This Home’s Vintage Holiday Decor Is the Most Charmingly Festive I’ve Ever Seen

Adrienne Breaux

23 December 2024 at 4:00 pm·8-min read

Woman and her dog on the sofa in their living room that's been generously decorated with colorful sparkly Christmas decor, tinsel, and trees — "I have been using some of these tinsel panels for 20+ years," begins Shannon Kelly, who's owned this 1939 cottage for 17 years, of her home's annual holiday transformation. Credit: Stacy Keck Credit: Stacy Keck

Living room generously decorated with colorful sparkly Christmas decor, tinsel, and trees — "My hack is to roll them up and place them in Ziploc freezer bags labeled with numbers as to where they hang in my house," she reveals. Credit: Stacy Keck Credit: Stacy Keck

Living room generously decorated with colorful sparkly Christmas decor, tinsel, and trees. Dog is on chair in foreground — "That way I know exactly where they belong the following year when I take them out again. It makes the process so much faster."
Credit: Stacy Keck Credit: Stacy Keck

Small white tabletop tinsel Christmas tree in corner of room with sparkly beaded curtains — It's not just the walls that get a little extra sparkly this time of year. Credit: Stacy Keck Credit: Stacy Keck

Corner of room with lots of sparkly and vintage Christmas decorations and a small piano — Shannon hangs these beaded curtains in the windows from Shop Wild Things. Credit: Stacy Keck Credit: Stacy Keck

closeup on shelf full of vintage porcelain lady heads and christmas decor — "At Christmas time I also like to put little bottlebrush trees in my vintage lady head vases." Credit: Stacy Keck Credit: Stacy Keck

Vintage storage hutch in corner of Christmas-decorated room — "I DIY’ed some vintage style bottle brush trees. I got the trees from Michaels and removed the ornaments that didn’t match my pastel decor," Shannon continues. Credit: Stacy Keck Credit: Stacy Keck

small corner table decorated in pastel and sparkly vintage style christmas decorations — "Then I took apart some vintage garlands and added the pieces to the trees." Credit: Stacy Keck Credit: Stacy Keck

Fireplace area generously decorated with sparkly tinsel and other Christmas decorations — "I like to have all my lights connected to dimmers and wireless remote control outlets. It makes life so much easier," she writes.
Credit: Stacy Keck Credit: Stacy Keck

Living room with view into dining room, all generously decorated with colorful sparkly Christmas decor, tinsel, and trees — "I love the windows in the dining nook and deco-style archway," Shannon admits. "The curved dining nook makes the house look like an adorable cupcake from the outside."
Credit: Stacy Keck Credit: Stacy Keck

Shelves with vintage look barware and glasses, etc with tinsel decorations around it — "Vintage glass doorknobs and wine stoppers are great for displaying glass tree toppers. Just make sure they sit flat so they don’t wobble," Shannon shares of a holiday decor tip. Credit: Stacy Keck Credit: Stacy Keck

White sparkly dining room looking into living room. Both rooms are generously decorated with tinsel and vintage Christmas decor — "I swap out the bulbs in my chandelier for the lower wattage, more festive silicone-tipped flame bulbs. It keeps the lighting from looking harsh," Shannon writes about another holiday tip. Credit: Stacy Keck Credit: Stacy Keck

small shelves decorated with vintage and vintage-look Christmas decorations with tinsel wall in the background — When asked for her favorite holiday shopping sources, Shannon says: "Antique stores, thrift stores, Facebook Marketplace, Offer Up, eBay, and Etsy." Credit: Stacy Keck Credit: Stacy Keck

Yellow and white kitchen with vintage appliances and decor — "Being a teacher in California, the main challenge has been my limited budget," Shannon explains.
Credit: Stacy Keck Credit: Stacy Keck

Beige bedroom with lots of vintage decor and pink/peach and brass elements — "I’ve been chipping away at my home improvement projects since I bought the house. I’ve spent the past 17 years fixing it up little by little," she continues. Credit: Stacy Keck Credit: Stacy Keck

woman about to play a record on her small turntable in room full of vintage furniture and decor — "It’s been fun to celebrate the small successes along the way." Credit: Stacy Keck Credit: Stacy Keck

floor plan of house in San Diego — *Thank you, Shannon!* Credit: Courtesy of Shannon Kelly Credit: Courtesy of Shannon Kelly

