Rustic Christmas Decor Charm: How To Create A Cozy Holiday Home

Discover the magic of rustic Christmas decor, and join me on a tour of our home to see how I transformed it into a cozy haven for the holidays.

The 2023 Blogger Best Holiday Home Tour

Christmas is in the air, and I’m thrilled to be part of the annual Bloggers’ Best Holiday Home Tour hosted by my friend Kelly at The Tattered Pew.

Throughout the week, over 35 bloggers from across the country will be opening their homes to you and sharing their unique holiday decor ideas.

Today, I’m opening our home to you and sharing how I used rustic decor to create a sense of coziness and warmth for Christmas.

I’m joined by four amazing friends who will be showcasing their festive homes. Each of them has put their personal touch on their Christmas decorations, and I can’t wait for you to see them all.

You can find each tour linked at the bottom of my post. I hope you’ll take the time to stop by each day and visit them all. 

Welcome To Midwest Life And Style

A special greeting and “hello” to everyone joining me from Michelle at Thistle Key Lane. Whether you’ve been following along for a while or just discovered my blog, I’m thrilled to have you here!

I’m Jen, a Midwest-born-and-raised wife, mom, and lover of all things that make a house a home. I especially love sharing entertaining ideas, including budget-friendly DIYs, easy seasonal recipes, simple table settings, and hosting tips and tricks to make every gathering special.

If you enjoy the content you see here, don’t forget to subscribe to Midwest Life and Style and join our growing community! When you do, you’ll receive weekly updates on the latest blog posts and gain exclusive access to our library of free printables.

So cozy up with your favorite mug of cocoa, snuggle on the couch, and get ready to tour our home, decorated with charming, rustic Christmas decor.

Rustic Christmas Decor Charm: How To Create A Cozy Holiday Home

Today, I’m sharing our dining room and entry with you. I had hoped to share our front porch too, however, our cold and dreary Midwest weather had other plans.

BUT, I hope to share our porch soon. And, be sure to join me again next week for part two of this year’s holiday home tour to see how I incorporated rustic decor in our living room to create a cozy Christmas retreat.

Let’s start the tour in our entryway!

The Front Entry

Welcome to our home, and the first stop on my Christmas home tour, our rustic-inspired entryway.

Our entryway doubles as our formal dining room, which means it’s also the unofficial drop zone for all the backpacks, coats, and winter gear that come through the door.

It’s a bit of a juggling act, but we’ve managed to make it work.

And while I’d like to say it always looks this tidy, the truth is there’s usually a pile of bags, sports balls, dirty socks, and a collection of other random things heaped in a pile on the stairs. (I’m sure all my fellow moms can relate!)

When the entry is clutter-free, I love to style it for each of the different seasons, and Christmas and winter is my favorite!

I love incorporating greenery and garlands into our holiday decor. Chunky knits and waffle weave throws, like the dark green one here in the basket, are also essential elements. They add a touch of warmth and coziness that makes our home extra inviting for guests.

Rustic Green, White, And Gold Christmas Decor

While I chose a more rustic Christmas decor theme this year, I still incorporated many of my favorite vintage pieces that have graced our home in years past.

I love the nostalgic feeling I get from antique holiday finds, and I enjoy using a mix of both old and new decor throughout our home.

If you’re a regular around here, you might recognize these vintage skates – and for good reason! They’re a staple in my Christmas decor, and I love hanging them from the hooks on my old reclaimed wood shelf.

Neutral decor like these skates can also easily transition from holiday to winter decor, so I like to leave them up even after Christmas has passed. 

AND…in even more exciting news, my vintage skates were recently featured in the 2023 Christmas issue of American Farmhouse Style magazine! They were included in a feature highlighting last year’s red and white holiday home tour.

These Christmas postcards are another vintage find I like to use in my decor each year. I tucked a few in a mailbox with some bits of greenery.

To finish our entry, I styled the top of my antique dresser with an old typewriter, some winter greenery, and a printed sign with lyrics to “Silent Night.”

Dressing Up Our Staircase For Christmas

Just off the entry is the stairway to the second floor of our home.

Since the stairs are such a prominent feature, I like to dress them up with some garland.

This year I also added some copper-colored satin ribbon, dried oranges, an ornament garland, and gold bells to add to the rustic holiday feeling.

Shop Our Entry

The Dining Room

Next on my rustic Christmas decor tour is one of my favorite spaces in our home, the dining room.

