An interior designer decorates her family’s farm in cozy neutrals, creating a serene yet magical neutral holiday home.
For Liz Marie Galvan, Christmas means having all five of her senses at peace. Her neutral holiday home becomes a haven of serenity. The busy blogger, mother, shop owner, wife, interior designer and author is always in motion, but during the holidays she enjoys the restful magic that comes with the season.
“From the sight of Christmas lights and sound of music to the smell of hot cocoa and the taste of my favorite desserts while snuggling with my family under cozy throws and heavy blankets for a movie night, I’m immediately at peace just thinking about the holidays. It is no secret we all connect memories with our senses—and just saying this, I am grinning with random memories of last year’s Christmas,” she says. It’s a time when lifelong memories are at the forefront of the mind while new ones are being made, creating a beautiful blend of past and present. For the holidays, Liz Marie decorates White Cottage Farm with neutral holiday décor, an extension of her usual style. The farm, located in West Michigan, is where the Galvan family resides along with a menagerie of sheep, chickens, dogs, cats and bees.
Greetings from Santa. A cheery Santa Claus is at the back-door entry, which operates as the family’s main entrance, so they get to enjoy it often. “Our Santa is actually a paint-by-numbers that a friend of mine did,” Liz Marie says. Adhesive strips from 3M keep the cutout in place while protecting the back of the cutout.
“Christmas is what you make it, but I want my collections and my style to partner with my Christmas décor rather than be completely overshadowed by it,” Liz Marie says.
Destined for Design
Growing up in the early ’90s, Liz Marie didn’t know she would end up in the digital space as a blogger, but interior design was always in her heart and mind. “I was the kid that would flip past the Saturday-morning cartoons and land on ‘Trading Spaces’ or ‘Christopher Lowell’,” she says. “I would arrange and rearrange my room and take Polaroids of the newly decorated space and put them in a little photo album, basically blogging without a computer.” She met her husband, José, through a mutual friend in high school and the two wed at 19 years old and settled in West Michigan in 2014. Liz Marie and José renovated their home and farm (and continue to do so) and expanded into books and a shop, all while sharing candidly about their struggles with infertility. “Our infertility struggles over the years really helped me show the importance of a cozy home through the sense of security, rest and relaxation, and having multiple places to ‘escape’ to and recenter myself,” Liz Marie says. Happily, the couple adopted a beautiful child, Copeland.
Greenhouse Effect. Right outside the back door is a greenhouse. In summer, the area as a kitchen garden, filled with fresh veggies and herbs for the family. For Christmas, they added a welcoming wreath because they park there and it’s a festive vignette to see every time they come home.
Decorating the Neutral Holiday Home
The halls get decked early. “We typically begin holiday decorating on November 1, while Copeland is recovering from his Halloween candy coma,” Liz Marie says with a smile. “Before you gasp in horror because you think it’s too early, let me explain. The blog and my retail store, The Found Cottage, put us on a retail schedule.” The blog is meant to inspire Liz Marie’s followers’ next looks, which means she needs to be just ahead of the decorating season to give them time to gain inspiration. To accomplish this, Liz Marie brings items from her store to her home. She then styles the pieces in vignettes to give people ideas on how to decorate with certain holiday products and, most importantly, to spark their imaginations. The Galvans do host and cherish Thanksgiving at the farm—it just happens to have a Christmas tree in the background.
Porch Greenery. A porch on the side of the home is under the watchful eye of Winnie, a Great Pyrenees. Liz Marie usually decorates this space with some stems or seasonal greenery.
When it comes to her neutral holiday home décor, Liz Marie loves a natural and classic aesthetic and the colors associated with the style. “Greens and earth tones are my go-to,” she says. Garlands crafted from stems cut from their farm bring the perfect shade of wintry green and set the stage for the rest of Liz Marie’s neutral holiday home décor. “We use a lot of antiques in our Christmas décor that primarily have wood tones. In addition, I use white stoneware, brass, gold and silver,” she says. For a punchy pop, she incorporates a deep, classic vintage red, but very sparingly. “It’s scarce, but it is there,” she says.
