Christmas time is a wonderful time of the year, BUT, every year we always plan to decorate our home and Christmas tree in style. Yet mostly it becomes rushed and we fail to achieve the results we dreamed of.
Yes, a step by step plan with easy tips and ideas for seasonal decorating.
Your decorating for the season can be an every-room-decorated extravaganza or simply adding a few holiday accessories.
Whether you go big or keep it simple, you can make decorating easier with a little bit of planning and organization.
You can start your seasonal decorating any time during the year by scouting out decorating inspiration. (If you are a little late then seek some inspiration from the major retail chains.)
Every beautifully-decorated home starts with a vision or idea.
Look to see a pattern in the colours or the styles that you like.
If you prefer a more hands-on style of gathering inspiration, clipping images from catalogues and magazines work just as well as saving images on the internet.
Combining the two styles of collecting ideas could be the perfect choice for you.
Whatever your style of gathering inspiration, you’ll use the images the same way — as a visual kickstart to create a seasonal decorating plan.
It is great to do your own planning and finding inspiration for seasonal decorating, but you do not have to do all of the work that goes into making it a reality.
Once you have a vision in mind, enlist the help of friends and family to bring it to life.
Working on decorating as a team not only lightens the workload for you, but can also give those close to you a feeling of ownership and connection to the results.
Even simple seasonal decorating is made easier with a budget.
Knowing what you plan to spend on new decorations and accessories gives you a framework for what is possible for each area of your home.
A simple budget is helpful when you’re shopping so you won’t be susceptible to too many impulse purchases.
Your budget doesn’t have to be complicated.
You can simply have a total spending limit written out for each room.
With a per-room budget in mind, you can deduct money from one room if you want to go a little overboard in another.
Your seasonal decorating will be fun and creative, that is helped by taking the time to make a plan first.
Your holiday decorating plan might be as simple as deciding where you’d like to add seasonal accessories or following a mood board you’ve created for each room.
To get the most out of planning your seasonal decor, your plan should include your ideas for each space in your home.
Your living room plan will be more elaborate than a guest bedroom, but you’ll want to have a list of what you’ll need for each room — this makes shopping a breeze.
Every holiday season has its traditional colours, so it’s easy to find decor if you stay with that palette.
If you’re feeling more creative with your colour scheme, you can add unexpected accents to the traditional colours.
Metallics are a glamorous and simple way to elevate your holiday colour scheme.
Look for metallics in unexpected colours like copper, blue and pink for an on-trend decorating palette.
Before you shop for new decorations and accessories this year, you’ll want to go through your collection from previous years to see what you can reuse or repurpose.
Once you know what you already own and have a plan in your hands, shopping is more fun and more focused.
A popular way to create a fresh look without buying new decor every year is by having two or three sets of accessories to rotate throughout the year.
Your accessory rotation could include throw pillows, blanket throws, guest towels and candles in seasonal colours.
When decor is rotated in and out a few times a year, it won’t become stale.
Purchasing a few new items to supplement your seasonal accessories gives your home that put-together look for each season or holiday.
The outside of your home can also shine during the holiday season.
Your seasonal colour palette can be used outdoors through planters, flowering plants and a door wreath.
Your goal for decorating outside is to create a seamless visual transition as guests walk into your home.
Patios, porches and other outdoor spaces can be decorated as an extra entertaining area for holiday gatherings.
All of your hard work gathering inspiration, creating a plan and shopping comes together when you implement your seasonal design.
We aren’t striving for the perfection of a professionally-designed department store window, but the happiness of being surrounded by decor and colours that are beautiful and meaningful to you.
Time to make your home sparkle.
Apart from decorating your home, the next big item is your Christmas Tree.
We will guide you on how to light and decorate your home like a professional in 10 easy steps.
Ever heard the saying “Lit up like a Christmas Tree”?
If you look at the most beautiful Christmas tree displays are wonderfully bright and well lit.
Designers and visual display experts know that loads of lighting are what makes a Christmas tree magical.
Your tree will never look better with these 10 easy steps.
This one sounds like a no-brainer, but many people don’t think about it.
Have a flocked white tree?
Go with a white cable.
Traditional green pine?
Use green cable.
Your tree will look far more magical when it looks like the sparkles just float.
The Christmas trees you see on TV and in magazines look magical because they are dazzling.
When lighting your tree, more is more.
LED lights are safer – they don’t heat up like traditional lights – plus they tend to last longer and cost less to run.
And nowadays, LEDs are fairly inexpensive, making them worth the upgrade.
As a general rule of thumb for how many lights you’ll want to use, get two to three 100-light sets for every foot of your tree’s height.
One of the most common (and annoying) mistakes is to string your lights on the tree only to discover some don’t work.
Lay your lights out on the floor or a table, plug them in and check them before you hang them.
If you have several strands of lights to work with, pick up a multiple outlet Christmas tree cord.
String it up along the trunk of the tree with outlets at the bottom, centre and top of the tree.
Using this trick saves you from having to run all your plugs to the bottom of the tree.
A simple timer helps you enjoy your tree more without having to keep your tree on at all hours.
Set which times you’ll be coming and going and enjoy waking up in the morning or coming home from work to your beautifully lit tree.
Most people string their lights along the outer branches.
This works well, but the inside of the tree will appear dark.
Consider lighting the inside of the tree by stringing lights close to the trunk to cast an outward glow.
For a cool light display, consider lighting the trunk in white and the branches in colour.
Keep tabs on which plug powers the sections so you can light each section separately.
Check out how good your tree will look late at night if you only power the trunk lights.
If you’re working with LED lights that don’t heat up, light them up before you hang them.
It will help you see how the lights are looking as you go.
Step back now and then, squint your eyes to assess how you’re spacing the lights out, find dark spots and adjust as you go.
Most people spiral their lights around the Christmas tree horizontally in circles until they get to the top.
The lights often end up too close to the trunk, with most of the twinkly glow getting lost inside the tree.
Visualize your tree in three sections: top, middle and bottom.
Run lights up and down each section.
Your lights will sparkle more and will be easier to remove later.
As you run your lights vertically, wrap around branches and slightly zig-zag your lights so you don’t get an obvious line.
To create the best Christmas tree glow, hang your shiniest ornaments deeper in the tree and next to a light bulb to reflect the tree lights back out.
Use plenty of lights underneath the lowest branches to create a downward glow that highlights your nativity scene, presents and more.
Now that all your decorating is done time to enjoy the wonderful time of Christmas.
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