décor
Loop a strand of wooden beads over a pitcher that contains your preserved flowers or your gathered flowers. Add some feathers that you found to a vignette (see my post about fall vignettes here), or pull one of your terracotta pots from outside and use it inside this autumn.
Boho
We are seeing lots of boho-inspired décor this fall. If you love boho and have always wanted to add a little bit of this style to your home’s décor, try it this fall. Try adding a macramé wall hanging or a macramé hanging plant holder to your home and see what you think.
Landscapes
We are seeing more landscapes added into the décor this fall. I have always been a fan of landscape paintings and this might just be the year I make it a point to find one. Landscapes are always a timeless element and can be found very inexpensively in thrift shops or a yard sale so, if you, like me, have always loved a good landscape, don’t hold yourself back any longer!
Odd and Ends
In summary, we are seeing lots of saturated color in all of the burnt and darker shades of orange and yellow, and all of the neutral shades from white to deep brown. Texture is huge so try adding some form of it—you could even use a brick as a riser in a vignette! Terracotta, both as a material and as a color, is hot this fall. And, saturated colors mixed with the neutrals of the past few years is what you’ll be seeing all over Pinterest! Try adding in texture with a knit throw, or a fuzzy pumpkin pillow. This fall looks to be a very cozy one so jump in and get cozy this fall!
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You know I love my historical fiction, but I enjoy nonfiction too! Below are several non fiction books that I have been reading (and enjoying!) lately!
I Guess I Haven’t Learned That Yet by Shauna Niequist
Part autobiography, part subtle life lessons she has learned along the way, Shuana’s warm and engaging prose sheds light on what it looks like to be in your 40s and uproot from the town that you’ve lived in your whole life to move across the country to New York City. There are so many new things that she and her family had to learn and adjust to life as new New Yorkers and she found herself saying, “I guess I haven’t learned that yet,” about numerous things in their new city. These lessons carry over into many instances in her life where she thought she knew something only to realize that no, she hasn’t learned it all yet!
The Home Edit by Clea Shearer and Joanna Teplin
I love a good organizing book! Almost nothing gets me as excited as a book on organizing- except for perhaps a brand new scheduler! While I know it’s not the case I think subconsciously I believe that having an organized home will give me hours of breathing room in my days- not completely true but having an organized home in which it is easy to find things certainly saves time! This book takes a look at a lot of celebrities’ home organizing projects, and therefore has a somewhat unattainable feel, ( my home would be perfectly organized too if I had custom shelving built into every room of my home!) I enjoyed the beautiful pictures as well as hearing of the author’s organizing style. A few of my key takeaways were: if you are going to invest in beautiful storage options make sure they are all cohesive otherwise while organized, your space will not look as pulled together as it actually is. And 2; I love their rainbow method of organizing and someday I am going to do this with all of my books!
Ultra Learning by Scott H. Young
In this book Young explains his method of ultra learning, a term he coined, to describe the process of throwing yourself into one project exhaustively. To be an Ultra Learner you choose one area of study and you learn about it exclusively and ceaselessly until you have it mastered. While I’m not sure this is a practical approach for everyone in every stage of life, who wishes to learn something new, I can appreciate how going all in on one subject exclusively can lead to connections and associations that otherwise might take much longer to create. I believe this book is definitely worth the read; there is bound to be a principle or 2 that you can then take and apply to your life to improve your learning skills!
How to Read a Book by Mortimer J. Adler and Charles Van Doren
I finally understand how people who have very, very, full lives can say that they have physically read a large number of books a week! In How to Read a Book , Adler and Van Doren show us how to approach reading a book for knowledge varies from one we are reading just for pleasure.the Authors show various outlines for how to read the important sections of a book so that we are getting the maximum out of a book with the minimal amount of time. I think this book would be well worth the time of anyone who is heading to college or is about to begin a project that will require hours upon hours of research.
Know Yourself, Know Your Money by Rachel Cruze
If you are familiar with Dave Ramsey and his baby step principles a lot of this book will be review… However, if you apply discretionary reading principles (perhaps the ones you learned in How to Read a Book) you will be well rewarded as to the psychological insight Cruze offers in this book as to why we spend money the way we do. We all grow up and absorb certain attitudes around money. Some of these attitudes are good, some are bad, some create good habits (saving money) for bad motives (scarcity mindset). No matter who you are or what your financial situation is, I think this is a great read to understand more about what shapes our relationship with one of the parts of our lives. Like it or not, money is a fundamental part of all of our lives, so spending a little time to ensure that we have a healthy relationship with it I believe is time well spent!
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