Christmas is a time of hope and beauty at the farm. Transforming the farm into a cozy Christmas cottage is a true joy and Liz Marie loves creating interiors that reflect memories and prepares for those to come.
Vintage Vessels. Underneath the stairs is a little nook by the front entryway. Liz Marie enjoys using old vintage containers and garden irons to hold plants. Tip: Use interesting, weathered containers to hold your tabletop Christmas trees. They will add a layered, Old World beauty to your interior spaces.
All Natural. “Neutral color schemes speak to me because they allow other décor to really pop and grab everyone’s attention,” Liz Marie says. Here, earthy tones like brown, white (calling to mind newly fallen snow) and green allow the forms of each item and the room composition to take center stage in her serene, neutral holiday home.
Simpler Times. A formal dining room has a view of the front living room, and both show that sometimes less is more. “There’s a naked tree with just clip-on candles,” Liz Marie says. “Elegance and simplicity speak to me and that’s how I embodied it with the tree.”
Minute Makeover. Liz Marie appreciates this space in her neutral holiday home because it showcases how timeless pieces and neutral décor can quickly be transitioned for the holidays by tucking greenery into various spots and setting out winter-related items like vintage skis. Liz Marie is a huge fan of Mora clocks, and this one fit right in. She got it from an Etsy shop called White and Faded (WhiteandFaded) and it has its original paint.
Shop at Home. Liz Marie is a huge proponent of shopping your own house. You can easily use something you already have in a new way for your holiday décor. For example, the horse you see here is an antique find and it has migrated to different spots in the home over the years. This season, it sits proudly atop the mantel. “I added a little bit of texture to either side of it with the plants and it’s a whole new look,” Liz Marie says.
That’s a Wrap. Jose is the muscle behind the gift-wrapping in the Galvan home. “I can’t get the corners crisp like he can, so he does the majority of it,” Liz Marie says. However, while Jose is the brawn, Liz Marie is the brains that comes up with the styling of the gifts and enjoys making them special. Here are a few ways you can as well: Tie an ornament, cookie cutter or pack of gardening seeds on top of the gift. Use free maps from a visitors’ center for giftwrap or reuse fabric and calendar paper. Also, if the gift is for a family member, have your children draw on the wrapping paper in red, green or gold.
Christmas Corner. A simple winter corner is a perfect way to add Christmas style during the holiday season and be able to keep it up all winter long. In this room, Liz Marie creates such a corner with a tree adorned with only lights and clip-on candles. “To match the antique Christmas style, I keep the tree free from any ornaments, making it a naked Christmas tree,” she says. “Using minimal décor on the tree allows us to enjoy the beauty of each branch.”
Cottage Cozy. When Liz Marie thinks of cottage style, she thinks of a personalized version of cozy. “Modern to Farmhouse designs can come in all shapes and sizes, but there is still a ‘box’ that most people will stay within,” she says. “Cottage style is essentially a free for all when it comes to trends and style expectations.” Cottages can be lakeside, beach front, nestled in the woods or on top of a mountain. Regardless of the style, cottages are a curated escape to an area of rest that brings you and your loved ones an added level of cozy.
Butcher-Block Beauty. There’s a wonderful butcher-block island in the kitchen. It’s a found piece that Liz Marie purchased from an old grocery store. “The legs are original to the piece and make it a true work of art,” she says. To decorate it for the season, she placed a small tree atop it. It immediately adds a festive feel to the space without interfering with all the Christmas baking and adds a pop of green color to the neutral holiday home.
Shiny as a Penny. Copper pots hanging above a SMEG stove and a custom-made pot filler add charming French-cottage flair to the kitchen. Holiday décor is visible but out of the way on a shelf, along with two small trees that are strategically placed on one end of the countertop and on a cabinet by the fridge.
