Jill Bednar Decorates Her Renovated Home With Timeless Christmas Traditions

Jill Bednar decorates roughly seven Christmas trees every year, and not one of them looks like the others.

For Jill and her husband, Joe, the Bednars, Christmas arrives in two forms at once: the decorations that fill their home and the moments they share with the people they love. Their house in Jefferson City is a collected space, full of treasures gathered over years, and each December it takes on a familiar glow. Plaid ribbons, vintage ornaments, and trees dressed in distinctive colors settle naturally among favorite furnishings and family keepsakes, so that every room reads as a stage for the traditions the couple looks forward to year after year.

A Renovation Built as a Backdrop

The Bednars bought the home 15 years ago and almost immediately began a complete renovation with Bernskoetter Construction. Over the next year and a half, they built the soft, neutral foundation Jill had envisioned, choosing timeless finishes that would serve as a backdrop for collections, accessories, and whatever seasonal colors came next. That decision still pays off every December, because the rooms never fight the decorations.

As the owner of downtown Jefferson City’s Southbank Gift Company, she spends her days mixing old and new, and her love of Paris shapes the way she decorates at home too. She is drawn to time-worn finishes, handmade details, and pieces with a past, which is why the home’s collected style works so well as a starting point for the holidays. Black and white accessories stay in place all year; the seasonal colors change around them.

Every Corner Earns Its Keep

In the entrance, slender metallic Christmas trees flank a dark cabinet beneath an ornate gold-framed mirror. Warm lights pick out silver and gold ornaments, and miniature trees and decorative glass containers are arranged across the cabinet top in varying heights and textures. Black lampshades add contrast to the shimmering display, a small demonstration of Jill’s habit of layering.

EXTREME DECLUTTERING!!!!!! | KITCHEN PURGING! || AT HOME WITH JILL

The living room leans into a classic Christmas palette: red ornaments, plaid ribbons, and bold black-and-white stripes. Checked pillows mingle with leopard prints and soft throws, tying the tree to the rest of the room. Greenery spills across a plaid-covered mantel beneath a lighted wreath, patterned stockings hang below it, and books and framed photographs give the festive space a comfortable familiarity.

What ties it all together is the sense that nothing was bought for a single season. The ornaments have histories, the furnishings have stories, and the renovation was designed precisely so that traditions could layer on top without clutter. For a household that runs a gift shop in the capital city’s downtown, the holidays at home are less a display and more a continuation of the way they live the rest of the year.