With the Christmas tree up, lights strung, and ornaments hung, you may have stepped back and asked now what? Don’t worry – Hazel Home is here to help with more ideas and easy tips to decorate the rest of your house for the holidays.
Let’s start wit
h garland…
Garland is an easy way to add warmth and coziness to your spaces and it doesn’t just have to be used on railings! Garland comes in countless different varieties and options. The trick is to get strands that look as close to real greenery as possible, keep it consistent in spaces that are seen together, and keep it simple. I currently have artificial pine garland throughout most of my home, and while it was a little more costly, it was an investment that will last year after year (I’m currently on year 5 with ours).
We have several railing spaces in our home that I like to decorate. I drape garland going up our stairs and across the top landing railing and I use it on our front porch railing and mailbox. I also use it to drape across drapery rods in main rooms – for example, in our formal dining room. By draping across the top of the draperies, it adds a little extra warmth and makes a room that wasn’t necessarily festive, Christmas ready.
To keep it simple and highlight the prettiness of the greenery itself, I finish it off with big bows (keeping the cohesiveness there by picking ribbon that utilizes my color scheme that was determined when decorating the tree – check out Hazel LOVES the Holidays blog for tips on that!).
Next up…wreaths!
Wreaths can be used in SO many places…and I don’t just mean on doors outside your home. With garland
draped across most of your railings (and now maybe your drapery rods too!), a good trick is to use wreaths indoors to change it up a little. For example, I love to use grapevine wreaths with big bows on the catwalk railing in our living room. This catwalk overlooks our living room where our Christmas tree is and there is already so much greenery in this space. The grapevine wreaths are in keeping with all the natural elements in my living room, but are a little different from the traditional green Christmas wreath and from the greenery everywhere else.
Another idea is to hang a wreath in any large window inside your home. We have a triple window in my kitchen that faces our backyard. This window has no coverings on it, so at Christmas time I hang a large green wreath with a simple, large bow on it to jazz up the kitchen area. And to the point of consistency I mentioned earlier, this wreath is an artificial Frasier fir wreath and this is in keeping with our artificial tree and the garland on our mantle (all of which can be seen together when walking through my home).
Stockings and more…
Stockings are such a sentimental part of Christmas for me and I love to get them out and hung up. BUT…just know, your stockings don’t always have to be “hung by the chimney with care”. Try hanging them on your stair railings or hanging down from the top of a window seal for something a little different. Santa still finds them… trust me…
Another fun tip is to add nice ornaments to centerpieces on tables and on chandeliers. The key to this is to keep it simple, use quality ornaments (because they become main focal points…not just hidden elements on a large tree), and keep in mind your color scheme you determined when decorating the tree. I have added some glass ornaments hanging from our dining room chandelier (reminiscent of crystals) to give an example. In previous years, I have also added large glass ball ornaments to the bows on the greenery draped across the drapery rods in our dining room.
Hopefully, these tricks and ideas will get your creative juices flowing and spark ideas to change it up and add a little more polish and pizzazz to your home décor over the holidays. And don’t forget to check out the sales at home décor stores and websites for major discounts on Christmas decorations (right before and after Christmas). Stocking up for next season is the best way to accumulate great decorations at a fraction of the cost! Stay tuned to Hazelstyles.com for more holiday tricks and tips… Merry Christmas!
Hazel by design 