TWO DIFFERENT HOLIDAYS LOOKS YOU CAN ACCOMPLISH ON ANY BUDGET BY CHOOSING COLORS THAT COMPLEMENT OR CONTRACT YOUR EXISTING DECOR
Hey there,
How is everyone doing? How did you do for Thanksgiving?
Hope you all had a gratitude filled day, surrounded by family and loved ones.
For me, Thanksgiving is more about the “feeling” of gratitude for what we DO have, family, togetherness, harmony… than the spread itself. Although, I love to cook and typically do… some of the best memories of past Thanksgivings are the one’s video recorded when the kids were little and they helped prepare the feast. Even those Thanksgivings when the feast came from a pre-made supermarket traditional meal (for $29.99), seeing their content and satisfied faces; their joy is what really filled me up and still does when I watch those videos.
(It was never about going out shopping at 5 pm. In my opinion going shopping defeats the purpose/or the object of THANKS – GIVING. Isn’t it about giving Thanks for what we have and not what we don’t have, even if it’s on sale?)
Anyway, that is my rant for this post.
GETTING BACK TO DECORATING FOR THE HOLIDAYS.
A lot of people decorate the weekend following Thanksgiving but if you are anything like me and thousand of others… decorating for the Holidays can get in the way of your already busy schedule. Adding to the stress and the unspoken pressure of not doing enough.
Personally, I don’t mind the decorating for the Holidays, pulling the boxes out and seeing ornaments I forgot I had. I especially love the ones the kids made when they were little using their photos and puzzle pieces. Now putting it all away after New Year… not so much…my cup of tea.
That is a chore I would love to delegate to someone else…but no one will put the stuff away as I do. Although, my husband does put away the lights a few times they just got thrown in the box and the following year he struggled and said some choice words when trying to unravel his past laziness. (It has happened to me too when finding some broken ornaments that weren’t put away with care)
So over the last few years, I have developed a no fuss Holiday decorating routine that has worked pretty well and I am improving on it every year.
This is not a “You should do it this way.” This is a “This is how I have done it and it’s working for me.”
Step 1
The first thing I did after a major move was purge…purge the number of boxes of decorations keeping only the decorations that really meant a lot and the ones I liked the most. I mean I used to have decorations for all color schemes, traditional, modern, vintage and every year I would buy more. So when we made the big move after the older kids were gone 🙁
I purged everything, including Holiday decorations. I divided the ones I was doing away with into 2 boxes one for each daughter. The girls now had their own homes, so they welcomed the past down decorations. I also made an unspoken rule to not buy any new ones unless getting rid of some of the old ones. I could have easily filled 3 boxes and give my son a box of decorations too, however; I don’t think the “tough guy” would appreciate it.
Step 2
Based on the size of the home we live in now the holiday decor I did keep was strategically selected. Only minimalist and appropriately sized for our 900 sq dwelling.
I found that fewer pieces made us really enjoy bringing them out, seeing them again and there is no stress about putting them away now. In the past I would have seven or eight boxes of decorations out, nowadays we have 2 at the most. Some years it is just one box.
Step 3
For our small space, we now decorate a tree – sometimes conventional, sometimes not so conventional. We put a few key pieces out that make for a big or meaningful impact and we add some festive lights. (Some of the lights outside on the patio stay up all year round).
If you want an easy way to come up with an easy Holiday Decor “routine” here is a room we did two ways. Very different looks but easily obtainable with minimal effort to decorate and to put it all away.
LOOK 1:
Winter Wonderland, mostly whites, silvers and golds adding a couple of luxe items like a soft faux fur throw, and a couple of luxe pillows to complement the look.
LOOK 2:
Traditional colors with a twist, add a red soft throw, perhaps with fringe the same color as your sofa (assuming your sofa is neutral). A red and white or red and cream decorative pillow paired with a contrasting colored one. Add a few red, green, gold and white accessories- repeating some of the patterns or the colors in the pattern throughout for continuity.
Here are a few pictures of how we accomplished these two looks with just a few pieces.
LOOK 1:
For the first look, we added the same shape (Xmas trees) in different finishes but complementary colors. We kept all components luxe looking (sparkly, shiny, gold, silver or iridescent whites). Since the throw was soft and lush, we made the decorative pillows furry and soft. All the decor was kept pretty monochromatic.
Tip: I always like to use faux down pillow inserts 1 size bigger than the actual pillow cover. It gives a fuller look and the ability to give it that infamous “karate chop” on top.
LOOK 2:
We switched the color and texture of the throw and pillows. We selected them in more casual materials but still a bit of luxe. One of the pillows was red felt with off white and the other in a natural linen color that complemented the burlap used in other areas.
The throw was mohair red with lovely beige/natural linen flax color fringe. Then added a woodsy Tree but very organic and simple look. Added a few boxes gift-wrapped in the colors of our “look”. We used glitzy looking red bows for some gift boxes and used a burlap wired ribbon for others. These went really well with the greenery, red and burlap wreaths.
Tip: If you buy really cool wrapping paper, bows & ribbons after the Holidays you will get a great price. Store them, next year in later months save a few boxes in different sizes- you know the ones you get in the mail from ordering online. When you are ready to decorate wrap them and use those as part of your decor.
Going back to wreaths…
We did the wreaths in these colors (see pictures) because this was the look we were going to keep. Had we chosen the Winter Wonderland look, I probably would have made white cotton, white feathers or flocked greenery for the wreaths. In fact, I may very well do that next year since the wreaths hanging on the windows look pretty good.
Ok peeps, ultimately the thing about the Holidays is not to get too stressed, don’t be tied to any specific outcome. Expect imperfection, just aim for “Pulled Together” – this is going to be your sanity saving phrase. Believe me, if you keep it simple and you stay focused on the Season and not on the stress of decorating for the Holidays, pleasing everyone or perfection, it will feel a lot more cheerful than if you aim to do too much and wear yourself out.
Remember, you not only have to decorate but also put it all away after, so keeping it simple means staying sane.
Enjoy a few more scenes of our photo shoot decorating for the Holidays, 1 Room 2 looks.
