Decorating for Christmas in an Ocean Home

In this California home decorated in nautical style, Christmas decorations are a natural addition to the year-round casual blue-and-white furnishings and red accents. On living room bookshelves, for instance, pieces of a Santa collection mix easily with one-of-a-kind antiques and flea market finds.

Nautical stripes appear in this living room on everything from upholstery and holiday gift wrap to lampshades and candles. With so much red in the room all year, only small touches of holly and garland are needed to add the Christmas spirit.

Where 1940s nautical glassware and red-and-white pottery rest on display year-round, holiday additions of folk art sheep, old papier-mache and celluloid Santa boots, and a treasured little roller skate fit right in.

The holidays are a great time to create and display eye-catching vignettes with favorite decorations and collections. Vintage sleds decorate the hearth of this rock fireplace, while pewter and Santa collectibles line the mantel dressed with evergreen boughs and pinecones.

When it comes to collecting a specific Christmas decoration -- such as blue salt-glaze Santas -- the more the merrier. Displaying these Santas in groupings on mantels, bookshelves, and tables throughout the house creates instant holiday decorations with personal meaning.

When the family tree is loaded with collectibles and handmade ornaments, bowls piled high with traditional glass balls make easy table decorations.

A bolt of blue grosgrain ribbon from a flea market is used to tie garland to the bedposts and wrap a pillow like a package, adding holiday touches while savoring every inch of the old textile.

A beautiful everyday display of treasured Blue Willow pottery on a vintage bamboo stand takes on holiday flair when blue-and-white holiday statuary and silver bells are added to bowls and trays.