ABOUT THIS TOUR

HOME TYPE: Historic Home

LOCATION: La Mesa, San Diego, California

STYLE: Glam, Maximalist, Vintage

BEDROOMS: 2

SQUARE FEET: 940

Shannon Kelly had been house hunting for a few months when she came across an online listing with no photos for a two-bedroom, 940-square-foot cottage built in 1939. Being over 85 years old, the cottage (as well as a travel trailer in the backyard also purchased in the sale) would need “a lot of repairs and cosmetic improvements.”

“There were oak floors hiding under smelly, stained carpeting, original plaster walls with mismatched, peeling paint, and old damaged vinyl flooring that was lifting,” Shannon describes, admitting that she had to invest in repairing the “unfun” essentials first when she moved in 17 years ago, like a new roof and electrical updates.

Fireplace area generously decorated with sparkly tinsel and other Christmas decorations with dog in sweater standing in front — Johnny is an Australian Terrier. Shannon says her dog doesn't have any interest in the tinsel hanging from her walls, but does caution anyone thinking about this idea in their own home to consider their pets' behavior. She particularly cautions against cat owners using this tinsel method, as she's heard tinsel can be dangerous to cats. If they were to play with and/or consume any of the tinsel, it'd be an emergency situation! Credit: Stacy Keck Credit: Stacy Keck

“Once the house was livable, I could begin the stuff I was looking forward to. I started by doing the first thing I’ve always done when moving in to a new place. I hung my 1920s Murano glass chandelier in the dining nook. It was my biggest splurge in my first apartment.”

closeup on sparkly tinsel xmas tree ornament — "I store it all in my little garage in freestanding cabinets," she explains of her holiday decor storage strategy. "I store my vintage ornaments in modular ornament storage boxes from Container Store."
Credit: Stacy Keck Credit: Stacy Keck

“As a renter, when I had to move, I would always hang my chandelier the minute I got the key to a new place. As a first-time homeowner, hanging it in my dining room was what made my new old house feel like my home.”

Sparkly tinsel and beaded dining room decorated for Christmas — "I swap out the bulbs in my chandelier for the lower wattage, more festive silicone-tipped flame bulbs. It keeps the lighting from looking harsh," Shannon advises.
Credit: Stacy Keck Credit: Stacy Keck

“After that, I painted the interior, had the kitchen and bathroom floors replaced with a more vintage-looking ceramic tile, added subway tiles to the wall in the bathroom, added baseboards, removed the old carpeting, and restored the original oak floors in the rest of the house,” she continues.

But while she did refresh the space, she made sure to keep plenty of “the vintage vibe that I loved when I bought it. It’s a fun mix of vintage pieces from a few different decades (mainly 1940s-1960s). It’s decorated in a soft color palette with a touch of glitz and glam. I love antiquing, and I’ve collected a variety of vintage treasures over the years,” Shannon writes.

mirror on tinsel-covered wall reflecting cute dog on sofa — You can find videos of Shannon's sparkly home on her TikTok @spoonfulofsparkle. Credit: Stacy Keck Credit: Stacy Keck

And for over two decades, on the week before Thanksgiving, Shannon has been transforming her home into an incredibly sparkly and festive wonderland! “For the past 20+ years I’ve been tinseling my walls for the holidays,” Shannon explains.

Corner of living room with pastel and sparkly vintage Christmas decorations — Credit: Stacy Keck Credit: Stacy Keck

“I punch holes in the top of foil fringe tinsel panels and hang them on 3M Command hooks on every wall in my living room and dining nook. Then I hang foil garland and fairy lights on those same hooks,” she continues. The result? One of the cheeriest, sparkliest, most festive holiday home transformations I’ve ever seen.

Resources

PAINT & COLORS

Silver tinsel covering in living room and dining nook — Amazon
Bedroom and Living Room Paint — Manufacturer Frazee “Sandy Lane,” but it’s covered in tinsel and Frazee is no more. But you can still get the paint.
Kitchen Paint — Frazee “Buttered Toast”
Vanity/Reading Room Paint — Frazee “Whispering Birch”