Decorating my house for Christmas ... part one

Getting ready for Christmas at my house always means moving things around a bit and bringing out a little more decor than I might be comfortable having around the rest of the year. I like things on the minimal side. So it always scares me a little to start the Christmas decorating because adding more sometimes feels like clutter to me. Remember my tree fiasco last year?

This year I started by bringing out an old lamp that I bought at my local vintage store last summer. I loved it and the price was right and I figured it would probably end up in a client's house but it hasn't yet so it seemed like the perfect starting point for adding a little more glam for Christmas. And I was right. 

I grabbed a dwarf olive tree from my courtyard as a stand in for some Christmas greens ...

added my new reindeer from Homegoods, a silver tray that was in storage (well, not really storage but a closet where I keep accessories that I rotate) and some pretty roses from the grocery store to bring in some pink ...

sprinkled a few Christmas balls around ...

and with minimal effort it is starting to look a bit like Christmas round here.