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In an ideal world, we would all start putting up our holiday decor in November in great anticipation of the upcoming festivities. For most of us however, life gets in the way until it’s at least a week before festivities begin and we are down to the wire. If you fall into this camp of holiday decorators, then do not fret! This week, we bring you some easy tips that will hopefully give you some last-minute holiday inspo and will make decorating a breeze. So whip up a warm mug of cocoa, throw on the Christmas at Downton Abbey playlist on Spotify (we promise you’ll love it), and get cracking!
If you’ve been digging around and can’t seem to find that trusty box of garlands and wreaths, then look no further than your own backyard for some holiday decor. Bringing elements of nature indoors will give your home a cozy feel without breaking the bank! Natural greenery, branches, holly, or pinecones are readily available in a forest, nature reserve, or home and garden shop near you. Contact your nearest Christmas tree farm to see if you can pick up some loose trimmings and pine branches. These make for beautiful mantlepiece or table accents. Scatter loose pinecones across your dining table for some festive centerpieces. If you’re not the foraging type, there are plenty of online shops that repurpose foraged items into stunning decor pieces. Repurposing natural elements is a great way to add an ethereal, rustic, and festive vibe to your home in a sustainable and cost effective way!
This one is pretty straightforward- let your home be the backdrop for your festive trimmings. A more classic home should include more traditional decor, such as fir, cedar, white pine, and boxwood for a door garland, traditional window wreaths, and holly filled with white lights. While a home with more contemporary furnishings should include decor that is more minimalist- this should include neutral tones, metals, minimalist wrapping paper, and perhaps a garland made of olive branches instead of the traditional pine, cedar, holly, or fir. Make sure your decor reflects your personality and underscores the aesthetic of your home!
This one is pretty straightforward- let your home be the backdrop for your festive trimmings. A more classic home should include more traditional decor, such as fir, cedar, white pine, and boxwood for a door garland, traditional window wreaths, and holly filled with white lights. While a home with more contemporary furnishings should include decor that is more minimalist- this should include neutral tones, metals, minimalist wrapping paper, and perhaps a garland made of olive branches instead of the traditional pine, cedar, holly, or fir. Make sure your decor reflects your personality and underscores the aesthetic of your home!
Stay consistent with your colour palette! A cohesive colour story will tie in your holiday decor beautifully and make it look like it has always been there. This type of cohesiveness between your holiday and home decor is key to making a grand impression when guests first enter your home. Make sure you pick colours that evoke a certain positive emotion or memory- Nikki Klugh from San Diego writes: “My family celebrates both Christmas and Kwanzaa. We choose a different theme every year, but you’ll always see a thread of blue running throughout—my father always used to hang blue lights on our house because it was my mother’s favorite color”. The goal is to feel good about your surroundings and have your home tell a story through your decor.
Along with choosing the right colour story, having a cohesive theme in mind will set the right tone for your holiday decor. Write down three adjectives that come to mind when you think of your thematic roadmap- is it rustic? Classic? Contemporary? Minimalist? Eclectic? Then plug these adjectives into Pinterest next to “holiday decor” and get inspired! For instance, Atlanta-based designer Beth Webb chose a monochromatic theme for her decor: “As much as I love traditional red and green, I wanted to do something a bit more glamorous and elegant with a mix of fine china, crystal, and silver”. The point is: there are no rules when it comes to holiday decor, making it totally okay to break tradition if you’re feeling experimental.
Never underestimate scent’s ability to set the mood and evoke a strong emotional response. Smell is a super integral part of the holiday season. Warm up a bowl of clove-pierced oranges, or have some mulled wine going in a slow cooker. Nutty, warm scents will only make your well-decorated home more alluring. If mulled wine is not your thing, burn some warm and nutty-scented candles or diffuse orange and spice aromatherapy oils.
When brainstorming your holiday decor layout, the best rule of thumb is to create one big focal point, and make all of the other elements secondary. For instance, if the centerpiece of your decor is a large garland canopy in the middle of your living room, you can make the rest of your holiday decor more low-key. Think of where you want peoples’ gazes to go when they first enter the room, and design the rest around this central focal point. This makes it a whole lot easier to make your decor layout easier to plan and also more impactful.
