Jill Bednar’s love of decorating brings Christmas to every corner of her family’s home.
Some Christmas traditions return in the decorations that fill our homes each year. Others live in the moments we share with the people we love. For Jill and Joe Bednar, the season brings both together.
Their home, a unique space brimming with collected treasures and thoughtful details, takes on a familiar glow each Christmas. Plaid ribbons, vintage ornaments, and trees dressed in distinctive colors fill the rooms, settling naturally among favorite furnishings and family keepsakes. Every space reflects Jill’s love of decorating, creating a welcoming stage for the traditions the Bednars look forward to year after year.
The Bednars bought their home 15 years ago and immediately began a complete renovation with Bernskoetter Construction. Over the next year and a half, they created the soft, neutral foundation Jill envisioned, with timeless finishes that provide a backdrop for collections, accessories, and seasonal colors. As the owner of downtown Jefferson City’s Southbank Gift Company, Jill has a natural eye for mixing old and new. Her love of Paris also influences the way she decorates, drawing her toward time-worn finishes, handmade details, and pieces with a past.
The home’s collected style provides a natural starting point for holiday decorating. Black and white accessories remain throughout the year, while seasonal colors change around them. In the entrance, slender metallic Christmas trees flank a dark cabinet beneath an ornate gold-framed mirror. Warm lights illuminate silver and gold ornaments, while miniature trees and decorative glass containers are displayed across the cabinet’s surface in varying heights and textures. Black lampshades bring contrast to the shimmering display, demonstrating Jill’s love of layering.
Decorating approximately seven Christmas trees allows Jill to explore different combinations of color and texture. Each tree has developed its own identity, shaped by its surroundings and the ornaments gathered over time. In the living room, red ornaments, plaid ribbons, and bold black-and-white stripes create a classic Christmas palette.
Checked pillows mingle with leopard prints and soft throws, connecting the tree to the room around it. Greenery spills across a plaid-covered mantel beneath a lighted wreath, while patterned stockings hang below. Books and framed photographs give the festive room a comfortable familiarity.
Almost none of the furniture was purchased new. Estate sales, antique malls, garage sales, and the Habitat ReStore have provided items that Jill has repainted, repurposed, or used just as they were. If she loves something, she trusts that a place for it will follow.
That resourcefulness extends to the kitchen, where scrap tin discovered downtown and finished at a body shop acts as part of the range hood. Red poinsettias brighten the kitchen island, and nutcrackers gather near the sink.
Adjacent to the kitchen, garland follows the staircase railing, woven with berries, lights, striped ribbon, and colorful ornaments. The family room continues the festive mix with plaid and checked pillows and a wreath against the window.
Jill’s resourcefulness extends beyond her home. Her eye for potential has also led to an ongoing collaboration with the Habitat for Humanity ReStore. She refinishes overlooked or damaged pieces from the ReStore and helps them find new homes, with all proceeds going to Habitat for Humanity. It is a natural extension of her approach at home, recognizing the value in something that needs a little attention and giving it another life. Through the ReStore, that creativity also gives back to the community.
In the breakfast area, dark shelving displays a collection that began with a milk glass collection belonging to Jill's mother. White dishes mingle with transferware and green pottery, while little houses, nutcrackers, and holiday figures find places between them. Above the brick fireplace, a wreath combines greenery and citrus with plaid and checked ribbons.
The Bednar’s family tree holds some of the most meaningful decorations. Handmade ornaments share its branches with pieces gifted to the Bednars over the years. Each Christmas, family members receive dated ornaments reflecting a highlight from the year’s events, with labels recording the year and giver to preserve their stories. Christmas morning is relaxed and unhurried. The Bednars gather in pajamas, with the dogs joining the tradition. Coffee and cinnamon rolls from a friend begin the day, followed by leisurely gift opening. Later, the family gathers for a formal dinner, with familiar foods and recipes connecting the celebration to generations past.
The dining room takes on a softer glow. Turquoise and brown ornaments complement Jill’s Wedgwood china, while warm lights illuminate flocked branches, metallic accents, and vintage ornaments found at estate sales. Above the table, a chandelier with a weathered finish, star-shaped details, and strands of beads and hanging crystals echoes the tree’s shimmer. A swan centerpiece holds ornaments and flowing ribbon, carrying the colors onto the table, where layered china and gold-rimmed glasses complete the setting. On the sideboard, miniature trees surround a nativity scene, combining bottlebrush bristles, feathers, and shimmering finishes.
In the basement, another tree draws inspiration from nature. Dried citrus garlands wind among birds, nests, earthy brown tones, and plaid accents. Its warm palette feels at home beside collected artwork and vintage suitcases, while plaid pillows on the nearby sofa carry those colors into the seating area.
Decorating is Jill’s love language, and Joe has his own way of appreciating it. When he arrives home before her, he turns on every Christmas light in the house. With the trees glowing and familiar treasures all around, the home reflects the care Jill brings to the season. Each room offers something to enjoy, while the traditions shared within make the season one that the Bednars look forward to year after year.
