IT’S BEGINNING TO LOOK A LOT LIKE CHRISTMAS!

 

As in all design if you want to “bang up” your house at Christmastime it comes down to the details.  A little touch here and a little touch there.  (And, well, okay……for some of us anal ones….a lot of touches everywhere.) 

But, you don’t necessarily have to do A LOT……just choose the important, more visual spaces and put the detail there.  Like the entry way.

If you have stairs….take the time to “do up” the railing.  You don’t need to spend a lot of money (or time for that matter)  I have simple garland, a couple of types of ribbon – one large and one small, some Dollar Tree bells, large ornaments and some gold picks.  The ribbon alone adds so much pizzazz you don’t need a ton more if you don’t want to mess with it.

This looks like lots of stuff on the railing, but really it’s mostly fun ribbon that I’ve twisted and tucked throughout the greenery.

With just a few inexpensive giant ornaments tucked in here and there. 

I like to add these gold gifts filled with ornaments and cream colored poinsettias to the landing.  I do it every year.

Under the entry tree I like to decorate with “pretend gifts”, some more large ornaments and these gold birdcages.

I tuck in this sleigh filled with greenery, pine cones and ribbon to match the stairs and gifts under the tree.

Okay, so I admit I DO like to cram a ton of stuff on my tree.

And, of course, I have my life size Santa to greet guests when they enter the house.

It’s fun to dress up a doorway with a festive touch, too.  (This leads into my “girlie” room.) 

And, I like to plop different size Christmas trees all over the house.

On the dining room table I weave greenery in and out of my existing candlesticks and add my ribbon and reindeer.

Remember…a little touch here….

And, a little touch there…

I know…you can’t even see the fireplace anymore with all the stockings for my growing family.  (I need to figure out some other way to display them!)

I use plain pre-lit garland for the mantel and wire on my own fruit and Christmas stems.

I like to add greenery and ribbon to my chandeliers….

And tuck in Christmas touches to my existing kitchen tablescape.

A fun, easy, festive touch is to wrap wide ribbon around your chairs and tuck in a Christmas pick or two. 

Remember this container?  I used it for a temporary Thanksgiving arrangement, too.  Easy, breezy to switch out the Thanksgiving picks with Christmas greenery and large ornaments.

See what I mean about the trees?

A little sneak peak from my kitchen to the family room.

I just added tiny ornaments to my soap dish in the powder room….

And, you may remember I had Thanksgiving vine on this iron piece in my powder room last week which was easy to switch out to Christmas vine this week.

I went with a sort of fun, zany look on the screened in porch….

I call it my Dr. Seuss tree.

And, in my den I played up animal print since that’s my look in there….

And, well, animals, too…

Notice the animal print butterflies?

I did four trees in my house this year (the most I’ve had at one time is seven – I know….ugh!), but I’ve found most people just don’t seem to have it in them to go with the “more is more” Christmas if they have to do it all themselves, because it’s a lot of work. (Which is understandably why myself and so many of my designer friends get hired to do it for people. ) 

But, whether you’re a “less is better” or a “more is more” girl (or guy) concentrate on what areas you are willing to do and try to incorporate the Christmas décor into your existing décor so you don’t have to move too much stuff around and find a place to store it.  The three cheapest, most versatile items to purchase are Christmas ribbon, inexpensive ornaments and Christmas picks.   With these items you can not only do a beautiful tree, but you have all you need to sprinkle the holiday theme all over your house.  So no matter how much or how little you want to do remember the fun and the design is in the details. 

So put on the music, build yourself a fire, make yourself a hot chocolate or pour a glass of wine and bring on that Christmas spirit!

Merry Christmas and Happy Decorating!!