Holiday decor can quickly shift from being something you happily anticipate to an unmitigated chore when you find yourself decking the halls with the same old obligatory garland, artificial Christmas tree and hand-me-down ornaments that you’ve accumulated over the years.
This year might be the time for a holiday decor refresh.
We asked designers featured in the Home for the Holidays Designer Showhouse how to do holiday decor differently and avoid the usual decorating cliches.
Shop your yard. Instead of putting out faux greenery, shop your yard for seasonal trim to place around candles, on mantles and on tabletops say designers. Magnolia leaves, evergreen branches, moss placed in shallow vessels and other elements from your backyard can bring a warm, natural look to your holiday decor.
Credit: Lauren Chambers
Credit: Lauren Chambers
Say no to poinsettias. There are so many more options when using plants and flowers for the holidays. “I like to play with different unexpected flowers that have different textures and feel festive but are not so tied to the traditional flowers” says designer Lorraine Enwright of Intuitive Dwellings by Enwright Design Inc. who uses roses and banana flowers in her Home for the Holidays bedroom and bath. Designer Chris Holt likes deep maroon cosmos flowers paired with white roses. Brittany Cason, who created the showhouse’s dining room loves lush pink peonies and roses. Orchids are another dramatic statement flower that look beautiful on a console or dining table. Barbara Westbrook uses amaryllis for a similarly elegant, structural look. Treating yourself to beautiful fresh flowers can be a wonderful way to celebrate the season.
Credit: Lauren Chambers
Credit: Lauren Chambers
Get creative with garland and wreaths. Wreaths are not just for front doors. Hang them from a pretty ribbon with invisible wire in front of windows. Designer Bailey Ward likes to hang wreaths in front of bookcases and uses garland over doorways and often displays her holiday cards by clipping them with small clothespins into the garland.
Lean into luxe. Designer Lorraine Enwright uses faux fur, animal hides, textured wallpaper and other rich, tactile details that convey cozy luxury for the holidays.
Embrace your current color scheme. Instead of succumbing to the requisite red and green holiday color scheme, designers recommend you harmonize decor with the color scheme of the room you are decorating. Designers for the showhouse use camels, blues, coppers and other shades tied to their interior decor in ribbons, glass balls and wrapping paper. For a more sophisticated and cohesive look, Eryn Houck of Bellwether Design and Interiors recommends no more than three different colors in your decor.
Credit: Lauren Chambers
Credit: Lauren Chambers
Choose wrapping paper with impact. Designer Whitney Durham used Schumacher wallpaper to wrap her gifts, but there are lots of options when it comes to using gift wrap to make a statement. Designers Ashley Potts and Emi Mason of Potts Mason Interiors love craft paper that comes in a variety of colors and is thick enough to hide present contents from prying eyes. In their showhouse lounge they combined black craft paper with copper bows for a sophisticated, unexpected holiday look.
Put a bow on it. Numerous Home for the Holidays designers used ribbon as inexpensive but festive decor, tying it around holiday tree boughs, using it to hold swags of pinecones or employing a big bow as a tree topper.
Create a barscape. The holidays are a time for indulgence and celebration and what better way than using a butler’s pantry, living room side table or even a section of your primary bedroom to set up a pretty carafe of brandy with glasses or the ingredients for an old fashioned.
Credit: Lauren Chambers
Credit: Lauren Chambers
Go big. Play with scale by swapping out dainty ornaments and decor for something bolder. Several designers, including Eryn Houck, used grapefruit-sized and larger glass balls in wooden or gold bowls or grouped on shelves for more impact.
Aim for simplicity. Chris Holt of Holt Interiors decked a tree in the showhouse’s primary bedroom with nothing but clusters of silvery tinsel on each limb. The effect was striking in its simplicity, adding just the right amount of glitz. “It doesn’t scream traditional Christmas,” said Holt.
Use organic materials with patina and imperfections. Designer Barbara Westbrook placed her Christmas tree in an oversized creamy outdoor pot to dramatically raise the tree 26 inches off the ground. Rather than silver and gold, many designers used clean white earthen vessels, grouped white ceramic pots and other earthy, rustic touches in their decor.
Bring out the good stuff. The holidays are the perfect excuse to set the table with your grandmother’s sterling silver or the wedding china and crystal goblets you keep locked up in your china cabinet jail the rest of the year.
Wrap some fake presents. Many designers scattered beautifully wrapped gifts tied with sumptuous bows on chairs, by fireplaces and tables throughout the home.
Do multiple trees. Jessica Bradley of Jessica Bradley Interiors recommends having one tree where you can use all of your heirloom ornaments so that other trees can be more in keeping with your design scheme.
Make decor about your passions. Designer Justin Q. Williams loves travel and so often uses holiday traditions in other countries to decorate his home. If you have children, use something they love in your holiday decor, whether it is cars or penguins to allow your holiday decor to tie into the unique interests and personalities of your family.
Try a DIY project. Designers Emi Mason and Ashley Potts used leftover wall paint to create color-coordinated glass ornaments by injecting paint into clear glass balls with a child-size medicine syringe and swirling the paint to coat the interior.
Consider a living room seating tweak. Arrange furniture with the holidays in mind. Create groupings of chairs and cocktail tables that will keep people moving through the space at parties and gatherings. “You have to rearrange your house when you put a tree in it anyway,” said Emi Mason, “so I’m always moving something and thinking about there’s going to be X amount of people around this sitting area to open presents or to have after-dinner drinks.”
Felicia Feaster is a longtime lifestyle and design editor who spent 11 years covering gardening, interior design, trends and wellness for HGTV.com. Felicia is a contributor to MarthaStewart.com and has been interviewed as a design expert by The New York Times, Forbes and the Associated Press.
