It was a sunny green Christmas on the East Coast this year. Although we had so much rain leading up to Christmas that our garlands are sagging sadly and need some help if we want to keep them up for a couple of more weeks. I always keep my holiday decor fairly simple (inside and out) using almost exclusively all natural elements. Evergreen boughs, branches, local holly berries, paper whites, pinecones and fruit. Simple, but I can’t think of anything else more beautiful and fitting for the season - all readily available in abundance this time of year, a lot of it we forage from our own property.

Candle lights seem to be an East Coast tradition, its rare not to see them in windows of every house this time of year. I put single candle lights in each of our barn windows and triple lights in all of our house windows, on their own with no other outdoor christmas lights - so incredibly simple but the house looks magical at night when they’re on. I have to say, they are my single favourite holiday decor and every year I can’t wait to put them up and am sad to take them down.

A first snow fall early in December made for the perfect day to hike to the back of our property in search of a Christmas tree. There’s nothing I love more than the character of a wild cut tree and it didn’t take us long to find a beauty one this year. We have enough trees on our property to supply us with christmas trees for life and then some.

Room Design: Carol Reed Interior Design Inc. www.carolreeddesign.com

For the past couple of years we’ve placed our tree in the front hall because we rarely use the front door and it puts the tree in a position where we can see and enjoy it from most everywhere in the house. I loved the shape of this years tree so much and all the natural cones on it I didn’t have any desire to put ornaments on it other than lights and a bird nest we found a few years ago. I did eventually add some dark bronze coloured balls for some contrast and to emphasize the minimal concept.

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Room Design By: Carol Reed Interior Design www.carolreeddesign.com

A homemade pine wreath in the upstairs bathroom garnished with some pine cones and bayberry berries from the beach path.

Although this photo is from last year, our kitchen looks the same this year (except we have a new white apron sink) its bursting with paper white blooms and trimmed with pine garlands.

I’m savouring these few days of down time before the start of a busy new year, spending much of it immersed in a fantastic new design book cozied up beside a wood fire, purring cat on my feet. Bliss.