A Quiet Coastal Maine Christmas in the Dining Room

A relaxed mix of Christmas, winter, and Maine style. This year I kept my holiday dining room understated and natural, with faux juniper, pinecones, and soft plaid flannel in shades of blue and green for a cozy coastal feel.

A Relaxed Holiday Mood

I’ve been a busy little holiday elf this past week — arranging greenery, tying bows, and placing pinecones just so.

I decorated my little tree, switched the dishes in the hutch, and added a few festive touches. Both sides of the stone fireplace were dressed for the season, and the chandelier over the dining table got a holiday makeover. I even talked a few friends into helping me swap the rug in the dining area — out with summer sisal, in with winter wool.

Phew! There truly is no rest for the weary. But I’m counting on the time spent now to make for a calm and restful December when I return from my Thanksgiving trip to Maryland.

Really, though, this is exactly the kind of “work” I love. I can feel my creative juices flowing as I pull it all together. And this year, I’m actually keeping things much simpler since I’ll be back in Maryland to celebrate Christmas with the family.

Still, I wanted the house to feel festive and warm — a calm, cozy blend of Christmas, winter, and Maine style. Blues, greens, and natural elements bringing the outdoors inside.

I think I struck just the right balance. Let me show you — starting today with the dining area.

Subtle Holiday Layers in the Dining Room

While we won’t be gathering around the table this year for a holiday meal, I still want the space to feel special — to quietly celebrate the season as I go about my daily life.

I let the light fixture above the table make the statement. Its long, open design makes it a perfect piece to decorate. I wired faux juniper garland to the base. With its pretty blue berries and deep green foliage, it truly is the perfect greenery for my holiday home. I also think it’s one of the most realistic fauxs out there!

As a nod to Maine — where flannel is ubiquitous all winter long (and well beyond) — I cut wide strips of a favorite brushed blue-and-green plaid and tied them into big bows at each corner. No sewing needed! It’s a great alternative to ribbon and adds a soft, cozy touch.

I kept things fuss-free on the table itself, starting with a runner I sewed a couple of years ago using blocks of three different plaid flannel fabrics (including the same one I used for the bows above). This runner will easily take me into winter after the holidays are over.

I swapped out the golden yellow pillar candles in the hurricanes from fall for green and simply kept my stack of wooden bowls in the center of the table — a calm place for the eye to rest while adding warmth and texture.

I actually wrote a whole blog post about why I love a good stack of bowls (and how to give your own an antique-style painted finish). You can read it here.

The palette of green and blue I use here is seasonal — I only add green to my home in the winter — but I love how the two play together, just like the view out my window these days, where spruce green meets ocean blue.

Fireside Touches

Blue and green really have their moment together on the stone fireplace, where abundant greenery mixes with my treasured collection of antique blue-and-white transferware. This collection of platters and mugs stays out year-round, and I simply add seasonal decor to it — what I like to call “lazy decorating.”

For the holidays, I filled some of the antique barley and hops barware with more juniper greenery and tucked a large pinecone into others. Then I added a single Eldreth Pottery Father Christmas figurine to the mix on the mantel. I’ve collected a few of these over the years (you’ll see more on the hutch). Their salt-glazed finish and hand-painted blue details fit right in with my love of old-fashioned craftsmanship and blue-and-white everything.

Above the mantel, layered on top of the blue-and-white platters, is — you guessed it — a faux juniper and pinecone wreath. (Call me nothing if not consistent!) I tied one of the flannel bows to the wreath, but it was just so-so. I wanted something special that would stand out against all the blue and white pattern. So I added a second bow made from two ribbons — soft green velvet and a narrow green-and-blue plaid — a perfectly quiet, elegant, and still-casual statement.

And that’s it for the fireplace. I did try a garland draped across the mantel, but I found it distracting. Sometimes it’s best to leave well enough alone. The stone, greenery, and blue-and-white pieces were enough on their own. (Don’t worry, though — I went with “more-than-enough” on the other side of the fireplace… I’ll be sharing that soon!)