In the corner of the room, I repurposed an old barn door I found at an antique store years ago. I love to style it for each of the different seasons, and Christmastime is no different!

To add some holiday cheer, I adorned the barn door with a large pine wreath and nestled in faux oranges, dried orange slices, pine cones, and cinnamon sticks for a festive touch

I love the simplicity of natural accents like dried oranges, which were the inspiration behind my rustic green and gold Christmas color palette this year.

(P.s. If you want to make your own homemade dried orange slices you can see my tutorial for making dried oranges in a dehydrator here.)

Over my antique leaded glass window, I draped a rustic pinecone and greenery garland. The garland has honestly seen better days, but I love it so much, I can’t part with it!

On our buffet, I opted to keep things simple with a dough bowl, some greenery, a pair of lanterns filled with brown and copper-colored ornaments, and one of my favorite holiday signs from fellow Midwesterner, Brittany at Currently Chic Boutique.

To complement the rustic charm and tie the whole room together, I nestled more faux oranges among the greenery in the dough bowl.

And, as a finishing touch, I added a string of twinkling lights for a little extra magical holiday sparkle.

A Rustic-Inspired Christmas Tree

In the opposite corner of the dining room is one of three trees we decorate each holiday season.

I love the simplicity of our Christmas tree this year.

It’s a pared-down version of my usual Christmas home decor, featuring just a few DIY dried orange ornaments, a handful of other rustic holiday accents, and some clip-on battery-operated candles.

The candles add a warm and inviting glow, making our tree even more cozy and festive. Especially at night!

Shop Our Dining Room

A Rustic And Elegant Christmas Tablescape

One of my favorite things to share here on the blog and over on Instagram is tablescapes.

And when it comes to styling tables, there’s nothing I love more than creating a festive and inviting holiday setting.

To set the tone for my rustic Christmas tablescape. I draped my favorite realistic-looking pine garland down the middle of our dining room table.

For the centerpiece, I created a simple arrangement of three hurricane candle holders accented with dried oranges.

To add depth and texture to my Christmas tablescape, I tucked flocked pinecones and twigs into my garland, along with some brown and silver tartan plaid Christmas ornaments to create a cozy and rustic feeling.

At each place setting I placed a woven wicker charger and layered our everyday white stoneware dishes on top to help create a simple yet stylish setting for the holidays.

Pretty green and white plaid napkins tied a with holiday napkin ring and a dried orange slice add the perfect finishing touch.

And, I can’t forget about my favorite holiday craft this season. These DIY Christmas chair wreaths were so easy to make and perfectly complement the rest of the rustic elements throughout our home this year.

Shop Our Holiday Tablescape

Home Tours From Christmases Past

If you enjoyed my rustic holiday home tour, you might also enjoy some of my past Christmas tours.

Magical Christmas Candlelight Tour

Timeless Red and Gold Holiday Home Tour

Cozy and Class Tartan Plaid Holiday Home Tour

Tour More Holiday Homes

Thank you so much for stopping by. I hope you enjoyed seeing how I decorated our home for the holidays with cozy and rustic Christmas decor.

Don’t forget! There are still plenty of holiday homes to see! Next on the tour, go and visit my friend Kristin at White Arrows Home. Then check out all of the other tours linked below.

Happy Holidays!

P.s. Don’t forget to pin this post and save it for next Christmas, or share it with friends! And see more of my holiday favorites HERE.

Bloggers’ Best Holiday Home Tours

This week I am joining some of my blogging friends for the Bloggers’ Best 2023 Holiday Home Tours. Thirty talented and creative women will be opening their homes up for you to tour all week long. You can visit each home tour by clicking the links below. Enjoy!

Monday’s Tours

The Tattered Pew // StoneGable // Worthing Court Blog

Southern Home and Hospitality // Our Crafty Mom // My Thrift Store Addiction

Tuesday’s Tours

A Life Unfolding // Living Large In a Small House // Cottage On Bunker Hill

Bricks ‘n Blooms // Cottage In the Mitten

Wednesday’s Tours

WM Design House // The Ponds Farmhouse // Shiplap and Shells

Simply 2 Moms // Robyn’s French Nest // Amy Sadler Designs

Thursday’s Tours

Midwest Life and Style // White Arrows Home // White Lilac Farmhouse

DIY Beautify // Thistle Key Lane

Friday’s Tours

She Gave It a Go // Pasha Is Home // This Is Simplicite

Decor to Adore // Le Cultivateur // Peacock Ridge Farm