Wow – I’ve Really Went For It!! How I’ve Decorated For Christmas Over The Years

This year I decided not to shoot and “reveal” our Christmas decor because it was the exact same as last year – I loved it that much and felt zero need to do something “new” (in fact. loving what we have used for years because nostalgia is so attached to it, you know…like normal people). I think I’ve reached a turning point which feels so good and I get to look back and LOL at how I used to behave. Pre-kids, super sponsored and while I have zero regrets, I’m pretty sure “cringe” is the word for the first few at least. This post is fun for me because it feels like past versions of me that really, really cared about doing something “new” for the internet. Holiday styling can be more experimental, especially as a content creator (did you see Marco Zamora’s new “tree” which many are commenting is actually a chandelier but I love the creativity risk!). I was literally hired to do this, first by HGTV and then by Target (for 8 years). But I can’t seem to bring myself to do the October decorating anymore, in fact, I think we’ve reached peak “starting too early”. I didn’t decorate til after Thanksgiving this year (except a few small vignettes for the gift guide photography and the art barn for a quick social campaign – ok fine, I guess I did a tiny bit) and that’s just too “late” to shoot/reveal which was fine by me. Even I was done seeing Christmas inspiration by December. I realize I’m a huge part of the marketing machine/problem that promotes/pressures us all to decorate for the holidays so early (no content creators really want their house decorated for 3 months, BTW). Cut to me next year putting a life-size blow-up Santa and sleigh on the roof (we are shooting my house decked out for an 8-page magazine spread next year), so I’m not totally immune to this desire to create wild holiday content if being asked. I guess I just took a break this year and let me tell you, it felt soooooo goood.

ANYWAY, let’s revisit when I was a truly unhinged Christmas lady.

2011: Holiday Special Behind the Scenes

This was an episode of Secrets From a Stylist and we did like 190 different DIYs for it. Orlando came up with the stencil of Joy To the World on the vintage map (yes, both vintage maps and globes were sacrificed for this shoot). Even the trees on the mantel were vintage atlas pages that we decoupaged (I think?) on cones.

I mean, it was for a literal one-hour Christmas special so we had to go all out – but ye,s we drilled into those awesome vintage globes to stack them into snowmen, then we made stands for them to keep them stable. The whole thing is just WILD. Please also note the vintage novels turned into stars (photo on the left) and huge bows out of newspapers (on the right). I think this is all just NUTTY, but I still enjoy remarking on all the wackiness we did (with like 12 production assistance, LOL).

2012: Behind the Scene of Celebrity Holiday Homes

Remember the time I did another HGTV special for Cheryl Burke and I brought in a GROVE OF HOT PINK TREES? The real winner here is the nutcracker lamp – I found it in Palm Springs, but it was super beat up so we gave it a coat of white paint (I would do anything for that lamp now – it’s so awesome).

I found a bunch of plates and bowls and spray painted them colors as pedestals (on the dining table) as well as painted dance figurines (Cheryl was on Dancing with the Stars). It looked totally nutty, I can’t even really say “good” and we obviously didn’t have a professional photographer so it’s very cringe in all the ways when I look at it now.

2012: I Decked My Halls: The Hendersons Go Holiday

OOF, again we really went for it this year (although I still love that wacky outfit I was wearing), It’s JUST SO MUCH. Thank you all for sticking with me through these years. I LOVE CHRISTMAS (this was also the time in media history when everyone was stealing our photos and using them all over the internet so we started watermarking them, LOL).

That pink art in the back says, “Ho Ho Ho, Ho”. LOL. Get it? It gets worse…

I probably spent (no joke) $300 making that wreath with peonies in December. Who does that????? And it lasted like 2 days. So dumb. And then we have the pyramid of fake presents, many of them handpainted wrapping paper. Just to look at! So much work and money!!

Admittedly I do really like this sweet little vignette with trees. My version of a holiday village (which I truly wish I had started collecting when the kids were young – so sweet).

2013: My Super Easy Holiday Cocktail Party

This was a Christmas shoot we did at the Fig House (I think I was pregnant and moving that year). I LOVED how this turned out and I think it’s actually really timeless and still beautiful.

This is when I started decorating with so much copper/rose gold (well, me and the rest of the world). I still love it.

I had my first baby, Charlie, on December 7th and we had moved in 2 weeks before. So we didn’t do much for Christmas that year. We had this huge tree with lights and some simple ornaments, as it was before my ornament collection passion that has yet to wane.

2014: California Winter Wonderland Glam

Ok, so this was year one of my Target partnership and my job was literally to go all out so that it could be picked up by more press outlets. As a reminder, Instagram had just launched (pre-Reels or TikTok, obviously) so brands really relied on larger press outlets to help get eyeballs on their product (whereas now TikTok or IG influencers can get the same amount of eyeballs in one quick story). My job was to do something fun and wild so that like AOL or Domino would run the story.

