Happy Sunday. Today as usual I am joining my pals Mary Ann and Annie for our Sunday favorites. I love natural Christmas decor that reflects the warmth and natural beauty of the season. This year, why not embrace a naturally collected look for your courtyard, front porch or patio holiday decor? By incorporating elements gathered from nature, you can create a charming authentic space that captures the spirit of the holidays. In this post I will walk you through my decorating ideas and steps to achieve an enchanting, natural collected look in your courtyard for Christmas. Let’s talk about Five Ways to Achieve a Natural Collected Look in your Courtyard for Christmas. Come on in!
FORAGE FOR NATURAL SEASONAL MATERIALS
We are fortunate to have a lot of evergreen branches, twigs, juniper, cedar, olive, and pine on our property. Christmas is a great time to trim off the lower hanging branches and to thin out the junipers. It is easy to diy simple natural decor when you use foraged materials. I am also very fortunate to have been gifted some beautiful wreaths and garlands from the Magnolia Company to compliment my foraged decor.
The Magnolia products are the nicest I have found on the market and they are a wonderful company to collaborate with. It is easy to create a welcoming entrance with their beautiful magnolia wreaths embellished with wheat, feathers, cones and berries. These wreaths can span the seasons. You can purchase at Thanksgiving and keep them throughout the season. Magnolia is pretty dried as well. I added a few sprigs of fresh greenery to the garland to compliment the greenery in the pots. Otherwise it is unadorned. There is no need to add ornaments, it is beautiful in it’s natural state. A quick tip: Whenever you order fresh greens of any kind fluff them out thoroughly when you take them out of the box. You will be amazed at what a difference it makes.
These gorgeous wreaths and garlands need little more than a simple ribbon. The bronze ribbon is from Promenade Fabrics on Etsy, and the black and white ribbon is from Michaels here.
On the front door are two of the beautiful Magnolia Company 18″ turkey pheasant wreaths.
LIGHT IT UP
We are lucky that the former owners added gas lights above the fireplace and string lights in addition to the regular outside lights. Illuminate your courtyard with string lights, the soft glow of candles or a fire if you have a fireplace or pit.
This is the light in the entry to the courtyard. There was never a light in this area, so we added a vntage wine bottle caddy and placed a battery operated candle in it.
USE VINTAGE OR UPCYCLED CONTAINERS
Our planters that flank the fireplace are vintage galvanized planters that we sourced from Atelier de Campagne. They are filled with our potted lemon trees year round. We added foraged fir from our yard, beautiful ribbon from Promenade Fabrics and foraged sugar pine cones.
Two vintage watering cans are filled with magnolia and foraged greens and tied with simple black and white ribbon from Michaels.
Thanks to inspiration from Mollie in Maine I grabbed my vintage artillary basket off the wall in the guest bath and hung it on our front gate. Mollie filled hers with greens on her beautiful Maine fireplace here. Doesn’t her rendition look collected and natural as well?
I filled my basket with magnolia, Christmas greens and berries from my yard, feathers, and magnolia.
Once inside the gate you will find a long entry table from Habitat Home and Garden in Arroyo Grande. On top is a vintage grape hotte filled with various greens from our yard.
COZY SEATING WITH THROWS AND PILLOWS
Enhance the comfort of your outdoor space by adding cozy elements like blankets and pillows. I need to order some throws for our courtyard. I haven’t found any that I am loving that are reasonable. I usually take our inside throws outside on cool evenings and multipurpose them.
NATURE INSPIRED TABLE DECOR
Create inspiring centerpieces using collected elements arranged in decorative bowls or baskets. Pinecones, sprigs of evergreen, pomegranates, eucalyptus, apples, cranberries, oranges, holly, cedar, red berries or any small branches can be combined for a simple natural focal point on your outdoor tables.
On the antique mexican chest is a vintage basket from Atrium Mercantile also filled with foraged greens and pinecones.
On the table is an iron bowl (from Atrium Mercantile) that is normally filled with succulents. I just added a few magnolia leaves from Trader Joes for a little holiday cheer. You can read about the light (also sourced from Atrium) in my post Seven Stylish Tips for Hosting the Perfect Outdoor Party here.
The coffee table centerpiece consists of a vintage bowl filled with pinecones, magnolia and greens.
OUTFIT OF THE WEEK – A COUPLE GREAT SALES
You probably know by now that my favorite jeans are Kut from the Kloth. I oredered two new pairs this week while they are having their buy one get the other pair 1/2 off sale here (use code loveit50). I like the Rachel jeans. I wear a two but if I keep packing on the pounds I may have to get a 4. Banana Republic is having 40% off your purchase here. This is a great time to pick up something for a friend or yourself like the beautiful scarf (that I have in brown) featured below. J Crew has nearly everything on sale including this cashmere wrap which is a longtime favorite. Almost everything in this week’s outfit of the week is on sale with the exception of the splurge Artemis smoking slippers.
To make your jeans party ready just add a silver clutch and a pair of sparkly earrings.
SHOP THE POST
If you are still tweaking your Christmas decor I hope this post provided some inspiration. Decorating your outdoor space with collected natural elements can create a serene and inviting feeling. By incorporating nature and collected elements into your design, you can bring a sense of history and natural beauty to your outdoor space. By incorporating these tips and embracing the beauty of natural elements, you can transform your courtyard into an inviting holiday haven. Let the simplicity and authenticity of a naturally collected look bring warmth and personality to your outdoor space this holiday season.
