My Christmas Card To You ....

As the Holidays approach, everything becomes blanketed in lights and glitter. As a Designer this time of year fills me with delight - and dread - because while some people put up festive decorations, some people get so carried away they go full on tacky (I’m talking to you woman across the street from me who puts a up a full size tree in her studio apartment mid November and leaves it up until Easter!!). So this post I thought I’d give you three tips for amazing holiday decorating.
1) TREES
If you’re going to put up a tree, why not consider doing something a little more interesting? Like COLOUR!! Consider getting a coloured tree like these ones from treetopia.com. They come in a rainbow of hues and neutrals that can really add some unconventional wow to your decor.

What’s great about these is that their colour is part of the decoration so you can actually use less ornaments. Also if your interior is pretty neutral, you can get a real punch of colour. If you prefer a really sophisticated look go with white, silver or black!
2) Decorations
Try and keep your ornaments to one simple colour theme like red/gold/green or silver/gold/white especially if you like to put up a lot of decorations. Having a lot of different coloured balls, ornaments and general seasonal items on your tree, mantle, bannister, chandelier, in bowls on the coffee table, etc can look really chaotic. If they are all part of the same colour family (1-3 colours is best) the eye will actually group them and will look more harmonious and unified. If you hate hanging countless balls in your tree, make a garland out of them using thin ribbon or fishing wire. Simply knot a large ornament, slide the others down in various sizes and knot the final one. Then you can just wrap it around the tree. It’s waaaay faster and looks great:

3) Outdoor Decorating
This is the one that really turns neighbours into the Hatfields and the McCoys. If you love the Holidays well that’s great but don’t get so involved you lower the property value of your ‘hood. Case In Point - this actual House in my area:

That is the kind of house a child eating clown would live in. This does not say ‘Happy Holidays’. It says ‘Come get your balloon, Georgie’. Yeeeesh. I suggest keeping it simple: outdoor LED lights in white. They’re clean, reflect beautifully off snow cover and actually help light your walkway, front steps, porch making it safer on potentially slippery surfaces. Draw a welcoming focus to your door with a wreath and a nice urn with some greenery, ornaments and lights. And lose the strings of lights going around your rooftops and windows, etc. They’re a pain in the neck to put up and take down. If you really want a big light show that’s way easier you can buy a light with a gobo screen you plug in and set on your front lawn that will project moving lights onto the front of your house in variety of things like snowflakes, stars etc. And, in the name of all that is holy, do not put one of those giant inflatable Santas or Frostys on the front lawn. If you don’t keep them running 24/7 there’ll be a dead, deflated Xmas icon in front of your house traumatizing children and carollers alike:

That doesn’t exactly scream ‘Christmas Spirit’, now does it???
So I hope this has given you some ideas for a Well Designed Holiday and remember, if the season is getting a bit overwhelming for you in “A Bad Moms Christmas” kinda way, you can always hire a Designer to decorate your house for you. We’re always here to help so don’t hesitate to reach out to us.
Thanks for reading.


Steve