Photo: John Shearer
Brett Eldredgeis known as Mr. Christmas (just look at hisnewest album title!), and now, his home finally lives up to his nickname.
The best-selling country singer, 35, recently teamed up with the expert holiday decorators at Balsam Hill to help breathe some Christmas spirit into his newly built Nashville home — the first house the Illinois native has ever owned — and PEOPLE got an exclusive first look at the festive finished product.
“I’ve been a fan of Balsam Hill for a long time,” Eldredge tells PEOPLE of his decision to partner with the brand, famous for its realistic faux trees, explaining that they’ve been helping him design the stage for his Christmas-themedGlow Live Toursince 2016. “They get the Christmas-loving heart that I’ve got,” he adds.
John Shearer
And, of course, she decked out a spectacular evergreen: a12-foot faux Balsam Fir Christmas tree, in the corner of the living room.
Now that the makeover is complete, the star couldn’t be happier. “She really did a great job of combining all of that,” Eldredge says of Thurman. “I couldn’t have ever dreamed it would look like this.”
Having his new home feel merry and bright during his first holiday season there is incredibly meaningful for Eldredge, who says he’s enjoying the cozy comforts of being a homeowner for the first time.
“It’s my first house, so to be able to have something to come home to that just puts me right in the mood makes me feel warm and fuzzy,” he says. “I’ve been in high rises for a long time. That was great, but I was ready to get some space where I could come home from the road and just relax, and make music and make memories with family and friends. Now, being the Christmas fanatic that I am, to come home and have it look like a magical winter wonderland, it’s pretty special.”
He adds that his tall new tree is especially exciting for him, because having a centerpiece of that stature wasn’t possible in his former apartments.
“I’ve always dreamt of having a really big tree in my living room, and with these high ceilings, it’s the perfect size for the room,” he says of the towering evergreen. “I’m looking forward to cranking up the fire and just sitting in front of it, maybe sipping some bourbon, or a hot tea before I go to bed, and really sinking into the holiday.”
Getting into the holiday spirit isn’t hard for Eldredge — especially this year. Not only did his second Christmas album,Mr. Christmas, drop on Oct. 22, but he’s also traveling the country for his annual Glow Live Tour (based on his first holiday album,Glow), which kicked off on Nov. 13 in Las Vegas.
“It’s just been so good to get to tour again this year,” he says. “I got to build this Glow Tour where my fans dress up, and they bring their friends and their kids and parents, and the whole family comes along and it’s just become a tradition now. I’m so excited to expand that tradition and keep growing it.”
Part of the reason Eldredge loves the holiday season so much is because he loves the sense of tradition, he admits, calling himself “an old soul.”
“I think the memories that we hold in our hearts just give us so much this time of year, and pull us through a lot of tough times, as well,” he says, adding that the traditions have “always been something that I’ve grabbed hold of since I was a little kid.”
“I used to run around the house singing at seven in the morning on Christmas morning, and turn up the Christmas music many weeks before Christmas and get everybody in the spirit,” he remembers. “It’s just kind of always been in my heart.”
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His favorite holiday tradition from when he was younger, he says, was going to church on Christmas Eve, and “filling up half the church with a million cousins and aunts and uncles that I have, and just singing the same songs.”
These days, he hopes that his music can bring fans that same sense of comfort and joy, and be something that is shared amongst family.
And if he had to choose one holiday tune to share with others this season, he says his answer is a no-brainer: “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas.”
“‘Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas’ is wishing upon somebody that sense of magic, that sense of togetherness, that sense of meaning and being there for each other,” Eldredge says. “It’s a tough time of year for a lot of people, and to be able to sing that song and hopefully wish that upon somebody has just always meant so much to me. So, that’s my favorite.”
source: people.com
