Decorating a Small Entry for Christmas
A small entry can pose a challenge when it comes to making it merry and welcoming for Christmas. Check out these 5 tips for a decorated and inviting entry, even if your space is tight.
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Welcome! I'm sure you've started decorating for Christmas by now, and I wanted
to share some tips for creating a merry front entryway, even if your entry is
space-challenged, as ours is!
While you're decorating, don't forget your front porch or entry! I love making
an inviting and welcoming first impression at our home, and while this is the
first Christmas in this MS home, and I am missing my big front porch in TX, I
found some ways to decorate it for the holidays that I think you'll love!
I'm excited to welcome you to the annual Atta Girl Says Christmas Porch Tour,
featuring eight talented decorators. For the past several years, I've joined
in on Amy Buchanan's from
Atta Girl Says
Christmas Porches Tour. If you hopped over here from
2 Bees in a Pod, welcome! And a special welcome if you're new. I'm Cindy, a Canadian-born
girl who recently transplanted from TX to MS! You can read more about our
family's journey
here
if you'd like. Don't forget to read to the end of the post where you'll get to
see the full tour of ideas!
Dedication
We dedicate this year's tour to our dear friend, Paula Skulina from Sweet Pea, who died in February after a five year battle with lung cancer. Paula has participated in this tour since 2017, and we are all really missing her this year.
Paula was just the sweetest person, full of love for her family, her beloved
dog Sherman and her students.
Paula had an envious collection of vintage treasures that had been passed down
to her from family. It brought her great joy to bring out those treasures for
all the seasons and I especially loved her Christmas decor! Just take a look
at this image!
Paula lived life to the full, right up until the end. Her life and positive attitude to living with cancer spoke to me and reminded me not to take my health, life, and each day for granted but to live it to the full and to live life with HOPE!
To honor Paula, we are also donating in her memory to LUNGevity and The Humane Society for Campbell County, Va. If you loved Paula and her blog, we encourage you to make a donation in her memory using the links above.
Past Porch
We lived in south Texas for almost 6 years, and our white Texas farmhouse had
a long porch that I loved to decorate every Christmas. You can see how I
decorated my Christmas porch in years past here:
With such a long front porch, I was able to get very creative! In fact, the
porch was almost too big and some years I struggled to make it look
Christmas-ey enough because it was so large!
Welp, fast forward to today and our new rental home. Forget about a porch,
although we do have a
back patio that I had fun adding cozy Fall feels to. However, for Christmas I wanted to stick to the front of the house. It's
such a pretty home, and we love the stone and especially the peak above the
front door. Our front door is 9 feet tall! So it's very dramatic, but very
narrow.
Is it technically a front porch? Nope, but it's still a space at the front
door that is worth decorating for Christmas. If you have a similar space, I
hope you appreciate these tips!
5 Tips to Decorate a Small Entry for Christmas
I'm someone who really loves to decorate, and I have a lot of collections and
things that I just really enjoy displaying in unique ways.
So when it came time to decorate our narrow front entry, I was a little
stumped at first. There isn't space for rocking chairs and a Christmas tree.
After mulling over what I could do to make it look festive for Christmas, I
came up with a few ideas and I'm excited to share these tips with you today. I
know I'm not the only one with a small, narrow front entryway!
SHOP THE POST
Tip #1: Hang a wreath
No matter where you live or what style of home, rental, apartment you live in,
hang a wreath! A pretty Christmas wreath immediately draws attention to the
front door and says welcome! If you look closely, you'll see a small candle in
the middle of my Christmas wreath. It's a battery operated clip on candle from
Amazon, and I added one to every wreath in every window of our home.
Tip #2: Add a welcome mat
Again, no matter the size of your entryway, you've got room to place a welcome mat! I found this one at Target and love the elegant simplicity. Even if all you do is hang a wreath and put out a cute Christmas welcome mat, you've immediately made your entry festive!
But if you know me, and my style, I'm not usually content to go with super
simple! I like decor and the more, the better!
Tip #2: Add color with poinsettias, ribbon, ornaments
I'm embarrassed to say, but I think this might be the first year we've
purchased poinsettias for our home! Mr DIY was a pastor for 29 years, and we
were often gifted poinsettias.
I wanted to add more color to the front of the house, and red poinsettias were
the way to go. Their vibrant color is perfect at the front door.
I also wrapped plaid ribbon around the tops of two black lanterns. The plaid
ribbon matches the bows on the window wreaths, and is another simple and
inexpensive way to bring color to the front of the house.
Tip #4: Something unexpected
I think it's always fun to have something a little unexpected and this is
where you can be creative and think of something that will work with your
space!
Because our door is so tall, the entry can feel cavernous. I wanted to do
something to make it feel a little lower and more cozy.
