It started with a box.

It was December 2013. I could not wait to decorate my home for Christmas for the first time. Lenny and I had been married for 5 years before we purchased our first home. We had lived in various forms of campus housing, apartments, and other rentals but this was our very first house. And the first time I felt truly settled anywhere. Decorating my home for Christmas felt exciting and a little daunting.

We started with the dining room table. I got out my big blue bin labeled Christmas… I had pinecones, leaves, garland, candles, a plethora of decor handed down to me or collected throughout the years but felt a little overwhelmed by how to arrange it on my dining room table. My mother, who taught me everything I know about hosting, decorating and making your house a home, was visiting from out of town. She turned to my husband and asked him to go build us something for our table with the left over reclaimed wood we had from our renovation. He went down to the garage and came back up with the perfect centerpiece. A wooden box. How simple, how perfect. A burlap runner + the box + candles + holly (from my front yard) annnd… done! So easy! And that’s what we’re all looking for right? Easy decor. The type that looks like you fussed for hours but really just threw some stuff in a box :) It's now 2015 and we have tried every size box on our table, here are a few looks we've gone through.

Think INSIDE the Box