I’m feeling pretty moody today…. as in let’s talk mood boards kind of “moody”. I hope you weren’t thinking the cranky, crabby, hangry, rude kind of moody (yikes!) — we try and steer very clear of Negative Town around here, especially around the holidays. Moody just doesn’t fit the vibe on the DIY Playbook.

So let’s chat “Moods”, Christmas Moods to be exact. Let’s chat red sparkles, cozy plaids, and happy dreams of what my holiday mood board is looking like as I prepare to reveal my Christmas Home Tour next Tuesday. Are you ready to get a little moody?! hahaha or at least ready for me to stop with the corny jokes?! okay, okay, I get it.

Here are a few sneak peeks (and my pieces of holiday inspiration) from my upcoming Holiday Home Tour.

1. Plaids: I’m totally crushing on all things plaid this season. This scarf from Target was definitely an inspiration piece for me this season. I’m loving all of the plaids that fashion bloggers and home bloggers are displaying this year and was excited to mix these bright colors and cozy patterns into the tour.  Plus the blues mixed with reds in this scarf totally bring me to my next very important layer of inspiration.

2. Mixing Blue + Red: My house has a lot of blue all year round. From the nautical framed art to our covington blue door, blue is a staple throughout our home. So when the holidays come, it takes a little extra creativity to try and make our home scream “Merry Christmas!” rather than “This way to the beach!”. Enter RED. I typically never decorate with the color red, but bringing in some extra pops of red helped warm the place up and helped our home look a lot more like the holidays and a lot less like summer vacation. To embrace what we already have while also transforming the place for Christmas, we mixed our existing blues with the new pops of red. So far, it seems like the prefect compromise for us and it seems to be the color scheme we stuck with this season (so far). And in honor of our blue + red theme, Matt and I decided to match our Christmas cards too! #nerdalert

3. Pillows: A few new pillows were probably the biggest investment we made this year, but I find that a few new pillows can go a long way in making a statement. I did splurge on 2-3 new pillows, but I really do think they top off the color scheme while also spreading a lot of holiday cheer joy. If you’re looking to decorate with what you already have (that’s what we did) and only buying a few new things this year, I would suggest putting a little money toward a pillow or two. They really can make a big difference! (Plus, they’re so darn cute… how could you resist?!)

4. Floating Ornaments: I actually used Casey’s tutorial from last year to dress up my light fixture this year, and I LOVE how this simple project makes the whole space a lot more festive (for less than $15). Casey’s mom is actually the mastermind behind this genius idea and was the one that introduced us to the idea years and years and years ago! Thanks Jan!! I think of you every time I look at my new ornaments. Who knew some cheap ornaments and some clear fishing wire would make such an amazing couple!? #oppositesattract

5. Sweater Patterns: I’m a sucker for cozy sweaters, ugly sweater parties, and anything in between. These prints are typically NOT weaved into my style the rest of the year, but heck… if Christmas isn’t the time to break them out then when is?! You will definitely find hints of old, ( cough, cough tacky) sweaters throughout my home tour. And guess what?! I’m proud to have them! They remind me of warm nights, fun memories, and lots of Christmas past.

6. Nautical Hints & Restyling Existing Decor: Like I said, turning our home that has so much nautical inspiration into a holiday oasis that isn’t screaming summer on the East Coast is a tad challenging, especially when you don’t have a ton of storage space to take it down for the holiday season. What’s a girl to do?! Well, she’s forced to work with what she has and make the best of it by restyling, reshuffling, reworking, and LOVING the fresh take on old pieces. So yes, the nautical porthole mirror stays, so do a few pieces of coral, the bright blue door, the collection of striped pillows & the buoys from Maine. It’s all about using what you have but restyling it in a way that makes you think about it differently and in turn, appreciate it differently… all YEAR long!  

7. Using last year’s DIY projects again: We’re still loving some of last year’s holiday DIY projects and were excited to pull them out again this year (like these recycled DIY Sparkly Christmas Lights). It’s funny what you forget you have over the year! The excitement of opening the Christmas storage boxes to find stuff you forgot about is one of my favorite parts of decorating. Almost two full years in our house, this year did not disappoint in the surprise-to-find-that category. Hopefully that’s still the case 5, 10, 15 years down the line. With my memory, I’m not too concerned.

Hopefully, that’s about as “Moody” as we get here on the DIY Playbook. Stay tuned for the whole tour (about 60 photos worth!!) next Tuesday. In the meantime, you can definitely count on a BIG addition to our dressed-up-for-the-holidays office on Thursday. You bring the coffee, we’ll bring the TALL drink of water– hint, hint. (alright, I’m officially done with the corny jokes.. for today!)

Have a great day!