I bought three MDF snowflakes from Dollar Tree. They're about 12" in diameter,
so they're big. I spray painted them with white paint and once I sprayed the
second coat, I immediately sprinkled the wet paint with glass glitter. Mr DIY
hung them from the entry ceiling with fishing line and small hooks. They look
so much prettier in real life than in pictures! They glisten and shimmer, and
twirl with the breeze. I love how pretty their reflections are in the glass of
our front door! The snowflakes draw your eye down from the soaring heights and
make the entry feel warmer and more welcoming!
Tip #5: Twinkle lights
My last tip is to add twinkle lights. Lights always add warmth, coziness and a
feeling of welcome. We used shrubbery lights over the two cedars by the front,
but I also tucked fairy lights into the olive bucket filled with pinecones and
greenery, as well as the small tree in the antique ice cream bucket. They are
lit, but it's difficult to see them in the daylight. We were having strange
weather, with high winds and rain, so I had to run outside and take these
pictures during a break in the rain. The lights make the front of the house
look magical at night!
Millie posed prettily for me just because she's so sweet (okay, in truth I had
to bribe her with a treat!). This little stinker needs a haircut, but it's
been so cold outside and I've taken over her grooming since our move and have
become a little wimpy with the cold weather!
Bonus tip: Play around with placement
You might have noticed that items got moved around as I was shooting these
pictures. You might think you want something in a certain spot, but if you
don't love it, try it somewhere else! Initially I had both poinsettias and
lanterns at the front by the cedars, but by moving one set closer to the door,
it added some depth.
I hope you find these ideas for decorating a small entry for Christmas
helpful. They would also apply to a large entry, if you just focused on the
area around the door.
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Christmas Porches Tour
Be sure to visit all the participating bloggers below for festive decorating inspiration for your porches, balconies, decks and other outdoor spaces.
bringing beauty to the ordinary,
Cindy - your Christmas porch is beautiful! Decorating an entryway can be tricky and you offer perfect decor advise! Little Millie is a show-stopper, such a cutie pie! Merry Christmas, friend!
ReplyDeleteThank you my friend, I used your front entry as inspiration this year! Millie says Merry Christmas! Eat lots of treats ;)
DeleteYour new Christmas porch looks so pretty Cindy! I'm sure it is much different than decorating your Texas porch but I love your arched stone entry. The holiday touches and red poinsettias really accent it and make it so welcoming! And love your furry model. Have a wonderful Christmas!!
ReplyDeleteThanks Kate, I appreciate those sweet comments! Merry Christmas!
DeleteLove all these tips, and Millie is adorable! I know you're missing your big Texas porch, but your entry looks fabulous. I love those snowflakes and the lights on the cedars. And that painted bucket for your tree... it's all fabulous.
ReplyDeleteSo glad you could be part of the tour this year. And I love the memories you shared of Paula. She was such an inspiration in so many ways. I'm glad to have known her.
Thanks so much Amy, it's always fun to join in your tour! Thank you for organizing it. Have a wonderful Christmas 🎄 😊
DeleteCindy, it's always fun seeing your decorations, especially at Christmas. The poinsettias are so pretty and all of your tips are so helpful. Merry Christmas in your new home!
ReplyDeleteThanks Angie, merry Christmas!
DeleteYou really made the smaller entryway look so festive for Christmas! I'm going to pop by Dollar Tree to see if they have any snowflakes left. Those turned out so cute!
ReplyDeleteThanks so much Pam!
DeleteWell what a way to make me start crying! Paula was so sweet and fought a good fight with dignity and humor which most do not do. Great job on the small porch. I have a porchette too so I know the difficulties. :) Merry Christmas
ReplyDeleteAww, thank you! Yes, Paula was such an amazing person! I miss her!
DeleteCindy little Millie is just adorable! Your new home looks just beautiful and you share really helpful tips for decorating a front entry. I love the pop of red and the snowflakes look just lovely. I bet the lights are so festive at night. Thank you so much for sharing. Merry Christmas!
ReplyDeleteCindy little Millie is just adorable! Your new home looks just beautiful and you share really helpful tips for decorating a front entry. I love the pop of red and the snowflakes look just lovely. I bet the lights are so festive at night. Thank you so much for sharing. Merry Christmas! Michelle- Our Crafty Mom
ReplyDeleteThanks so much Michelle!
DeleteThank you so much for this post Cindy! I have a covered front stoop that is tiny and really struggle with how to decorate it. I want all the pretties like chairs and swings and pillows that big porches have but can’t. So thank you for posting your pretty entry way. I love the hanging snowflakes and could do that with mine!
ReplyDeleteI understand your pain Mel! So glad my tips were helpful! Merry Christmas!
DeleteI just ran across your blog and this specific post. Thank you so much for the dedication to my sweet wife, Paul (virginia sweet pea), and including her Christmas post from last year. Sincerely, Mr. SP.
ReplyDelete