Decorating Tips for this Upcoming Holiday Season

The pressure is really on these days to have a “picture-perfect” life. Those little posts on Instagram, Facebook or Pinterest are half approval seeking and half home goals. To help those who are short on time, we waded through a few online articles on the best tips for getting your home holiday-ready. If you start before Halloween, you might be able to actually relax as the season of giving and entertaining looms closer.

Smart Tips:

• Use what you have. Does your living room already have a main color palette at play? Incorporate any decoration items in with that palette, whether you’re shopping for new items or re-using your holiday stock. Stick blues with blue, reds with red, and greens with green so there is no clashing. Even if these items aren’t necessarily “winter” themed, it will pull everything together. If you have a neutral wall color, matching may not be an option but grouping similar colored décor in the same room will make a more coordinated look.
• Get creative with what you use. Not everything has to have snowflakes on it to be considered a great piece for this upcoming season. If you want to add these kinds of elements to already existing pieces, you can but it’s not always necessary. Use candy, popcorn or natural pieces such as flowers, fruits, pinecones or tree sprigs to switch it up.
• Ornaments aren’t just for the tree anymore. In recent years, wreaths, garlands, and center pieces have been incorporating ornaments for added shine and sparkle everywhere. Same could be said for string lights and candles, with the emergence of different shapes, colors and styles, don’t settle for a dark holiday season.
• An exterior decorating tip: add some holiday cheer to your mailbox! Wrap it in garland, bows, ornaments or try gift wrapping (weather permitting) to enhance your curb appeal. Adding any of the items mentioned above to your exterior decorations will update your look there as well.

Most of these ideas stem from bigger home trends. The rustic trend has been gaining popularity within home decoration for the past few years and with that comes a big emphasis on DIY. Instead of driving yourself crazy looking for picture perfect, try aiming for “unique to me” items that can be purchased or made. Adding elements that speak to you, whether you fall into the glitzy glam tinsel, ornaments and lights crowd or if you’re more into the cranberries, poinsettias and pinecones vibe. Maybe you mix and match until you’re somewhere in between. Either way, adding pops of major color and combining similar color patterns are what will pull everything together. If you do all these tips and you’re STILL not happy with your home, you can always hire MDF to drastically change wall colors, or just to touch up with paint maintenance. So, go nuts, add some real chestnuts to roast over your fire and make your house look more like your home (and less like your Pinterest page).