Deck the Dining Room with Vintage Christmas

This year in lieu of parties and guests and gatherings I thought I would focus on getting out all of my vintage Christmas collections. They needed a good cleaning, organizing and inventory as year after year I hurriedly tossed them in bins after the holidays. This year I got everything out and grouped my collections together and after years and years of collecting I was quite astonished what I had accumulated. (what else is new).

I wanted to give my vintage Christmas collections each a home within one of four rooms in this old farmhouse. I decided to decorate the living room, parlor, formal dining room and master bedroom. Aside from the kitchen this is where we spend the majority of our time at home and I wanted it to be warm and festive.

I went a little crazy with the fairy lights this year but when it gets dark so early the house just seems to glow with all the twinkling lights. It makes everything feel like it’s going to be alright to be celebrating differently this year. Joe said it best the other day that our house just seems to hold Christmas well. Maybe it’s the plaid carpet or that over 100 Christmas’s have passed in this old house but I couldn’t agree more with his statement.

It is interesting to decorate with vintage Christmas of the past. Our house from what we could find, was built in 1909 and most of my antique pieces start in the late 1800’s and go through the 1960’s. I love to think that the people who lived here before us might have purchased a brand new box of shiny brites to decorate their tree with. I’m sure they would keel over to find that a box of shiny brites now can get anywhere between $32 – $68 a box (pending condition and how old).

I didn’t want to take out all of my permanent collections like my trophies or jadeite because it took forever to get them exactly how I like them. Instead, I found ways to add in clusters of my collections into what was already there. If you have read my blog for a while you know that my go to style is stuff on top of stuff on top of stuff.

I picked up at least 4 live garlands for the house as well. I bought some at the Holland Farmers Market and some at Stems or Horrocks in town. They smell incredible and fresh around the house. I have forced myself to now avoid those sections because I can always find one more good spot for garland.

The Christmas vintage collections that the formal dining room holds is my dancing Santa’s, putz houses and brass angle candle holders. Throughout the rest of the month I will show you all of the other things I’ve uncovered in my storage bins in the barn. I have been collecting vintage Christmas for over 10 years. My biggest antiquing regret to date is not buying a trophy for a neighborhood holiday decorating competition from 1940. What was I thinking!? (I wasn’t).

See more of my collections from years past here. 

Country Living Christmas December 2017 home feature here.