How to Decorate Your Home for Christmas
Christmas is my favorite time of the year, and I can never wait to start decorating. While we usually like to wait till Thanksgiving weekend to unveil the Christmas flare, the work starts long before.
Decorating your home for Christmas can be one of the most exciting parts of the holiday season and always puts me in the best of moods! Don’t get your thoughts tangled as you try to figure out how to unravel another ball of lights; start having fun with these unique decorating ideas, which are designed to make you feel just as festive as your home. Here are some of my tips to decorate for the holidays.
Getting Into the Holiday Spirit
Before you can truly realize the best Christmas decorating ideas, you have to conjure it within! Getting into a holiday state of mind will help you come up with fresh ideas and creative ways to decorate. Turn on that Christmas playlist, grab a glass of eggnog (spiked or virgin) and look back through your favorite Christmas cards from yesteryear while warming yourself by the crackling fireplace. Sometimes baking or making homemade gifts for friends and neighbors can help bring the Christmas spirit to life.
Treat Yourself Like a Christmas Tree
Blast your favorite holiday albums, and check out the wide selection of holiday music playlists on Spotify. You can also turn into the annual Hallmark movie marathon.
A Christmas tree is the embodiment of seasonal comfort and yuletide cheer; embrace the essence of the season, and do what brings you the most joy. Christmas decorating ideas as are unique as you are, so have fun with it!
Why Should I Decorate a Tree?
This time of year means something special and unique to everyone, just like their tree! For some, Christmas trees are a blank canvas, begging to be adorned in creative expression. Others see the tree as a symbol of the season’s generosity and goodwill.
Decorating the tree gives your holiday home decor a focal point, and it makes the perfect backdrop for seasonal gatherings with your family and friends. It provides a perfect place for your beautifully wrapped presents and can display your keepsakes, collections and trinkets. One of my trees is a collection of my travels, everywhere I go I buy ornaments and decorations, and get to reflect on these vacations when we sit around the tree.
Don’t feel like you have to stop at just one tree! You can sprinkle Christmas cheer throughout the entire house with trees wherever possible.
Smaller trees for the kitchen counters or bathrooms make for enjoyable holidays in every room.
How to Decorate Your Christmas Tree
Once you have secured your tree in the stand and chosen the ideal location you are ready for the decorating strategy.
The first step is to put the lights on. Plan out your power source, extension cords, and light strands so you don’t have a malfunction later. Start lights on the inside of the branches to the outside while going around the tree from bottom to top.
The next step is to stand facing your tree and visualize a diagonal line from top to bottom, then space three larger ornaments on this line. Use this line as your flow to place varied sized ornaments. If you are decorating a real tree with imperfect branch openings, be creative in filling in the openings!
Using additional artificial greenery or interesting Christmas items to fill in the gaps. Don’t forget that floral wire and zip-ties can be very handy in securing items or bringing branches together.
Choosing the ornaments or color scheme is always based on personal preference. Reminisce over your family heirlooms or choose a theme, you can’t go wrong!
Decorating the Entryway
The entryway table can often be the first thing your guests might see so give them an idea of what is in the next room! The size of a home’s entry and the size of table will vary, so choose items that are in keeping with the scale of the room and the size of the table.
Poinsettias and candlesticks can provide a festive greeting to all who enter your home this season, and your entryway decor is the perfect place to give guests a hint of what lies in store.
Christmas Kitchen Embellishment
The kitchen is typically used on a daily basis, so select accents that don’t interfere with your routine. Switch out your daily glasses or mugs with fun-themed ones, and feel free to display them on trays. For everyday decor, swap out your standard dish towels for ones in holiday colors like merry red and wintery green.
Food is one of the most magical parts of the holiday. Host a Christmas cookie party, or hold a holiday potluck so all your friends can share their favorite recipes with the people they love the most.
Other decorating for Christmas ideas include arranging candy in colorful jars on the counter and adding some fresh winter bouquets to provide a breath of fresh, wintery air into your space. You can even add a cute tabletop Christmas tree to your kitchen table!
Host a Tree-Trimming Party
Decking the halls can be a full-scale event if you invite over family and friends! Host an ornament exchange, and keep things low-key with music playlists running all night in the background and plenty of festive favorites to snack on.
Candy canes arranged in a glass vase make excellent edible centerpieces, and you’ll alleviate some of the pressure that might brew when you try to pull off a “perfect” event. Don’t forget that any trimmings can be used for other festive holiday plans you have. Use small pieces for place cards at dinner, gift wrapping and larger pieces can be used for mantel decorations and centerpieces. It’s all about having fun!
Start a New Tradition
Decorating for Christmas is rooted in tradition, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t an opportunity to discover something new! Every year, try to find a new way to celebrate the holidays at home. Maybe you’ll have a hand-crafted gift exchange, or go on a neighborhood tour to admire the holiday lights. Decorating your home for Christmas is just one way to have fun and be merry!
