Perfect Thanksgiving, Perfect Family Home
The Ugly Christmas Sweater: funny. The Ugly Christmas House: not funny.
Has this happened to you? In your wild anticipation of the holidays, you run out and buy the biggest Christmas tree in the lot, only to find that you are brushed with pine needles every time you walk by it because it’s too large for your house? Or you spend hours hanging the Christmas lights but then don’t turn them on because your house looks more like Vegas Strip hotel than a holiday home in Northwest Crossing?
If you have the holiday decorating blues, we’ve got some tips for you. Though we don’t guarantee that this will turn your home in to a holiday display more beautiful than the views from Mt. Bachelor, we do think it will help you create a holiday look that is uniquely Central Oregon and exclusively you!
5 Holiday Home Decor Principles:
Copy the experts.
1. Start with the pros. Pottery Barn has a team of seasoned designers…most homeowners do not. So, browse, find, copy, and repeat. Scour the holiday issues of your favorite holiday decor magazines and local store displays for ideas. You will find that many designers make use of very subtle touches that have a huge impact: the sled propped outside the entry door, the stack of Christmas music on the piano, and the pinecones above the mantle. Which brings us to point No. 2…
Unite with a common theme or color.
2. Unify the look. The more holiday decorations you have, the more confusing the message. A few too many decorations and your home goes from holiday happy to fun house foul. So, to avoid this, pick one or two “themes” (for example, snow, Santas, manoras, or woodsy pines) and stick with that. Or skip the theme altogether and just pick a color to disperse through the house. Once your holiday decor theme is decided, chuck the stuff that doesn’t fit with your theme. This gives you a clean, unified look.
De-clutter then decorate.
3. Put up, and put away. Since you are putting more holiday decor into your home, that means some everyday decor must go away. Seasonally trade out the contents of bookshelves, tabletops, etc. and replace it with holiday decor to prevent that messy, overdecorated (and claustrophobic) feeling.
Make it match!
4. What doesn’t match, can. Just because something doesn’t match, doesn’t mean you can’t use it. Just find a clever way to make it match. Paint pinecones to match, recover coffee table books, or recolor an piece that clashes with a splash of paint. Problem solved!
Pick Your Own Color Palette
5. Pick your own color palette. One item of note in home decor magazines and store displays: they throw tradition out the window. They work with the style and colors of the home, and fit the holiday decor to that. No more orange and black for Halloween, and red and green for Christmas. Now anything goes. Your Christmas colors can be just about any combination imaginable: from jeweled tones of teal and purple, to traditional red/green and gold, to white and silver.
Use what you have to create a holiday display.
Bonus Tip: Use what you’ve got. Sleds, toys, Christmas books and magazines…all these things are festive. We know many of you Central Oregonians have quite a display of outdoor gear. Use old skis, sleds, poles, and snowshoes to create a festive expression that’s entirely you! Put them on display and show your unique taste!
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