You might enjoy my post How to Decorate your Courtyard for Christmas here. You can see what a beautiful addition the Magnolia Company wreaths and garland made. You can also read my post How to Create an Outdoor Space that Guests will Never Want to Leave to understand the layout of the courtyard. You can also follow me on Instagram here. I will post a reel featuring the entire courtyard. My Pinterest boards Christmas Home Decor Ideas, Holiday Tour of Homes,, Christmas Tablescapes have much more inspiration as well. Thank you for being here and reading Five Ways to Achieve a Natural Collected Look in your Courtyard for Christmas.
Now let’s pop over and visit Mary Ann and Annie for their Sunday faves:
most lovely things
classic casual home
I love that company and their products. The foraged look with fruit and flowers is a natural here – we are 45 minutes from Colonial Williamsburg and that informs a lot of the architecture and decorating in this area.
This post is making me want to plant another Sapphire Cedar tree – I love that in florals and both of mine have died.
And thanks for the reminder about Kut – I want to try their jeans….Merry Christmas pal!
Thank you Cindy!
Would you kindly tell me what the lovely red berries above your fountain spout are?
Merry Christmas & Happy New Year!
Hi Cindy. Best wishes for a relaxed and Happy Christmas for you and your family. Thank you for your posts over the year. I look forward to them in my inbox. Wondering if you are able to give the name of the Camelia with the white flower in the photograph of your front door? It has a beautiful flower. Many thanks and best wishes for the season from my family in New Zealand to yours.
Oh, I’m so envious of your California weather! Your outdoor living spaces are so lovely! I like that your festive wreaths, and displays are in warm earthy colors. They’ll be beautiful all winter.
I live in Colorado. We have a patio home, with several outdoor living spaces. Except for our front courtyard, which can be comfortable on a sunny late afternoon, our other spaces are just done until late spring. It reduces our living space quite a bit!
This is SO inspirational… I really need to step up my outdoor game. Thanks so much.
Cindy, what a wonderful post. My type of decorating for sure. Also wanted to mention that I am so glad to see Promenade, here in New Orleans, featured again for your beautiful ribbon. They are a local treasure and have been in business over 50 yrs. I can jump on the St Charles Ave streetcar and be down there in no time. Wonderful treasure-trove of a store. Always enjoy your posts so much. Wishing you and yours a wonderful holiday season and a happy and healthy 2024. Cheers.
Hi Beth
I figured they were right along the St Charles Avenue streetcar line. They sent a nice message that I shared on Instagram about how many people had purchased the ribbon from my recommendation. I love helping small businesses!! I need to get back to New Orleans. We have not been in years! Such a wonderful city that you call home. Have a wonderful holiday season Beth, and thank you so much for your support.
Beth please tell the owners hello for me the next time you pop in!!
Cindy I clicked on your link that shows your previous home decorated for the holidays. You mentioned that most greens did not work with the front door colour..I am looking to paint my front door in a similar shade and wondering if you could share the colour. I am looking at SW Rest Assured (?) is your colour similar?
Thank you for your blog it’s the highlight of my Sunday!
Hi Ally
The color of my former door color is Benjamin Moore Kensington Green. I loved that door color but any greens with a yellow base do not look good against it. Juniper, eucalyptus etc with a blue base works well! Rest Assured is a lovely color as well. It is a tad more blue thank Kensington Green. I love the color though!!
How have you pulled this off, gone to Willamette Valley plus plan a party?? You’re so incredibly talented; you must manage your time well to accomplish everything with such aplomb. The courtyard looks just lovely!
Hi Wren
I forgot to tell you we did not go. Steve got sick. He is well now and we are going in January! I do not manage my time well, I just work all the time!!
Cindy,
Everything looks exceptional in every way possible. You are highly creative and imaginative.
Hi Katherine
Thank you so much!!
Cindy as usual I’m late to the party but you’ve given me an idea of what to do with my porches. We’re between snowstorms here in Kansas and I’d like to do something so my porch and back deck are not so dreary for the rest of the winter.
Thanks!
Hi Kathy
So happy to hear that!
Cindy! Wow! When you said you were decorating outdoors, I imagined the courtyard, the gates, the tables, but even with the wildest imagination, I could not dream up a more beautiful outdoor decor!! It’s rustic, natural and so creative!!! I love how you added magnolia leaves to that large bowl of centerpieces! Everything looks so beautiful!!! , , it’s really really stunning!!
Hi Annie
Thank you so much! Your porch is to DIE for. I bet all the neighbors are loving it!!
Good morning!
As usual I find myself smiling at all of your post; I feel such a connection.
A week or so ago, our local theatre group was selling succulents in vintage silver containers for a fundraiser. My thoughts were to use them as hostess gifts. I liked them so much they remain on my entry table. I like them so much I went to my cabinet where I’ve stored the silver from our 25th anniversary . Each of my daughters will get a piece filled with succulents. I like the look so much, I’ve pulled out more silver to use all over the house with cream candles, fairy lights and greenery. Last year on New Years Eve the power went out, the hostess had a collection of Mexican candlestick holders which were lit, thus alerting the fire alarm system! Eating and chatting in candlelight made for a memorable evening. We are doing the same this year, hosting by candlelight . On a final holiday decorating note- my pottery class mates produce wonderful colorful pieces, I make small unusual pots from a dark clay, well, they too now have succulents.
Have a restful Sunday.
Hi Ann
What a thoughtful gift!! Isn’t it fun when you can repurpose something meaningful and someone close to you can also enjoy it!