Stress Free Holiday Home Decorating Ideas

Well it’s that time of year again, we head to our attics, basements or garages and haul out oodles of bins and boxes filled to the brim with holiday décor and trimming.  We unpack and reveal years, if not decades of the stuff - Super excited to begin the annual ritual of decking the halls.  As an interior stylist, it’s my job to give my clients new ideas on how to use their old stuff, shop wisely, and celebrate their home in style.  Here are some tips and techniques to shake up your view of how to make your home festive for the Holidays. This is the year be a stress free decorator!

1.)    Inventory what you have before your start any decorating. To get a fresh perspective of your goods, you need to take a step back and look at what you have. 

a.      Can it be re-purposed, reinvented, spray painted or need to go?

b.      Sort your product into category, rather than room.

2.)    Shop your home for “Good Bone" accessory basics that you already have.  I love these standard décor pieces because they can be used in so many ways, can be reused in ever season and most of us already have them.

a.      Tall Hurricane, cylinder or apothecary vases. These can hold a host of holiday décor and too can be used to set a buffet or service food.

b.      Cake Stands.  A great anchors or bases for a wonderful display – Perfect to elevate florals, décor, showcase candles or create height.

Cake stands can become a lift to elevate a display.  Making it a table focal point.  (Photo: Source.)

c.      Silver.  From silver trays, coffee pots to champagne buckets – Silver makes everything more festive and rich.

Aunt June's old silver can be r-purposed into a fabulous seasonal door wreath (Photo: Source)

3.)    Showcase family heirlooms.  Although I’m sure we all have treasured holiday items, don’t overlook what’s already in our cabinets and closets. From Grandma’s China, to your own old ice skates to family photos of loved ones passed – Celebrating our family and what we love is the heart of celebrating this season.  Think of ways to infuse these things into your decorating.  They’ll create conversation and be a gentle reminder of special memories.

Celebrate your family history by displaying heirloom treasures. (Photo: Source)

4.)    Create a theme for your décor. It could be as simple as a color, or inspired by a place. Whatever it is, this is the building block of your decorating.  This theme will be carried from décor to entertaining.

a.      Resist the urge to different theme each room in your home - instead keep a common thread throughout the home.

b.      Spread the decorating to every room of your home.

c.      Set your holiday table in style using the same common theme.

5.)    Move your Furniture.  Holidays bring hoards of people into your home and are meant for great visiting, eating and celebrating.  Remove, shift, move your furnishings so they are conducive to conversations, not TV watching, be aware of traffic patterns so people move freely through your home.

6.)    Entertain in style.  From setting the foyer as the bar or dessert and coffee area, to setting a show stopping buffet, make use of what you already have, making sure your whole home is enjoyed and most of all being a stress free will make your holidays happy.

Spread your hosting around your home. (Photo: Source)

Cheers! - Julea.

5 Christmas Decor Re-Organizing Tips

It's time to pack it all up, retrieve those boxes and containers to wrap, pack and store our Christmas decor. With a little preparation and by gathering of a few key items - you save yourself lots of extra work next December when its time to bring it all out again.  

1.  Pack Christmas decor up by room/area in a tote or box and label the container with the room.  Next year, all  your holiday decorating items will be organized room-by-room, area-by-area and will ease the decorating process - (mantel tote may contain stockings, stocking holders, mantel garland and mantle accessories).  No more sorting through all your items to figure out where it all goes.

2. Store Christmas Wreaths in clear plastic bags from the dry cleaners and hang on a 3-M Command hook in your storage area or on the back of a storage door..  Easy to access, dust free and the clear plastic allows you to see what wreaths are in the bags.

3. Recycle your eggs cartons, cardboard drink holders and plastic fruit containers to put your Christmas Ornaments away in. These containers are great since they are free and were designed to hold breakables to begin with.  Place them in totes and label the outside of the container.

4. Christmas lights are easy to pack by winding from your palm to your elbow and tying with a Velcro tie/strap in the middle.  This will prevent lights from getting tangled together by having loops on the ends of the lights.

5. As you are putting your items away, go through and donate any Christmas decor you no longer use or care for to your local charity.  It saves you from hauling it up or down from storage and taking up precious storage space.