Christmas in the Sunroom 2014

This year, I was excited to deck the halls for Christmas in the sunroom  - my favorite room of the house. Having just settled on the new area rug a few weeks ago, I was ready to bring out the decorations and mix up some of the textiles I already had, just used previously in other rooms. 

Over the river and through the woods, to my woodland sunroom we go! 

The chaise is sporting a red cashmere throw, my favorite type of cover, whether it's the heating or cooling season. I'm pulling a mix of reds, greens, browns and blacks to blend with the neutral, anchoring colors of the patio furniture and floor tile. Parsons chairs work handily for additional seating, so I have one of two already in the mix, anticipating holiday company.

Below is the sunroom as viewed from the chaise lounge. Central to the space is a table with four chairs, plus three additional patio chairs along the back perimeter. There's also a loveseat glider on the left wall, which matches the patio chairs. This very comfortable patio furniture has lasted years in this sunroom, all of which rock (the chairs also swivel). When company comes, I pull out snack trays and individual teak drink tables, which otherwise fold away for easy storage.

Last year, my oldest daughter gave me one of the most special gifts I think I've ever received - the runner pictured below. She's a beginner seamstress, and took a quilting class to create this. It was too late to use it and enjoy it last year, so it was like opening a gift all over again this year when I brought it out. I love it, and I love how it goes so well with my woodsy theme on the center of my table.

I added a patterned burlap ribbon to the backs of my wrought iron dining chairs this year, tying and shaping the bows with the wired edge of the fabric. I love mixing plaids along with other patterns during the holiday season. They remind me of layers of sweaters, scarves and coat linings so typically seen and worn during the colder, winter season. There's enough neutrals and space in this room that I can get away with a good bit of pattern play.

The table centerpiece is a round wicker basket, with pinecones and deer sheds surrounding a candle lantern. The tablecloth is a painter's drop cloth.

A few other vintage items round out the mix of decor in the sunroom: a couple of salvaged windows trimmed in gingerbread garlands situated against the brick wall above the heating/cooling wall unit, and a marble top washstand used as a sideboard on the wall adjacent to the kitchen.

Just inside the French doors of the sunroom is my olive bucket, which I filled with fallen birch tree branches last year.  I added lights and pinecones, and a couple of oversized bulbs.  The nesting boxes on the miniature sled are actually gift boxes, but I like them stacked as shown. It gives the illusion of a snowman actually on a sled. Just beyond the doors is the courtyard, and you can see a glimpse of my container full of pansies on the other side of the window.

Speaking of glimpse, the collage photo of the marble top washstand/ sideboard (above) is just that, hinting at the tablescape I've prepared for the sunroom for the holidays in an upcoming post.

My baker's rack stands in the corner of the sunroom, and holds many of my books and magazines that I'm keeping for now. I generally reserve the top rack for some sort of seasonal decor. For the holidays, it's my Woodland Santa and lighted swag with bird in the bush.  The brass rocking horses are a recent estate sale find, and the wooden bowl holds my Native American artifacts found in my yard during our landscape excavation in 2004.

The sunroom seats anywhere from twelve to fifteen guests easily, and is situated right off of the kitchen on one side, and the breakfast area of the great room on the other. It's the perfect set up for entertaining my big family, and provides much needed seating for up to thirty of our gang on Christmas Eve.

I'll be hosting my family again this year, so I'm still working on finishing up all the decorating and meal planning. Gift shopping is lower on my priorities of holiday preparations, but I still need to do that too.

Are you planning a big celebration, or will you be having a quiet holiday season?

If you missed my first Christmas post for this season, you can view it here:
Traditional Holiday Home, Garden - 2014

Happy Holidays! 

Rita C. at Panoply

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