Last year was my first Australian Christmas, even though I technically went back home to the U.S. to celebrate Christmas with family, it was my first time I got to decorate my space how I wanted it. However, since I was spending Christmas back in the States, I didn’t feel like going all-out with the Christmas decor. I went on the more budget-friendly option when it came to decorating. I even did a whole blog post dedicated to budget-friendly Christmas decor, a lot of the decor pieces you can either DIY or basically put together for free!
This year is different. This year I’m officially celebrating my first Christmas in Australia. Because of that, I’ve decided that it’s time to really decorate the house for the holidays.
I feel like in the past few months after moving into our second rental home, our house has started to feel more and more like a home every day. I’ve also come into the realization that just because something is a good price, doesn’t mean it’s necessarily a good deal to get it. Because of this realization, I’ve been trying to only bring items into the house that I truly love and are an overall nice quality that I wouldn’t need to throw out after a couple of months.
The past year, more and more TK Maxx’s have been opening up all around Australia. If you’re from the U.S. TK Maxx is the same as TJ Maxx- full of discounted home décor, handbags, apparel etc. With the new addition of TK Maxx in Australia, I’ve been able to decorate the house and make it feel like a home, but on a budget.
The majority of the items I’ve used to decorate this year are from TK Maxx. I feel like they’re just better quality items for nearly the same price, (if not cheaper), I could find at Target or Kmart in Australia and they have so many unique pieces that I couldn’t find at any of those larger stores.
The Entryway
When you walk in our front door, you’re greeted with my DIY Christmas Wreath that I made last year for under $10! I have a blog post solely dedicated on how you can make your own DIY Wreath which you can see by clicking here.
I was on the hunt for a nicer wreath this year, however, I was a little late with the Christmas decor shopping this year. As they obviously don’t celebrate Thanksgiving here in Australia, people tend to start decorating for Christmas much earlier than they do in the U.S. which means a lot of the Christmas decor was basically already gone by mid-November.
All that being said, I think that this wreath is still very nice and I can’t believe it was made for under $10.
Next to the door, we have our coat rack. We don’t have a fireplace in this house and although I like the idea of having the stockings near the tree, I just decided to hang them up in the entryway. It adds more of a Christmas vibe in the entry and is very practical for holding the stockings.
The last part of the entryway is the entry table where I’ve just included some random items that I’ve collected from Kmart, TK Maxx and from Walmart from Christmas last year. I definitely shopped the after Christmas specials last year with items that I could fit in my suitcase. After Christmas specials are definitely the time to start thinking of decor for next Christmas and you can find some incredible deals.
I added little touches of fake snow and twinkle lights that are battery operated. I also added this berry branch that I got from Kmart for $5. I picked up two of them and put them in a vase. It’s the perfect compliment for the colors I decided to go for this year- White, Woodsy, and Berry/Wine.
Other than the entryway, at the beginning of the house, I added a little tree in our bedroom with some white lights and little champaign ornaments, all the things that I picked up last year. In the future, I would love to have a full-size tree in our bedroom, but for the time being, I think that the small tree is a nice way to add some festive vibes to the bedroom.
Walking down the end of the hall, you reach our kitchen, dining, and living room- aka where the majority of the Christmas decor takes place.
The Buffet
This space is pretty small for everything we have in it. Ideally, we would have a smaller table and couch to make the space more functional, but we’ve just used what we already in the old house to furnish this space. To fit the tree in the space, we had to move both the couch and the buffet back a bit.
The buffet features our typical items such as our books and lamp and our bar tray. We use this buffet specifically for entertaining purposes with jars and platters in the cabinets along with more wine and drink accessories, candles, and placement in the drawers. I’ve added a few Christmas décor pieces on top like this metal tree with a tealight holder in the bar tray. I also added a wood and metal Joy sign that I fell in love with in the center and some glass tealight holders on either side that I’ve had from the year before. Lastly, I just added some trees on the books and that’s it!
The Dining Room
Moving towards the dining table, I did want to get a garland centerpiece, but as I mentioned, I was late to the Christmas shopping this year and missed out on the Christmas garland so I opted for something simple. I got these trees from TK Maxx of course and added a wine/berry red candle to bring out the red theme and finished it off with some festive Christmas napkins, another candle, and some marble coasters that I already had.
The Kitchen
In the kitchen, I didn’t decorate too much. I just added this gorgeous candle that I got at a local shop and then a kitchen towel that I picked up last year from Bed, Bath and Table. Although the kitchen towel didn’t go perfectly with the berry theme, I thought it was still adorable and decided to put it out this year as well.
The Living Room
In the living room, I first added this beautiful felt tree the tv stand with the berry/wine color. I found that at TK Maxx. It was apart of the “Made in India Collection” which I’ve always really loved, especially when it comes to the Christmas decor. I’ve seen items like this year-round in TJ Maxx, but I really love the style and the uniqueness of the items.
On the coffee table, I just wanted to keep it practical and not too cluttered. This is the area that we store our remotes for the TV, XBOX and any cords that we may need. I already had a majority of the items already on the coffee table like this gorgeous wood tray from TK Maxx and some random red books that went along with the Christmas theme. To incorporate some festive elements to the tray, I just added my DIY Christmas Tree Jar that I showed how I made it on my Instagram Story and some pinecones that I already had out on display for Autumn.
I also added some additional mini Christmas trees- I honestly threw these mini trees all over the house to add a little Christmas cheer and then some spare gold ornaments I had lying around. I then finished the tray off with an amazing Peppermint Bark candle from TK Maxx. This candle instantly fills up the space with peppermint and smells so delicious!
Moving on to the most important part of the Christmas décor- the Christmas tree. After searching for a while for our 7 ft, pre-lit Christmas tree we originally wanted, we decided to purchase a 6.5 FT flocked tree that was on special for 20% off. Although I wish that it was pre-lit for convenience and a little taller, I absolutely love this tree and I’m so happy that we got it. I’ve never had anything but a traditional all-gree tree, but I absolutely love the flocked look.
To decorate the tree I just used some warm white lights and a combination of ornaments that I picked up after Christmas last year at Bed Bath and Table and Walmart and some new ornaments from TK Maxx this year. As mentioned earlier I went for a white, woodsy theme with a pop of berry- as I like to say our theme was: A Berry, Merry Christmas!
I really prefer the berry red over the traditional Christmas red since I feel like it looks a bit richer and compliments the green and white beautifully!
I also drew inspiration from my “Vermont” style barn ornament that I picked up on sale at Walmart after Christmas for about a dollar! The ornament reminds me of home and I just love those style barns in general so it was definitely something I wanted to incorporate on my tree and is so perfect for my theme!
I finished off my Christmas tree with some beautifully wrapped presents that are for friends and family. I used simple wrapping paper with some beautiful ribbon from Sugar Paper and Hearth and Hand from Target. I picked all of this ribbon up last year after Christmas for 90% off! As I mentioned before, after Christmas shopping is definitely the time to get your Christmas decor and wrapping! 
I’m really happy with how everything turned out this year and it looks even more magical at night with all the candles and lights on. I absolutely love putting the lights on in the tree and lighting all my Christmas candles. Even though it may be 90 degrees outside here in Australia, it still gives a beautiful vibe in the house and gives the home that cozy feeling that I love during the holidays in Winter.
I hope you enjoyed my Berry, Merry Christmas House Tour! How did you decorate your house this Christmas? Let me know in the comments down below!