The Hutch Dressed for Winter

Before decorating the hutch, I did the big seasonal switch. The Cornishware went into boxes stored in the basement — see you in the spring, happy blue-and-white stripes! In its place came more of my mother’s antique blue-and-white transferware — radiating the warmth of her presence during the cold months.

As on the mantel, I filled some of the pitchers and bowls with greenery and others with pinecones. And here, four Eldreth Santas mix in with the dishes. It’s all a relaxed jumble — nothing too stylized or symmetrical — but it does have a loose flow and an easy balance.

On top of the hutch, bottle brush trees in cream, green, and bluish-green stand at attention in a straight row. They’re attached to a thin board and are the only thing in this room I bought new-to-me this year. I saw them in an antiques store and was completely smitten — I knew I had to find a spot for them.

Behind them, as a backdrop to add height, color, and texture, I placed several baskets — two painted green. The large wooden cutting board stayed from the summer display.

And as a final touch, I hung a pennant garland I made a few years ago from the same flannel fabrics I used for the table runner. It feels festive in the perfect cozy-sweater way.

Read about all my flannel sewing projects in my blog post: Easy Sewing Projects To Warm Your Kitchen and Table For Winter.

A Bit of Maine Life

Of course, it’s not all bows and pinecones around here! I thought I’d share a few snippets of what’s been happening beyond the house this week in my corner of coastal Maine.

Midcoast Villager

I recently subscribed to our new local weekly newspaper, the Midcoast Villager. This isn’t your usual small-town rag, though. In 2024, a team of journalists who once worked for major metropolitan papers traded city life for the coast of Maine, determined to build something small, local, and lasting. The result is a paper with big-city polish and small-town heart — sharp writing, beautiful design, and a mix of real reporting and the kind of charming Maine stories that make me smile.

I particularly love that it lists the tides for the week right on the bottom of the front page — you don’t get that kind of information in the Washington Post!

If you need proof that this paper has personality, look no further than this week’s headline under “Politics”: “Union Brewery Invites U.S. Senate Candidates to ‘Drinking Contest’ Town Hall.” Ah, Maine — I love you.

For more of this, and other Maine stories you won’t get from Molly in Maine, head to the Midcoast Villager website. You can subscribe to receive the news digitally or have the paper delivered straight to your mailbox the old-fashioned way (like I do).

Seaweed Harvesting in the Harbor

And speaking of Maine life — in the “this is my new reality” category — I’ve been watching a boat harvest seaweed in the harbor outside my windows. The other boats have long since disappeared for the season, but one intrepid soul is still out there in all kinds of weather, sucking up seaweed with a large vacuum-like contraption.

I’m not sure exactly what this particular harvester is doing with it, but seaweed — both wild and farmed — is a growing industry here in Maine. A couple of summers ago, a research project in the harbor tested how feeding cows a small amount of seaweed in their diet could reduce methane emissions. Who knew?! Life on the Maine coast is full of new surprises.

This Week Into Next

Here we are — in the final push to Thanksgiving.

This year I’m not worrying over menus and table settings, but over how to avoid traffic on my long drive to Maryland. I’ve decided to leave early and return late — Sunday to the following Monday. And for the first time ever, I’m thinking of taking the long route through Pennsylvania. I have a hard enough time navigating NYC and I-95 during the best of times, let alone the craziness that is Thanksgiving week. Hopefully Maddie, Cisco, and I will have a stress- (and backup-) free drive through Amish country.

I’ve been helping Zoë find furnishings for their dining room in anticipation of our family Christmas there this year. We found a table on FBMP, and next up are chairs and a rug. I’ll, of course, share everything with you once it’s done. I’ve also been tasked with styling the Christmas mantel — which I’m only too happy to do! And we’ll be picking out their live tree while I’m visiting. I can’t wait.

And speaking of mantels, I finished the living room mantel last night — and I’m obsessed. It might be my favorite ever. I can’t wait to hear what you think. I’ll be sharing that, along with my little tree (it’s everything I hoped a small tree would be), next week!

Until then, I wish you a wonderful Thanksgiving — however you’re celebrating.

I’m thankful for you being here with me. 💙