Why not use a large clay pot painted white or silver?

Decorating an ordinary tree with extraordinary items make it unique ..,. Not suggesting that cuckoo clocks and top hats are your style but you get the idea!

The tree came in yesterday, and I decided on the beverage tub from Target for my tree skirt alternative. I'll snap some pics when we get everything decorated.

Cannot wait..

Love the large star tree topper. where did you find it?

I love that tree posted by Keitha! I think wooden or gold letters would be beautiful on the tree this year!

Preview. I think I like the beverage tub as our tree skirt alternative!

Such drama daylightca! Can't wait for the unveiling :)

I can't seem to get very good pics tonight. I'll try again tomorrow. Here's a quick one.

here is the star

Well, the tree is decorated. I'm not sure that I love it, but we've succeeded in significantly reducing the amount of decorations. I think we landed somewhere between Scandinavian & Contemporary. The colors definitely work with our aesthetic, as does the smaller tree in general.

The star, tub and sheepskin are really lovely.

Looks good, love the tub.

Agree the star, tub and sheepskin look good, unfortunately can't see the decorations in the picture.

I wasn't home during the daylight hours to get good pics of the tree. I'll try tomorrow.

A few other pics of our living room decorations:

another

...

@daylightca - That deer is adorable. I'd be tempted to get some small ornaments like you have on the scarf to put on the tree - maybe back a bit towards the trunk so they're not immediately obvious? Just a few red and a few green. (I dunno, I feel like having a bit of red and green here and there is necessary for it to feel really festive. Stuff without either shade just doesn't feel Christmassy enough to me.) Or you could maybe get some small burgundy ones to have a little echo of your previous decorating style in your current one?

Nice

here's some ornaments crate and barrel now have on clearance if you need more for your tree.

If you want more crate and barrel has everything on sale. I came home and ordered even more. I like your moose and your nutcrackers. I would look for a gold glitter or silver glitter scarf like on your wreath. I think the red is not modern or just don't fit in right with the rest of the stuff. I love the tub and the sheepskin throw.

That deer with scarf is adorable.

Thanks everyone for your comments. I appreciate them. They helped us to move forward with a bit more confidence.

Our goals were as follows:
1. Simplify ( we definitely accomplished this one!)
2. Decorate to enhance our current décor, rather than drawing attention away from it. (I think we sort of accomplished this one. At least the colors work, for the most part).
3. Reduce the overall amount of decorations. This will help with storage issues as well as set-up/take-down time. (We reduced decorations by about 75%).

What we learned about ourselves:
1. We didn't want exactly what we thought we wanted. At first we were thinking that classic modern would be our route.
2. We quickly learned that Christmas (to us) has so much to do with tradition, that we wanted to reflect it in our décor.
3. Although we love our very neutral color scheme, we both wanted a bit of traditional Christmas color, hence the red and green accents (in places).

What we ended up with is not what we would have guessed, and we're both very happy with the outcome. Our tree is small (6') and twiggy. We ended up mixing the pre-lit warm lights (250 count) with the more white, starry night lights. We made some of our own ornaments (I still can't believe we even tried it!) We barely put any color on the tree, but we decided to bring small doses of green and red in other places.

Our end result is a hodgepodge of styles that suites the way Christmas feels to us. The twiggy tree looks a bit Scandinavian, a tad contemporary, with an element of traditional and country. Although unintentional, I think it represents our backgrounds and current lifestyle well. Other decorations mix elements of traditional, country, modern and whimsy, which perfectly describes our family. I hope our guests over the next few weeks enjoy the décor as much as we.

Here are a few tree pics. I've had a hard time getting decent pics with my phone.

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love it! I think it turned out great. I understand the trying to work in the old with the new and your hodgepogde turned out great. I hope mine turns out that good. We are trying to accomplish the same goals. I love your view even though your shades are down. Your a lucky girl! I hope your family has a great christmas. I am having a hard time not working the red and green in with the modern look. Its don't feel like christmas without red and green for us at least.

you can have a red/green scheme in the guest room or in your office or even your bedroom....doesn't have to be in the main living areas. i like your tree daylightca. it's very pretty.

Really nicely done, I think!

Thank you!

Great job daylightca. Your tree looks lovely! It has been fun working on another project with you. Merry Christmas!

1. hanging from the light fixture above our dining table
2. A floor mirror

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our kid's tree

I Love everything. I love the penguin and yoda can I ask where you found them. It's funny my new dining room chairs are almost the same except they are grey. Your table looks great makes me want to have a new years party. My six year old would love yoda. I ove what you did with your chandleier. I like them better than the ones I have hung from mine.

It all looks gorgeous!

Thanks 5blues, we found the Yoda ornament a few years ago at Target. I'm fairly certain they still carry it. The white penguin came from HomeGoods. We sprayed a gloss on it so it would match our other, white glossy décor.

Thanks, carolins!!

Looks very nice, but I think a large simple wreath, perhaps in white, would be the finishing touch around the deer head. He looks a bit small and lonely all by himself over the couch.

I wish I had the nerve to downsize the decorations, but I'm so sentimental.

Thanks for your opinion. I must say, downsizing has been an awesome experience! We reduced our storage requirements by about 75% or so! LOVE IT!

You have the wheels spinning in my head about the idea of downsizing, and making more sleek, the decorations at my house. Yours turned out just beautifully!

Everything looks really nice. Give yourself a round of applause and sit back to enjoy it now.
Btw... I went to Ikea and got 2 sheep skins for my tree skirt. Love it!! ...even with my red and apple green scheme.

With hurricane Sandy we lost all our Christmas decor so we call our tree the "New Beginnings".

Very nice!

Glad you liked the ikea sheep skins, Regina! Post pics!

Pictures of my sheepskins...

Looks beautiful!

It would be nice to see what is planned for Christmas 2015.

My tree is a much fuller type of tree but as you can see,
I use all white and crystal ornaments and crystal garland.

I would add large snow frosted branches and tuck them throughout your green tree..invest in a large bolt of wide taupe or champagne satin ribbon and tuck throughout tree...white lights and done! It will look absolutely stunning in your modern space...for a bit of bling fill bowls and vases full of clear,gold,silver and white ornaments and places them on your mantle in various sizes..and on your cocktail table. If adding a wreath..I would keep it very simple frosted and with one large satin bow....HAPPY HOLIDAYS