While I stand at the stove on Thanksgiving and listen to the laughter as the kids remember past transgressions, I always start thinking about the perfect place for the Christmas tree this year. While putting the tree up will not happen for a couple of weeks, I cannot seem to wait to begin my planning. Our family traditions dictate our decorating habits during the Holiday season, and ours is putting up the tree on the 10th of December every year. No matter where we were for Christmas, and as a Military family we have celebrated Christmas in some unique places, I always begin my Christmas decorating the day after Thanksgiving.

I will get up early and start to pull out all the boxes that I have stored in the garage and choose my theme for this year. Among those boxes are ones filled with the ornaments, figurines, and decorations that will be placed around my home no matter which theme I choose. My special treasures from Christmas past, the kids’ hand-made gifts from elementary school, my Grandmothers Nativity scene which always has a place of honor atop the table in the hallway, where it stands on a brilliant gold and red area rug every year,, and the ornaments that have been purchased each Christmas to celebrate the first Christmas for each of our children, each will fill their usual places around the living room this year. One of the most treasured items is beautiful magnolia swag designed and created by my Mother many years ago; it will fill my kitchen with memories and set the Holiday mood for the entire family when it is once more gracing the walls above my cabinets.

Once the swag is in place, I will as always decide that the kitchen needs to be completed first. After all it is the heart of our home, and most of my time will be spent in the preparation of baked gifts for friends, family, and the gift baskets for the churches yearly gifts to the needy. Placing the cookie jars, and fruit baskets around the counter tops, hanging the wreath on the back door, and the candles that will bring warmth to the kitchen table each evening, with these simple touches of Christmas color, my kitchen is transformed.

The floor always receives a bright braided area rug for under the table, to catch the crumbs from all the sampled cookies, and it each year the new rug is chosen with the cranberry reds and cream colors I love so much. It is my one true extravagance each year. Since I recycle most of the Christmas decorations every year, the expense of buying new rugs for my home is my way of bringing color and freshness into the rooms, and does not quite cost as much as having the wooden floors in our home refinished. Using large area rugs, and smaller ones, I can use them as the focus for the colorful accents each room will receive, and they add warmth to cool floor surfaces that fill my home.

Whenever I feel the urge to bring in new decorations, to add to the Christmas collections, I can always find inspiration in the beautiful motifs found in the area rugs designed to fit the Holiday Season, with their bright colors and choices of prints and designs, there is no end to their possibilities as decorating aids.

Placing welcoming outdoor rugs with a Christmas motif at the entrance to my kitchen, tells everyone Christmas has arrived. Friends and family always use this entrance and it means a lot when I hear a tap and a bright hello, as someone new comes to visit bearing gifts or looking for a special treat. The kitchen is the gathering place for gossip, wonderful food, and sharing recipes with new in-laws, and teaching the grand-children the difference between semi-sweet and dark chocolate.

Christmas is a momentous time of year; it brings back memories of Christmas past, and provides opportunities to create new ones. When I decorate every year using decades of Christmas collectibles, and new items like the rugs I love to put everywhere, I bring symbols of the Season to life, and that brings joy to my family and that is the true reason for the Season.

Author Bio: Seraphina really enjoys writing about home decorating in the kitchen. And loves showing people how to use oval area rugs and other shaped rugs for best effect.

Category: Home Management
Keywords: christmas home decor, home decor, home decorating