Oh boy, I feel like I have a lot to unpack in this post, so get ready for a photo overload. Not only will I be sharing our red, gold and navy Christmas tree, but I also have to show some updated photos of our basement. Because the last time, it was looking quite a mess! (I mean, it doesn’t look super perfect now, but we’ve come a long way). Let’s get to it!
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Okay, before we get to the lovely red, gold and navy Christmas tree:
Basement Living Room
We need to chat a bit about how the basement is shaping up. Here are some current photos:
Essentially, our raised ranch basement has a similar open living room as upstairs (the living/dining room/office). For the longest time, this space served as storage (and a workshop) for our garage.
There are still a few things that need to be better organized (I’m looking at you, under-the-stairs-storage). But for the most part, things are starting to take shape.
Considering that just under a month ago, we didn’t have a couch and the antique desk was still a mysterious puzzle. (This is how it was when we set up the tree, as you’ll see in the video).
I also recently pulled the rug out from the guest bedroom – it was bare concrete for a long time too.
Christmas Tree Assembly Video
I was hoping for a fun video showing how we/I set up the tree. In reality, it’s mostly us trying to wrangle/assemble the children as they decorate the tree…
Elephant(s) in the room: Open drop ceiling panel, random cables, boxes of lights (spoiler: there are gifts hidden in the top one!), building permit in the window (we just took it down yesterday!), concrete floors…
But let’s ignore those because this is our first Christmas in this house – you gotta start somewhere!
The bulk of our decor is right in this little zone, including the nativity scene on the shelf, our stockings and our tree. We also have a faux garland hanging on the staircase and some decor outside.
Heck, we didn’t even have a couch in this room until this week – and this is how it looks most of the time. It was my grandparent’s old couch that I inherited/requested, and my parents have been using/storing it for the last few years. It was Tootsie’s favourite spot when we visited (hence the addition of the cover). I originally didn’t want any furniture down here*, but then I realized we might need something to sit on while we open presents.
* the plan for the basement was supposed to be the “kids, go run around downstairs” room. It’s funny though since we’ve added a couch, they want to play down here even more.
Speaking of my parents, they just visited for a bit (for Félix’s birthday), and I finally figured out how to build the antique desk. And by that I mean, my dad and I had to find reference images online, and we assembled it together. It’s actually from my aunt’s house (which was an old schoolhouse back in the day). I’ve had the pieces for a few years, and the Husband painted all the metal parts green.
Fun fact, we also have some extra metal pieces (see them underneath?) – so the assembly was quite tricky indeed!
Red, Gold and Navy Christmas Tree
Anyways, let’s get to the Christmas tree!
Using the ‘ole tree, we set up our usual white feather boas and silver tinsel garland. Last year, I shared a comprehensive guide on how I decorate my Christmas tree, and that’s what we did!
This year, I had no idea what kind of ball colour scheme I wanted to do. In fact, the colours were chosen by the children.
Decorating/colour choice went pretty quickly. Zachary’s favourite colour is red, and Êlise’s is blue. I think they would have put all the colours up, but I stopped them and they focused on those. This is the ornament I bought for this year – but I hadn’t put it up yet!
Honestly, I didn’t put many of the decorations up at all! I have had to add balls again after they mysteriously “fall off the tree”, and it’s usually then where I’ll put them in a different spot.
Not sure if you can tell, but our tree was really wonky this time. The husband has hated this tree for years, so I promised him this would be the last year. I have my eye on a purple one, and I’m hoping it will go on sale soon so I can snatch it up. Otherwise, I’ll still buy it… but half-off sounds a lot better, ha!
Recreate the Look
Because we no longer have a mantel, I had to buy some stocking hangers this year. (Oh, and those stockings are new too, but I got them last year).
We have a little ledge under the window, so it was the perfect spot! Although, I have plans to beef it up a bit (and make it look more intentional), so stay tuned.
Mr Zachary also decided the order for the stockings. At first, we just had small red balls and little wood ornaments. But the steel letters are much cuter (and easier to remember).
They’re plain now, but I might paint them next year. What do you think? Keep as-is, paint all the same, or different?
Our raised ranch basement gets a surprising amount of light. Well, the back door(s) are full glass, so that lets in a bunch! Either way, it does still get dark pretty early nowadays. Even so, we haven’t had the tree on a lot yet – but I can imagine we’ll be turning it on more as Christmas gets closer.
Our Tree at Night
Nothing beats the glow of a lit Christmas tree, right?! If you didn’t know, the lights don’t work on the top section of our tree. We’ve had to string another (bunched strand) on that part, so it’s always a little different looking.
I also set out a few of the wrapped gifts (with black wrapping paper) for these photos. Spoiler: the kids are getting clothes again!
I have most of the gifts wrapped and hidden nearby. All the ones from us (the black ones) are in the storage cabinets. And again, the Santa gifts are hidden in the box near the stockings/nativity.
What do you think of our set up this year? Everything is concentrated in one little “Christmas zone”, so it’s pretty easy to take photos, ha!
Oh, and so far, the stocking holders are working well. I was worried they wouldn’t hold the weight of our stockings, but I have command strips nearby in case Santa needs a little reinforcement on Christmas Eve.
Actually, most of the stocking stuffers this year are socks (I thought that was clever!). So, they won’t be super-duper heavy.
How are you decorating this year? I know with COVID, it’s not uncommon to have everything already up this year (heck our tree’s been up for almost a month). I’m not sure if I’ll be as early to set up next year, but I will try and post about it earlier…
Because if you missed it/forgot – we’ll have a purple tree! And I even think I might know my colour scheme now. Completely different from this year :)
Happy Holidays!
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