Texture Messages. A neutral holiday home doesn’t necessarily mean the decor is flat. In fact, it allows textures and the other senses to come to the fore. “The library shelves give me a blank slate to create vignettes on them whenever I please,” Liz Marie says. She juxtaposed the cold, hard textures of stoneware, glass and porcelain with the warmer woodland and earth-tone textures of faux seasonal greens. For a finishing touch that engages the senses, she often lights a cozy holiday candle from Antique Candle Co. to add the perfect Christmas scent to the room.
Christmas Card Collection. There’s nothing like giving and receiving Christmas cards—and then displaying them as holiday décor!
Sweet & Simple. Cozy and simplified are the keywords for Liz Marie’s neutral holiday home. Here, an evergreen wreath seen through the glass doors is subtle yet striking against the neutral interior.
Kitchen Classique. For one of its past lives, this sizeable island lived in the Galvans’ shop, the Found Cottage, as a cash register desk. Liz Marie relocated it to their home to repurpose it as a kitchen island and then found these stools to finish off the setup. “It’s so fun because they give off old ice cream parlor vibes,” she says. “The kitchen is one of my favorite areas to decorate in the house because it is a space that we spend a large portion of our time in,” Liz Marie says. She points out that there are more ways to decorate in your kitchen than simply on the island, counters and dining table. Small wintry touches, like the potted trees in her neutral holiday home, tucked in throughout kitchen essentials are elegant and festive.
Custom Cabinetry. These kitchen cabinets from West Michigan Lumber are charmingly called “Holiday Cabinets” for the season. The Galvans ordered them in the whitest white color available. They are Shaker-style cabinets with a small molding in the inset for added detail. A small tree is an unobtrusive December touch.
Open Door. Creative styling options add interest to an interior and allow more ways to display collections. Leaving the door of a hutch open is an enticing reveal of its contents and a wonderful way to highlight glassware, china or silver serving sets.
Winter Theme. “When I approach my bedroom [styling], I think of longer-form décor that will last through the holidays, into winter, and bring us to the doorstep of spring,” Liz Marie says. For her neutral holiday home, her approach is all winter-focused, with wintry earth tones and winter greens, both real or faux, and cozy linens along with additional blankets or comforters.
For This Child, I Prayed. “The dream of having a child around the Christmas season is something that we have prayed on and our hearts have longed for,” Liz Marie says. “Making Christmas special and memorable for Copeland is something that I strive for, and now that he is getting to the age where he recognizes these special moments just makes it that much more fun.” Copeland gets his own little 2-foot tabletop tree decorated with a mix of boutique ornaments.
Toasty Fingers. A textured rope turns mittens and yarn hats into décor. Liz Marie hangs the pairs separately to create a wintry banner.
Retail Therapy
Liz Marie’s shop, The Found Cottage, is an interior design wonderland. “It’s taken a few years, but we have put together an incredible team that I am very thankful for,” she says. Here’s a peek behind the scenes:
Powers of Observation. Liz Marie orders products throughout the year but meets with her styling team to order items based on the seasonal needs they observe.
Meet & Greet. Several times a week, Liz Marie goes to the store to meet with her team members who run the warehouse, online sites, events, styling and sales.
Vision for Vignettes. Liz Marie meets weekly with the styling team to produce new vignettes and plan different displays and design plans. “It ensures our customers have the best experience possible,” she says.
Auspicious Occasions. Multiple special events are offered each year, so Liz Marie meets with the staff and co-owners to plan them. “They are typically once a month,” she says. “We love making them special.”
Curation Nation. To keep the store stocked with unique items, Liz Marie and the other co-owners visit antiques markets nationwide to help curate the look of the store.
If you’re looking for more vintage and flea market inspired holiday decor ideas, browse our Santa Stoppers galleries here and here. Of course, don’t forget to follow us on Instagram, Facebook and Pinterest for more updates and flea market inspiration.
