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Christmas Dining Room: When No Guests Are Expected

Normally when I share my Christmas dining room here on the blog, the table is festively set as though guests are expected to walk in the door at any minute. Today, I’m showing what it looks like now when it’s just hubby and me at home. A little bit of green and sparkles, but nothing over the top. (This post contains affiliate links – see my privacy policy.)

Christmas Dining Room in an 1875 House

I do like to keep the dining room subtly festive this month to keep myself in a Christmas spirit. But for some reason, when the Christmas trimmings come out, the kitties think I’ve created an ultimate playground for them to enjoy and decorations are found in strange places each morning.

This year, I kept the same tasseled runner on the table that was there through the fall season. I swapped out the cement bunnies for a collection of bottle brush and wooden trees. The chandelier gets the expected strand of garland that I wrap around the base. It takes just a few seconds to do this.

Christmas Dining Room in an 1875 House

 

The cats have already knocked the smallest bottle brush tree on the floor a few times already. They do it in the middle of the night when I can’t see who did it, so no one gets in trouble. My Christmas tree is in the background creating a special glow. It looks lovely at night when the lights are reflected off the window behind it.

Bottle Brush and Wooden Christmas Trees on a Round Wood Platter

 

Here’s a view from the other side of the Christmas tree centerpiece.

Bottle Brush and Wooden Christmas Trees on a Round Wood Platter

 

In years past I’ve set up an entire Christmas village on the console table. This year, in my quest to scale back, I simply put a wreath at the base of my snake plant, added my new, vintage amber pickling jar, and finished the far end with a few bottle brush trees. Bottle brush trees are a lifesaver when making holiday decorating as easy as possible. They’re not expensive, and they look good no matter where you put them.

Dining room console table decorated for Christmas

 

The vintage mirror reflects the lights of the tree on the other side of the room, while my vintage amber pickling jar is filled with golden Christmas ornaments. The photo doesn’t do the jar justice, and that decorating touch was a bit of an accident. While decorating my tree, I put some of the gold ornaments in the jar to keep them from rolling off the table before hanging them. I liked the way it looked and left them in the jar.

Amber pickling jar filled with gold Christmas ornaments

 

I kept the same, simplistic decorating philosophy when I turned my eye toward the dining buffet. It also has a snake plant with a wreath at the bottom of the pot, along with two other simple vignettes.

Dining room buffet decorated for the Christmas season

 

I had a stack of small, white ironstone oval plates in front of my vintage mirrors and love the look of their simplicity. So all I did to give it holiday cheer was to add a pair of light-up ceramic houses and a bit of greenery. Done! Well, the light in the smaller house isn’t working so hubby needs to see if he can remedy that.

Light-up ceramic Christmas houses with a stack of white ironstone plates

 

My mini ornaments are cradled in a heart-shaped wooden bowl to finish off the buffet. It took me less than 5 minutes to decorate this area. In fact, it took more time digging the stuff out of the attic! But honestly, I wasn’t looking for anything in particular. I just hauled out boxes with stuff I thought I might use and put the rest back (which was a lot).

Mini Christmas ornaments in a wooden heart bowl

 

On Saturday I’ll share my sitting room, which looks into the dining room. It’s what I’m featuring for my “cozy living” series that’s held the first Saturday of each month with some blogging friends.

Modern Country Christmas Decorations in an 1875 House

 

I hope you enjoyed my quick and easy approach to my Christmas dining room when it’s just hubby and me at home. If guests are coming for dinner, the table is set with a holiday theme. I’ll soon share my Christmas tablescape because I’m excited about some new, inexpensive soup/salad bowls I found! It’s the simple things in life that make us smile, right?

 

See More Christmas Dining Room Ideas:

Christmas in a Farmhouse Kitchen

Creative Christmas Dining Ideas

Farmhouse Christmas Dining (this is an old post!)

Christmas Floral Chandelier in a Breakfast Nook

Eleven Christmas Table Setting Ideas

 

 

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8 Comments

  1. I love simple elegance!! This dining room is definitely that. It’s beautiful and I love your dining buffet cabinet. Happy Holidays!!

  2. I used the same method for our Christmas decorating this year. Just used a few things and everything else stayed in the Rubbermaid tubs and went back into storage. The house looks simple, but festive. Love the look you have created this year!

  3. Simple. Elegant. Neat and tidy. My brain feels at ease with less going on. It’s perfect!
    Growing up we lived with my grandmother for a year or so and she had one of those silver fake trees with the color wheel…remember those? It was pretty back then but I choose greens and natural textures these days..ha!

    I like the green bottle brush trees you have. I’ll have to hunt some of those for my table:0)

  4. Your dining room looks very inviting and festive just the way you have it. I will be doing simpler decorating in my dining room and living room this week as well.

  5. Simply gorgeous! I’m trying to scale back a bit this year too. I find it less stressful not having a lot of “stuff” around! I had to laugh when I read that your kitties like to “help decorate” too. I bought a new flocked tree for the dining room this year and they are determined to chew on it. Being a kitty Mom too, you know what comes after the chewing! I’m looking forward to seeing more of your home decorated for Christmas!