Can’t say this looks that good, but I did go “all out” like the brief asked. I miss that house (and still have almost all of that artwork). I remember that year there was faux snow, like EVERYWHERE and I was so happy to pack it all up.

2015: 12 Days of Instagram With Target

This year I decided to “restrain” myself a bit, but working with Target I still wanted/needed to show their new product. I was clearly into hot pink.

2016: Decorating For the Holidays – Family Friendly Style

This is still one of my favorites ever, and we actually still have a ton of these cuter kid-like holiday decor that the kids put in their rooms. I LOVED how this turned out (and man I miss that green vintage rocker). I kept that handmade wood horse rocker, though. Still hoarding that for one of our kids someday.

So cute. I miss that house a lot:)

2017: Our Living Room Holiday Reveal

Then we moved into our English Tudor in Los Feliz and my life was so overwhelming at the time that I wanted the design to be way calmer – clearly just blues and greens, with hits of blush). I liked it at the time, but admittedly it’s a bit boring.

It was fun and sweet but not too visually chaotic, which was what I was going for.

This was the year that I decided that I would do real garland outside, faux inside. Part of it was because I had to hang them so early (likely in early November or even late October) so as you can imagine the mess from the pine needles was out of control. Also, admittedly, I didn’t need quite so many! I also hated that tree, LOL.

2018: My First “Refined Traditional” Holiday Look…Target Style

A quick trip up to Portland where I shot that year’s Target content. Turned out pretty darn cute, but maybe a bit too curated for me, now.

2018: How We Decked Our Halls for Christmas

Back to LA that same year where I found my dream real tree (so wide, perfect for that big window).

I really loved how this looked – I used a ton of twinkle lights everywhere which made everything glow at night.

2019: Our Living Room, Dressed Up for the Holidays (With a ‘And How I Feel About It’ Running Commentary)

I forgot about this one! This was right before COVID, BTW. I like the darker hits everywhere. This was fairly livable and at this point, we were going up to the mountain for Christmas break (renovation had just been completed and it was a white Christmas up there so I remember it being very magical).

Yah, I’m still into this one – not as joyful as I like now, but I like how it’s styled and shot. This was our last Christmas here before we moved to the mountain house for COVID, sold this house, and moved to Portland.

2020: Our Scandinavian (And Easy, Mess-Free) Holiday Living Room Reveal

This was our lockdown Christmas and yet the debut of this house for Christmas. So I did a more restrained Scandinavian tree in the living room which I loved. It was really warm and cozy even though it was so neutral.

I loved this version (and this is how it’s styled for our Airbnb guests, for the most part).

Also 2020: Emily’s “Messy” But FULL Of Memories Christmas Family Room

Why I didn’t put Christmas art on The Frame TV is beyond me 🙂 This room was where we watched every holiday movie during lockdown (and where I and the rest of the world re-discovered the joy of the generic and predictable holiday movie).

This is the year where I really really leaned into turning our tree into a scrapbook of our lives – buying ornaments for every trip, for every milestone, for every hobby, every tooth lost. My ornament collection is worth more to me than anything else we own, TBH.

2021: Rental House Year…No Photos:)

LOL. I was depressed this year, living in the rental house was hard so we didn’t even pretend to shoot it.

2022: Holiday Around Our Farmhouse – This Year “Done Is Better Than Perfect”

Our first year on the farm was fine but I didn’t nail it – just felt ok but a little cold and sad.

I realize that my “phoning it in” is a lot of people’s extreme effort, so I don’t want to give this Christmas any shade, it just was kinda cold in person so I vowed to try harder the next year.

2023: The OFFICIAL First Farmhouse Christmas!

By 2024 we had our sofas, which helped, and I brought in way more sparkly lights, greenery, and color (blues and greens and a ton of pops of deep reds and purples).

And that’s where we are at this year, too. By next year the fireplace will be painted, there might be a couple of new pieces of furniture that I’ve designed and maybe even I’ll get around to painting a scandi pattern on the beams in the living room. But without any real changes, these photos look almost identical to how it is this year.

I hope you enjoyed going down memory lane like we did. I feel soooo lucky to have these photos of each year because it really was a snapshot into my life – both stylistically as well as where we were living, what my mental space was like, etc. We’ll be a little spotty for the next couple of weeks (posting many days, but the whole team is taking two weeks off to enjoy our lives :)) Come back Saturday to read how I told our kids about Santa (it didn’t go well). Parenting regrets abound this time of year!! xx

Opening Image Credits: Photo Kaitlin Green | From: The OFFICIAL First Farmhouse Christmas!