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Symmetry plays a key role in the arrangement of decor around the faux fireplace in this living area. Textured wreaths in white picture frames flank a large wood clock made from a tabletop, while a pair of slipcovered white chairs provide ballast below. Silvery ornaments hung from fishing line fall like snowflakes across the shiplap wall for added sparkle.
The open shelves dotted with tiny trees feature warm tones that complement the stacks of bowls, collected rolling pins and wood table for a cozy Christmas feel.
To make this creative space, Natalie applied chalkboard paint directly to drywall and framed it with stained one-by-six boards. For Christmas, she draped the chalkboard with an Advent calendar from friend Coley Kuyper's Etsy shop.
The master bedroom is a soothing hideaway, as earth-toned furnishings mix with creamy white bedding, pillows and throws. A crock-bound tree rises on an antique trunk, whose finish ties well with a dark brown pom-pom throw and a bold reindeer pillow. The beams offer a rustic touch to the room, while the chandelier provides an element of sophistication.
At Christmastime, Natalie Kolter invites a little snow to the desert by embellishing her Arizona home with a virtual forest of flocked trees. Natalie’s rooms are normally airy and bright, as she decorates them in the vintage farmhouse style that she loves. So, adding in a mostly white Christmas look is not a far stretch for this decorator. Still, the many trees set the stage.
“Once my trees are up, it allows me to get creative with the rest of my home,” Natalie notes.
A longtime DIYer accustomed to turning budget-friendly thrift-shop, garage-sale and antiques-store finds into magically made-over furnishings, Natalie has a keen eye for giving her home a cozy, casual look.
Layering holiday accents into the mix sometimes becomes a family affair as she enlists her three children to help cut paper doilies into delicate snowflake shapes, which she then suspends from the ceiling with nearly invisible fishing line.
To balance the wintry landscape, Natalie introduces darker wood tones for contrast. In one living area, an oversize barrel lamp stand pairs with a large wood clock above the mantel, their size, shape and texture adding depth to the scene. A collection of knit and furry stockings teamed with flocked metallic bottle-brush trees produce another layer of interest.
Minimizing her trees’ decorations also helps create the snowy, tree-farm look Natalie envisions. “I stopped putting tons of ornaments on our trees,” she says, “and switched to more naked, natural trees because I wanted the house to feel like the tree farms I remember visiting in the Midwest, where I grew up.”
The sweep of the master bedroom Christmas decor takes its cue from a simple farmhouse look as well. An antique trunk boosts another flocked tree in a large creamy crock. The trunk’s dark tones reiterate the room’s rustic ceiling beams and contrast with a light-hued wood-paneled wall and DIY map-cabinet nightstands.
Christmas is a very special time for the Kolters, and nothing is better than sharing the season at home with the whole family, which includes Natalie’s faithful and photogenic pup, Chester. “He loves being part of our crazy, busy life,” she says.
Follow Natalie Kolter on Instagram.com/vintageporch, or visit her blog at www.myvintageporch.com.
