Little House of Ady

Hello everyone ! Welcome back ! December is upon us and today I would like to share with you something I’ve been doing since Christmas 2024: decorating the top of my piano, the same as I would decorate a mantle.

Actually, it’s been quite a few years since I started to see people on the Internet (some Youtubers such as xomacenna and some others) decorate their mantle for Christmas with beautiful garlands and other decorations. And I’ve always found that quite beautiful, elegant and such a nice touch to elevate decor, to give it some character, some depth, texture.

I’ve never really done it since I don’t have a mantle in my living space. I do have one in my bedroom but it’s already full of books. And to be honest with you all, since I already lack a lot (a lot a lot) of space for my books, it would be absolutely ridiculous and unreasonable to remove them just to make space for another set of decorations, even temporary.

However, what I do have in my living space, living room actually, is a piano, an upright one. And that piano seems to offer kinda something similar to what you can get with a mantle. So last year, I jumped into it, removed everything resting on the top on the piano, gave it a good clean and installed some Christmas decorations. That process was actually at that moment, some therapy for me, a way of calming myself, reassuring myself by doing something creative, creating something pretty in my space. Because the day I did that, was the day I learnt that my father, who was at the hospital (I’ll tell you the whole story another time, not now) had an CVA the day before and it shattered me. I would reassure myself by saying that it’ll be okay, he would slowly recover but surely since he was a real fighter and would do everything he had to do to recover. And so, doing this little creative and pretty therapy was for me to feel better that day. Would have I known that this CVA (and other things) was going to kill him 2 days later ….. Part of me felt remorse for having thought of doing such an activity while he was indeed dying. But most of me felt deep regret for not being able to show him what I had done. I was kinda happy with the result, almost proud, and so I’d wished to show my father what I made. Unfortunately, I couldn’t…

So, when Christmas time passed and it was time to remove all of the decorating, something stung inside of me. I couldn’t bear to leave the piano top empty, hollow. Like it would remind me of the void left by my father. This is how I chose to keep decorating the piano, but according to the seasons. Christmas vibes would leave space to foliages, then flowers, then Fall vibes and so on, all year round.

So now that December has come back, it was time to set the piano into Christmas mode.

And today, I would like to share with you how I decorate, specifically for Christmas, my piano, hoping I could give you some ideas or even inspire you to do the same somewhere in your house.

Let’s get started !

First, you need to remove everything and have a good clean. Be careful what you use for cleaning your surface. In my case, since it’s a piano and so, wood, I use something specific for wood surfaces. This way the piano top is both cleaned and nourished, protected.

Then, you need a basis, a simple canvas you’re gona work on, add on and on. I use a big and thick green garland, curled like a snake on top.

Then I add back the only existing piece of decor I’m sure to use here: the glass-bell clock.

Following, I add other pieces of decor, such as candles (not meant to be burned, just for aesthetic purposes), big glass vases filled with little ornaments/sparkly papers/fake snow etc, a big matrioshka my father bought in Moscow in the 90s for my mom and other pretty pieces that can fit in the theme ( for example golden).

Finally, I add my foliage and other faux-branches, to give some texture, dimension and volume to the structure. I try as much as possible to alternate patterns, styles, colors, so that it doesn’t feel to clustered, like only golden in only one spot on one side and only fake berries in only one spot on another side. I try to keep it as harmonious as possible, like a patchwork, kinda.

The last step involves adding smaller pieces, small final touches, like painted pinecones, small flowers etc. It completes perfectly the whole thing, in my opinion.

Depending on what you have and the surface you’re working on can create so many different scapes. You can use, instead of the big green garland, some bigger faux cedar/pine etc branches. You can even use real ones if you’re working on a surface that’s easy to clean such as a marble/stone mantle. Working on wood unfortunately confines you to faux branches and so on, unless you have a way of protecting the wooden surface that won’t show and so ruin the effect of your decor.

You don’t necessarily have to use Christmas-themed decor pieces with your branches and foliage. In my case, I try to use anything I find beautiful and that fits the colors, usually golden, shades of red etc. Including decor pieces you already use the rest of the year, allow you to make this decor scape feels like it belongs into your home, as if Christmas was injected or just sparkled onto your home. Christmas and your home will intertwine together.

That’ll be all for today’s post. I do hope you liked it, that it was useful, interesting or even entertaining.

Thank you for passing by and reading my blog.

I’ll talk to you soon in a next post,

Until then, take care of yourself ❤

Ady ❤