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An Australian beach Christmas

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Welcome! Today I’m part of A Very Merry Christmas Home Tour.
We’ve just moved into our beach house rental, so in keeping with the mood of our home, I kept my Christmas decorating casual and beachy. 

If you’re new here, I live in Australia, where Christmas falls at summertime. The cons of this? We don’t get to experience the cosy thrill of chestnuts roasting on an open fire… or walking in a winter wonderland… or sleigh bells ringing. The pros? Prawns on the barbie, drinks by the pool, backyard cricket, the kids on summer holidays, and ice-cream cake for dessert.

A fresh colour scheme of white, blue and silver helps create that relaxed summertime-Christmas feel. I dressed the table simply with white-painted branches in tall, clear glass vases…. 
… and a simple but elegant centrepiece of white pillar candles on a china cake stand, wreathed with white and crystal berries.
The berry garland is from Adairs, and has tiny bud fairy-lights scattered throughout, which will look pretty lit up at night.

For the table settings, I nested square plates with a teal napkin to give a shot of colour.
The napkin rings are a simple DIY, made using modelling wire and a handful of beads in crystalline and pearlised tones.

Let’s talk about that “Joy” sign, shall we? It’s the star of the room – a real show-stopper. Wire lettering on walls is very on-trend right now, so I hit on the idea of using rope lights in the same manner to spell a word directly onto the wall.

My original plan was to write “Light of the world”, as I really wanted the focus of the Christmas décor to be on Jesus’ birth. Then I quickly realised that concept was waaaaaay too ambitious. Just the three letters in “Joy” took me an hour to assemble on the wall, with an extra adult set of hands to help out. That could be because I’m OCD, or because I’m uncoordinated. Actually both.

Worth it though, right? I’ll be giving you a simple tutorial for how to make this sign in an upcoming post.

To the palm in the corner, I added a garland of paper stars. So pretty all aglow at night.

And nothing says “beach Christmas” like starfish and baubles.

Swing your head to the left, and this is what you see next…

Since my “Light of the world” idea didn’t pan out, I was on a mission to find a similarly meaningful statement about the true meaning of Christmas. I was thrilled to discover these beautiful prints at Etsy shop Salt & Wood.

So gorgeous, right? I had them printed on gloss paper and used double-sided tape to affix them to the frames I already had hanging above my buffet. Once Christmas is over, they can be easily taken down and stored away for next year.




I’m completely in love with the prints from Salt& Wood (you can see why, right?!) and so I jumped at the chance of
partnering up to offer an exclusive discount to my readers – enter SUNSHINE30
at checkout to get 30% off your total order! Code expires Dec 31st. Take a browse – they have some utterly gorgeous
Christmas printables.

The white and blue vases I already had here were perfect. I dressed up the buffet with a few Christmassy embellishments, like this clear resin deer from Spotlight.

I even tried my hand at making some DIY Christmas trees using wool (yarn) dipped in watered-down glue and wrapped around a polystyrene cone. These were so much better inside my head.

Yeah…. kinda worked. Sorta.

Back around to the other side of the room, where I dressed our Christmas tree this year with some new ornaments to fit the blue and silver theme. ($10 for a bulk pack from Big W – bargain! The expensive ones can wait till the post-Christmas sales…)

So that’s our Christmas living area.

To hang in our entryway, I made this driftwood Advent wall hanging using watercolour printables, also from Salt & Wood. 


You can find the simple tutorial for making this DIY Advent wall hanging here. 
I hope you enjoyed this tour. Wishing you….

this Christmas as we celebrate Jesus’ birth!
Before you go, why not take a few moments to browse the Christmas home tours of the other bloggers participating today. It’s like a magazine of inspiration in your inbox!

Monday collage

You can find today’s tours at these links!

Delineate Your Dwelling

Oh, and if you’re new here, don’t leave before you grab yourself a FREE copy of my book, Your Beautiful Life. You can get yours here!


Let’s chat: Do you do Christmas in summer or winter? What are your pros and cons of each? American friends, do you think you’d ever like to experience an Aussie Christmas?

Linking up here: Home Stories A-Z, Your Designs this time, Made by you Monday, Hit me with your best shot

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Lovely comments

  1. Beautiful decor, Karen! You are right the "joy" sign is a definite show-stopper. Merry Christmas 🙂

  2. Your home is gorgeous! I love every bit of your decor – especially the "Joy" lights and the prints above your buffet. Thanks for sharing such a beautiful tour of your home!

  4. Beautiful decor, Karen! You are right the "joy" sign is a definite show-stopper. Merry Christmas 🙂

  5. Your home is gorgeous! I love every bit of your decor – especially the "Joy" lights and the prints above your buffet. Thanks for sharing such a beautiful tour of your home!

  8. Thanks Elise – I must admit this one was down to wire! I had a few moments of wondering if I was going to get it all together in time. 😉 Nothing like a deadline for making the impossible happen. It&#39s good having the Christmas decor up early though, cos now we get to enjoy it for longer. 🙂

  10. Gorgeous! I love how you added some glittery stars to your tropical plant. I am a plant lover and will need to do something like this to get my plants holiday ready!

  11. I love the blue, white, and silver color scheme! It is so bright and fresh! And the Joy lights are fantastic – definitely a statement maker!

