The founder of Eastern Design and Home Staging, Ivy Ellerby is an Accredited Staging Professional and Advanced Feng Shui Design Professional. She is one of QC Design School’s leading tutors, specializing in Feng Shui, Home Staging, and Interior Decorating. As a renowned industry expert, Ivy uses her knowledge to help consumers increase profits on home sales and implement new design ideas into their living spaces.
This year, many of us are spending Christmas in our own homes, without large family gatherings. Not having family around can be very difficult. Especially around the holiday season, this feeling of isolation can take a major toll on our mental health.
Lucky for us, we can still end 2020 on a positive note! By adding a bit of color and out-of-the-box, creative design to our homes, we can survive the remainder of 2020… while also starting a few new family traditions. Here are 9 really cool interior decorating ideas to brighten your holiday season!
9 Interior Decorating Tips for Christmas
Wreaths
It can sometimes feel exhausting to have to lug out that big Christmas tree. Add in lights, ornaments, and other knick knacks – and suddenly, a fun activity can feel more like a strenuous chore.
Instead, why not create holiday wreaths for the interior and exterior doors around your home? This is a much simpler option that still adds a festive element to your living space. Your local craft shop will have lots of wreath add-ons, such as fake fruit and candies. These can adorn your holiday wreaths and take them to the next level. Create matching wreaths, or decide to experiment with other color combinations that you never tried on a tradition Christmas tree!
To make this even more exciting, set up a family video conference call and build your wreaths together! At the end, you can all share your designs with one another. It’s a great way to create new family memories, without having to travel.
Pillows
Have you ever noticed that a pillow makes every room better? All of those home decor television programs always show the designer repositioning the pillows, or doing that that signature “pillow chop.” It’s because that pillow signals the design is complete!
Every holiday season, I go out looking for holiday pillows to match my selected holiday colors. I rush home to put them out and adore their appearance. But by the time January rolls around, I am grumbling; promising to never buy another pillow because I have officially run out of space to store them.
So, you can imagine my excitement when I discovered holiday pillow covers. These covers allow me to use the same pillows that are already on my furniture – and simply switch up the exteriors! I’m given the freedom to update my holiday look for a fraction of the price and they’re easy to fold and store in my linen closet year after year!
Greenery, Bushes, and Berries – Oh My!
It’s never a bad idea to bring the outside in! Go outside and clip a few of those evergreens and bushes with berries. Add some bark, pinecones, and nuts. You can then use all of these elements to create a beautiful centerpiece for your table!
To make this a family affair, suggest that everyone in the family contributes to a prize drawing. On Christmas Eve, everyone can gather together on a conference call. Share a live stream or photo of each family member’s current centerpiece, and choose a winner. You can then award the centerpiece you’ve made to that person!
Place Settings for Me
Every Christmas season, my family and I pull out those special holiday dishes that never get used but once or twice year. If you tend to do the same, try something different this year!
For the entire month of December, use “your good stuff.” You are worth it! Saving those dishes for holiday celebrations is fine, but let’s be real: this December, we’re also celebrating the fact that we’ve made it through 2020. We have all sacrificed a lot to get to this point. Such a feat deserves to be acknowledge every day!
So, pull out that beautiful stemware and those gold forks. Toast to the fact that we’ll all hopefully be reunited with our friends and family next year (fingers crossed)!
Turn Off the Lights
Adding candles to any decor elevates the mood. You can never have too many candles, especially on a dining table. Placing candles of different sizes and heights will enhance the mood even further. Even if you’re just having leftovers, you can dine by candlelight and feel that your meal is special. When it comes to lighting, you can also utilize your fireplace each evening, so that every activity becomes cozy and relaxing.
To really make the month of December special, schedule some YOU time! Have a candlelit bath. Place candles safely on the sink or around the tub, and then take some time to relax, soak, enjoy some music, or just embrace the quiet moment.
Note: Keep in mind that if you have children or pets, you’ll need to be careful with where you light candles around the house. Constant supervision may be required.
Add Some Sparkle
The holiday season is a time when we love to see sparkle – in our attire, on our tree, and especially in the ribbons and wrapping on our presents. But since most of us will not be attending the usual holiday parties this year, bringing the glitz and glam INSIDE your house is a must.
Add battery-operated, twinkling lights to your wreaths and centerpieces. I’ve found that this always makes your inner child smile even brighter! You can also experiment with shiny beads, colorful confetti that resembles diamonds, and even glitter.
My point is, have fun with it!
Update with Spray Paint
One of the easiest interior decorating tips for the holidays is to use what you already have – but give it a color update!
We all have old decorations that we stopped using eons ago. Maybe it was because the color or trend was no longer stylish. But what if you were update that color to something that is popular right now?
You can always try a new color combination that you never had the courage to experiment with before. Since it’s just you (and perhaps your immediate friends or family) this year, what’s the worst that can happen? Take a chance and give it a try!
Sure, you might wind up hating the color, but at least now you know. And if that’s the case? Simply spray paint the item gold. Trust me, you can never have too many shiny, gold ornaments around the house.
Kids-Only Christmas Tree
One positive way we can look at this Christmas is that you won’t have the pressure of making your home “just perfect” for guests. Since this is the case, allow your kids to decorate the tree!
Adding a kids-only Christmas tree is a great way to involve the smallest members in your household in your interior decorating decisions. They can incorporate old toys that you were going to donate, or string popcorn while you all watch a holiday movie together. Creating ornaments out of straws, clay, and other art supplies is sure to keep them busy most weekends.
When it comes to interior decorating, kids are a valuable resource rarely utilized. After all, they’re SO creative in their designs. Through the eyes of a child, the opportunities to get creative will always be endless!
Christmas Window
If decorating a tree is not really on your list of things to do this holiday season, how about a holiday window instead?
Add decorated garland to the top of your curtain rod. Next, hang colorful ornament balls from the rod at different lengths. Use fishing line to give the illusion that the ornaments are suspended in the air. Slide the ornaments left and right to make them appear randomly placed.
We all know that the best interior decorating features are always the ones that look like it took no effort. Whether you add lights or not, this holiday design is sure to brighten your season!
