2022 Exterior Holiday Home Tour
It’s really feeling festive around here thanks to our recent snow! We traded the Arizona sunshine & warm temps for a thick blanket of snow upon our arrival home from our Thanksgiving road trip. I can’t believe Emmett & I have yet to dust off our skis and enjoy a powder day. All in time! Work has been increasingly busy (thanks to all your Tuesday Made orders, we’ve been excitedly boxing & packing), and we’re finally getting settled back in here at home. I feel like we can truly begin to embrace the holiday season and enjoy our house… after all, it’s my favorite this time of year! Click through for a quick peek at our exterior decked out for the season. I always like to keep it simple… classic greenery, wreaths, garland, and ribbon. Our colonial exterior doesn’t need a lot this time of year once it’s blanketed with snow anyway. It’s an exterior that feels festive on its own and doesn’t require much decor. If you missed my interior holiday tour, check that out here. Otherwise, enjoy our winter wonderland!
I love a simple wreath adorning each window with a festive ribbon… it feels very timeless to me. We’ve been using these exterior wreaths for years- I’m pretty sure they don’t even make them anymore, but they’ve held up well and we continue to use them.
Emmett & I have exterior wreath installation down to a science at this point. I get a lot of messages asking how we hang them from our second story and if it requires an extra tall ladder… the answer is surprisingly no. We don’t even have to brave cold temperatures and snow because we hang them from the inside of the window. We open the window, toss the wreath out (while holding onto the ribbon it’s tied to), slowly begin to shut the window, and sandwich the ribbon between the sash as it locks into place. Easy! It does take both of us because it requires four hands, but it works.
This year I switched up our exterior door vignette a bit. In addition to my cedar trees in the planters and my wreaths, I added a really gorgeous garland to the architrave for added color & texture. It came from McGee & Co and looks incredibly realistic! It’s definitely my new favorite garland on our exterior- I’ve very happy with it. Here’s a closer look (it even feels real)….
We always outline our roofline with warm white Christmas lights, as well as spiral wrap our columns… and when I say “we” I mean our Christmas light techs. Hah! I’ve forbidden Emmett from climbing on our roof ever again, so we hire the light installation each year. We own the lights- they just put them up for us. It works out well and is more cost effective than other holiday lighting operations in our area. I’ll have to grab some evening shots for you with them twinkling and aglow.
I also snagged some bells from McGee & Co (they’re a local-to-me company… which is very convenient)– they perfectly match our exterior door hardware. I’m very into that warm antique brass patina… so stunning! They add a playful touch of holiday cheer to our handlesets.
I still love our old monogrammed doormats… we have a large one at the front door and a smaller one at the back french doors (pictured below). They’re incredibly durable and have been perfect for snow and winter boots. They’ve held up far better than I could have hoped.
I don’t really decorate the sides of our home or the garage since they’re not visible from the street, but I’d like to think the plants and snow-covered fixtures look pretty decent on their own… anytime of year, really. Someday we will be replacing our gutters and soffit- we’re just saving up after having replaced the roof last year.
The storage shed is about as charming as it gets during the holiday season! I always tie up a few wreaths and stuff the window planters… I finished those just in time for the big snowfall. I tackled them the day before we left for Thanksgiving and I’m so happy I made time for that pesky projects.
Can you believe all that greenery hiding under the snow is faux?! I’m never going back after it worked so well for us last holiday season. You can find the tutorial and sources here!
I love that our property nestles up to the edge of the woods… we always have anywhere from 8-14 deer sleeping in our yard in this area during the evening hours and have caught some interesting wildlife on our game camera (including cougars & mountain lions)!
It’s good to know what’s around so we can keep a close eye on our dogs. There is a pretty active game trail behind the shed, which reminds me of where I grew up. I like having a little slice of nature in our suburbia backyard.
Speaking of how I grew up… I was lucky enough to know and love two amazing grandfathers. My mom’s dad (my actual grandpa) and my “Pa” (a relative I considered my second grandpa)… sadly my dad’s father was tragically murdered and I never got the opportunity to meet him, but I feel thankful to have had two wonderful grandfathers in my life. Grandparents are truly the best! Anyway, my Pa built me this birdhouse back in 2013 and it has been hanging at our house ever since.
Not that it’s holiday decor, but this birdhouse has moved with us from home-to-home, across the country, and holds a special place in my heart, as Pa unexpectedly passed in 2015- a couple years after he gave it to me. Emmett has repaired it multiple times and there is ALWAYS a bird living inside. During the winter months, I always put out bird seed and watch a family of birds take refuge here amongst the snow. It’s a sweet reminder for me- especially during the holiday season. I love that he wrote on the bottom of it.
The snow definitely put me in the festive Christmas mood this week! I’m really looking forward to all the holiday, seasonal, and winter activities we love this time of year. I’ve been eating clean (I have another surgery coming up in a couple weeks, so I’m trying to be super healthy until then), but I’m definitely missing baking holiday treats in our kitchen… hopefully I can get back to it soon! Aside from that, I’m looking forward to skiing, watching holiday movies, cranking the Christmas tunes, socializing at holiday parties, gift giving, and spending time with loved ones. What are you looking forward to this season?
I hope you enjoyed my exterior holiday home tour this year! The snow came at the perfect time, so I was able to photograph everything yesterday. Let me know if you have questions about any sources, and I’ll drop the main things below…