  14. Thanks Elise – I must admit this one was down to wire! I had a few moments of wondering if I was going to get it all together in time. 😉 Nothing like a deadline for making the impossible happen. It's good having the Christmas decor up early though, cos now we get to enjoy it for longer. 🙂

  15. Wow! That is gorgeous. And I&#39m in love with the Joy light.

  16. Gorgeous! I love how you added some glittery stars to your tropical plant. I am a plant lover and will need to do something like this to get my plants holiday ready!

  19. I love the blue, white, and silver color scheme! It is so bright and fresh! And the Joy lights are fantastic – definitely a statement maker!

  20. Wow! That is gorgeous. And I'm in love with the Joy light.

  21. Just beautiful and like everyone else I love the Joy light, it looks fantastic. I like your DIY christmas tree&#39s too. 🙂

  24. So, I&#39m totally new here and love your style! The Christmas decor is just amazing… can&#39t wait to dig in to some of your other posts!

  25. Just beautiful and like everyone else I love the Joy light, it looks fantastic. I like your DIY christmas tree's too. 🙂

  27. Yay, so glad you like them… haha! They were the element that took the most time to make, and they were a bit of a flop, literally. I had to prop them up with the greenery. Ssssshhhh. 😉

  29. Love it! I love all the touches of blue and that "joy" sign is too fun! The glass reindeer are to die for! I need some of those!

  30. So, I'm totally new here and love your style! The Christmas decor is just amazing… can't wait to dig in to some of your other posts!

  32. Yay, so glad you like them… haha! They were the element that took the most time to make, and they were a bit of a flop, literally. I had to prop them up with the greenery. Ssssshhhh. 😉

  34. Love it! I love all the touches of blue and that "joy" sign is too fun! The glass reindeer are to die for! I need some of those!

  37. Hey Karen 🙂 Where do you go to print out all the lovely artwork you find on Etsy. Do you go online or somewhere local?? Found some i would like to print out but wondering how much it cost to blow them up nice and big. xx And i would love to experience a snowy cold christmas every now and then….but very thankful for our sunny rainy christmas time where the kids can run free outdoors…imagine snow for months on end and being locked up in our small shed with 5 children!!!

  38. Hey Karen 🙂 Where do you go to print out all the lovely artwork you find on Etsy. Do you go online or somewhere local?? Found some i would like to print out but wondering how much it cost to blow them up nice and big. xx And i would love to experience a snowy cold christmas every now and then….but very thankful for our sunny rainy christmas time where the kids can run free outdoors…imagine snow for months on end and being locked up in our small shed with 5 children!!!

  39. It is so much fun peeking into everyone&#39s home to spy on their Christmas decor! My favorite piece is your "Star of Wonder" print. I *need* that!

    I would love for you to share this post {and others} at my Show Me Saturday linky party this weekend. My readers would love your decor!

    ~ Ashley

  40. It is so much fun peeking into everyone's home to spy on their Christmas decor! My favorite piece is your "Star of Wonder" print. I *need* that!

    I would love for you to share this post {and others} at my Show Me Saturday linky party this weekend. My readers would love your decor!

    ~ Ashley

  41. Hello lovely! I always print locally, Mango 4 when I was in Rockhampton and Capricorn Printing now that we&#39re in Zilzie. (http://www.capricornprinting.com.au/) They do a fabulous job! That&#39s where I had these ones done. It cost $22 each (from memory) for a large print – 68.5cm square. Large prints are always pretty expensive, but then again, it&#39s a heck of a lot cheaper than buying an artwork. 😉 And I&#39m hearing you on the snowy months – that would be very hard to handle with kids at home!! It&#39s so romantic in theory, but honestly we are so spoiled with this lovely climate of ours. 🙂

  44. Hello lovely! I always print locally, Mango 4 when I was in Rockhampton and Capricorn Printing now that we're in Zilzie. (http://www.capricornprinting.com.au/) They do a fabulous job! That's where I had these ones done. It cost $22 each (from memory) for a large print – 68.5cm square. Large prints are always pretty expensive, but then again, it's a heck of a lot cheaper than buying an artwork. 😉 And I'm hearing you on the snowy months – that would be very hard to handle with kids at home!! It's so romantic in theory, but honestly we are so spoiled with this lovely climate of ours. 🙂

  47. Gorgeous!!! Thank you so much for sharing your home and unique ideas. If you don&#39t mind me asking. Where did you get your dinner room table from. I am looking for a reclaimed or farmhouse kitchen table. Thank you again for your inspiration and Have a Wonderful Day! Marie

  48. Gorgeous!!! Thank you so much for sharing your home and unique ideas. If you don't mind me asking. Where did you get your dinner room table from. I am looking for a reclaimed or farmhouse kitchen table. Thank you again for your inspiration and Have a Wonderful Day! Marie

  51. Sorry for my delayed reply, Marie! It was from Super A-Mart, which is an Australian store. Depending where you live, that may or may not be at all helpful to you! Best of luck finding what you&#39re after, and thanks for your sweet comment! xo

  53. Sorry for my delayed reply, Marie! It was from Super A-Mart, which is an Australian store. Depending where you live, that may or may not be at all helpful to you! Best of luck finding what you're after, and thanks for your sweet comment! xo

  55. You have captured your mood board&#39s inspiration! I do love both your sofas. Very mid century yet very current too.

  56. You have captured your mood board's inspiration! I do love both your sofas. Very mid century yet very current too.

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