Holiday Design: Add a Festive Flair to Your Home this Holiday Season

If you haven’t done so already, it’s time to pull out your collection of holiday décor – the bundles of tangled lights and boxes of ornaments and accessories that have been around longer than you can remember – and adorn your home for the season. This can be daunting I know unless you keep yourself on track and stick to a simple theme.

With that in mind, following are some simple decorating tips that can help add a festive flair to your holiday season:

• Make it fun. Create a party among friends and family and invite them over for cocktails and hors d’oeuvre – let everyone have a hand in transforming your home.
• Decide on three key elements: a sparkle factor, a color scheme and a theme. Sparkle accents can be frosty snow with clear sparkle, glittery silver, shimmery gold or a colorful sparkle. Next decide on two or three main colors. Lastly, dream up a theme such as “Winter in Montana” or “A Children’s Fantasy” or whatever strikes your fancy. Making these three key decisions in advance will help keep you on track.
• The front door is an important focal point and, of course, sets the stage. Don’t hesitate to go all out with a beautiful wreath, ribbons, pinecones, garlands and more. This year we are planning to search for small- to medium-sized pinecones and spray them with white glitter. Incorporating pinecones into the bows adds a real sense of depth and a wonderful pine fragrance. In addition, drape a fresh cedar garland around the front door frame and intertwine it with twinkling white lights. When making your wreath be sure to add ribbons and small white lights. And don’t forget to hang mistletoe above the front door for extra fun.
• Use the ribbon in your front door wreath as a continuing theme throughout your home. For example, last year we glued a 3” wide green and red plain ribbon to a 4” red velvet ribbon. We made up yards and yards of this double layered ribbon, so we had lots on hand as we decorated our home.
• A wonderful aroma adds to the festive holiday feel. Place scented candles and plenty of potpourri throughout your home. Use lots of candles as they always infuse warmth and sparkle – key holiday elements.
• Since candles can sometimes be expensive, gather and melt half-way burned candles of the same and re-make them into new holiday candles. I take square milk cartons, fill them with ice and then pour the melted hot wax into the cartons on top of the ice to create interest. Then tape off an inch or more at the base of the candle. Coat with white glue and roll the square candles in gold or silver glitter. Don’t forget to add the wick before you fill the cartons with ice!

• Fresh flowers add so much to any interior – especially during the holiday season. Create beautiful arrangements and centerpieces with roses, poinsettias, white chrysanthemums, tuber roses lilies and more. Always, always arrange with fresh evergreen, pinecones and shiny ornaments from last year’s Christmas tree.
• Start a collection – e.g. nutcrackers, distinctive candles or Santa figurines and add to it each year. This will create family traditions and memories and enhance your holiday décor. For example, nestle nutcrackers in and among a garland atop your fireplace. Add twinkle lights or battery-operated candles for extra sparkle and shimmer.

• Ask those who will gather around your tree this season to write on a card a wish for themselves and for others. Put the cards into two colors of envelopes – one for each type of wish. In addition to ornaments, hang the colorful envelopes on the tree. Make sure each guest will be able to open one each of the colored envelopes. For an even more festive touch, reuse the front of old holiday cards and glue to the front of the colored envelopes.

Over the holidays, people tend to go all out with décor and accessories. I think this is wonderful – decorate for the season and have fun with it! But again, do stick to a singular theme and color scheme. While you want your home to be fun and festive, you don’t want to overwhelm.

What are your favorite holiday traditions, shops and/or decorating tips?  During the holidays, I love to shop at Dandelion on Potrero and Sue Fisher King on Sacramento – both in San Francisco.

I would love to hear from you!  Take pictures please, and post to my Facebook page.