You don't have to hire a decorator. Just add an easy new twist to tried and true Christmas decorating traditions using these tips from the pros.
CHOOSE THE BEST COLORS FOR YOUR HOME
Decorating with bright Christmas red and holly green is a holiday institution. But that doesn't mean those colors necessarily work well in your home. "Look at the color of each room," advises Robin LaMonte, principal designer for Rooms Revamped, in Basking Ridge, New Jersey. "Take that color and decorate around it." For example, if your room is blue or mauve, use that color, plus accents of pinks, or rich burgundy, or white as your predominant color theme. Then add metallic accents like silver or pewter, burnished copper, brass, or gold to add sparkle, she suggests.
Trimming the tree is a family tradition that's etched in stone on most family's lists of "holiday musts." However, you can update the tree's—and your home's—holiday look by making some easy substitutions or additions.
Complement the ornaments you have collected over the years with bunches of baby's breath, dried Christmas flowers, or clusters of holly with berries.
For a totally fresh look, go monochromatic: Select ornaments, ribbons, strings of beads and everything for the tree in all white, or gold, or silver. Not only will the tree complement any type of room décor, but it also will become a fantastic and totally elegant focal point of any room in your home.
GO FOR FRAGRANT GREENERY
Using fresh greenery to decorate for the holidays is hardly a new idea. But which one you choose can be. Bay laurel and cedar branches impart wonderful, spicy, pungent scents and are a fresh take on traditional pine.
Spruce up any type of fresh greenery with embellishments like ornaments, colorful ribbons, pine cones, and berries.
Pomegranate and pepper berries, bay laurel and lemon leaves, cut boxwood or clusters of berries nestled in fir, and seeded eucalyptus leaves will awaken the senses of those who come to your door.
If you choose to use fresh pine sprays, bring the greenery inside; wrap it around banisters, door frames, mirrors and even your dining room table. Spruce up picture frames and vases for the holidays by attaching bundles of any type of greenery sprigs tied with bright ribbon.
"Almost every room should have a tree, suggests LaMonte, who likes to fill her home with Norway spruces and topiaries. "It doesn't matter what size it is." Simply decorate them with ornaments and ribbons.
SHOW OFF SOME WRAPPED GIFTS
Nothing says the holidays have arrived at your home like a stack of wrapped presents waiting to be opened or delivered. Leave a few artfully wrapped packages on your entry table or under the tree to do look holiday-ready.
You can create the same sense of holidays with a pyramid of poinsettias in your entry way or living room, . Simply turn a few small wastebaskets or clay potting containers upside down to form the shape of the pyramid. Cover the wastebaskets or pottery with a Christmas skirt, a throw of shimmery fabric, or even a small bright tablecloth whose edges have been tucked underneath, keep the total effect neat and trim. Simply set the poinsettias on top.
TRY SOME NEW FLOWERING PLANTS
Tired of the same-old red poinsettias? A cluster of white or pink poinsettias can be equally gorgeous, and particularly effective in a room that doesn't lend itself to red flowers.
Or use other seasonal flowering plants to brighten your entryway, living room, and any other room in your home. Cyclamen, Christmas cactus, miniature roses kalanchoe, and gloxinia are just a few of the other holiday plants that are available in just about any nursery at this time of year.
Most holiday plants display showy flowers in luscious shades of lavender, white, light pink, fuschia, orange-red, and coral—colors to suit virtually any room decor.
Velvets, brocades, plaids, rustic raffia, shiny satin, and sheer organza. Holiday ribbon comes in so many fabrics, patterns, and styles that ribbon can be a mainstay of holiday decorating, and used to add a splash of color to almost every room.
Use ribbon to hang ornaments or last year's Christmas cards from your banister. Tie ribbons around topiaries and trees, vases, wreaths, or bunches of white birch branches.
For instant centerpieces or table decorations, fill your most beautiful crystal bowls with colored tree ornaments. To add fragrance, substitute sprays of fresh greenery, pine cones, and berries. Or arrange apples or pears in a bowl and place cinnamon sticks among the fresh fruit. Sprinkle cloves to add yet another holiday scent. Or instead of apples and pears, use clove-studded oranges.
Another familiar centerpiece or fireplace mantel decoration is a grouping of candles. This year, intersperse different-sized vases of the same type of fresh flowers among the candles, placed at different heights.
Or skip the candles in some places, and substitute small vases of flowers atop the candle pillars, Add a few small ornaments and sprigs of fresh greenery to fill out the display.
Judah Creek Home Decor & Gifts
