Holiday Decorating 101: How to Tastefully Decorate Your Home for the Holidays

Back in 2013, a TV show called The Great Christmas Light Fight made its debut. And it gave a lot of people the impression that they need to hang millions of twinkly lights on their home every December for it to be considered decorated. But that couldn’t be further from the truth!

You don’t have to invest in hundreds of strings of lights and drive up your energy bill every holiday season to make your home look festive. You can do a lot of simple holiday decorating inside and outside of your home to make it look its best.

So rather than running out and purchasing all the lights you can find, you should learn more about the ways you can decorate your home tastefully. Here are some tips that will help you do it.

Start by Hanging a Modest Wreath on Your Front Door

One of the first things that you should do when you start preparing for the holidays is hang a wreath on your front door. It’s probably going to be the first thing people notice when they pull up in front of your home this holiday season, so make it count!

There are many people who have started to take the DIY approach to creating holiday wreaths. If you feel so inclined, you can join them and make a wreath from scratch.

But you can also purchase a simple and elegant wreath that will welcome visitors to your home this Christmas the right way. You’ll set the tone for the rest of your holiday decorating when you start by choosing the right wreath for your front door.

Hang Wreaths on Several of Your Windows as Well

A lot of people don’t realize that you can hang up more than just one wreath on the outside of your home. You can actually hang a bunch of them up, as long as you take the time to make them look tasteful.

Once you’ve picked out the right wreath for your front door, use it as inspiration and choose several other wreaths to hang on several of the windows on the front of your home.

Unless those windows are especially large, you probably don’t want the wreaths to be any bigger than the one you already bought for your door. But regardless of the size you choose, make sure the wreaths either match your original wreath or complement it nicely.

Strategically Place Candles in Your Windows

Whether you decide to hang wreaths on the outside of several of your home’s windows or not, there is one decorative touch your windows will need if you want your holiday decorating to be tasteful. Candles!

Candles can really class up the look of a holiday display in no time when used properly. Place one candle into each window in the front of your home and make sure you turn them on every night once it gets dark outside.

Even if you don’t do much else in terms of decorating the exterior of your home, the candles will add a warmth to it that people will appreciate. It’ll look like you and your family are ready for the holiday season once candles are in your windows.

Put up an Elegant Light Display Outside

If you don’t feel like putting lights up on the outside of your home this year, you don’t necessarily have to do it. You can do holiday decorating without stringing lights on your gutters.

But if you decide that you are going to hang lights up outside, take the minimalistic approach. Hang a single row of lights across your home’s roofline and add a few strings of lights here and there to the trees and bushes outside your home.

The key, if you’re going for a more tasteful look, is to not overdo it. The last thing you want to do is get carried away and look like a Great Christmas Light Fight contestant.

Avoid Putting Inflatable Christmas Decorations in Your Front Yard

In recent years, inflatable Christmas decorations have become all the rage across America. They’re easy to put up and make it look like you put a lot of effort into decorating your home.

They’re great for those with kids or those who genuinely enjoy making the outside of their home look like the North Pole. But if you want to keep your holiday decorations classy this year, resist the urge to put one up.

An inflatable Christmas decoration will automatically distract people from the tasteful touches you’re putting elsewhere.

Decorate Your Home’s Staircases

Moving inside, there are so many ways that you can tastefully decorate your home for the holidays.

Let’s start with your staircase. If you recently moved into a house from this company with a big staircase in it, you should take full advantage of it and make it the center of attention when people walk through your front door.

Begin by using garland to decorate the handrails on your staircase. Then, string some subtle lights along the handrails as well. This will class up your staircase in a big way and help you rack up compliments this holiday season.

You can decorate any other staircases you might have in your home as well. They present an easy opportunity to add a touch of elegance to your house.

Scatter Holiday Knick-Knacks Throughout Your Home 

Generally speaking, you don’t want to flood your home with an avalanche of knick-knacks when you’re doing your holiday decorating. Before long, it’ll look overcrowded and will overwhelm people’s senses when they walk through your home.

But you don’t have to keep your various knick-knacks locked away in your attic or basement, either. There are ways to incorporate them into the design of your home without making them feel out of place.

Add a gingerbread house here and a nutcracker there and use your knick-knacks sparingly. As long as you don’t go too overboard, your knick-knacks will serve as small details in the bigger picture and make your home feel more festive overall.

Don’t Forget About the Fireplace!

Do you have a fireplace in your home? If so, that’s where you should spend a lot of your time decorating since people are probably going to be gathered around it this Christmas season.

You can put so many different things on your fireplace mantel to bring it to life. Consider using:

  • Garland
  • Fake snow
  • White lights
  • Poinsettias
  • Stockings
  • Glitter
  • And more!

You can feel free to let your imagination run wild once you start decorating your fireplace. While you don’t want to junk it up with too much stuff at once, you also want it to feel as warm and welcoming as it can to everyone.

Allow your mind to run free to find the right decorative touches for your fireplace this holiday season.

Choose the Right Christmas Tree to Complete the Look

Most people start their holiday decorating by running out and picking up a Christmas tree.

While starting with the tree isn’t the worst thing in the world, you can also leave it until last and choose a tree that works well with the design of the rest of your home. Choosing the right Christmas tree will complete the look you’re going for and put an exclamation point on it.

Start by thinking about which size tree you want to get. You don’t want anything that looks too big or too small. Instead, you want something that will fit comfortably in the space in which you’re going to put it.

Once you have the ideal tree picked out, put it into place and begin decorating it by stringing white lights on it and outfitting it with matching ornaments, bows, and maybe even a small amount of tinsel.

You don’t want your tree to look like you picked up a box of ornaments and dumped them on it. You want it to look like each and every ornament is in a spot that was made especially for it.

And you want to top things off by placing a tasteful angel on top of your tree. It will be the final touch for your holiday decorating and will leave you with a home that you’re proud to show off throughout the month of December.

Get Your Holiday Decorating Done Today

Have you started doing your holiday decorating yet? If not, you don’t have much time left to do it! The big day will be here before you know it.

But fortunately, it doesn’t take forever to tastefully decorate your home. Once you have all the proper supplies, including wreaths, candles, garland, ornaments, and more, you can decorate your house in a matter of hours. And once you’re done, you’ll find that it’ll put you into a holiday mood if you’re not in one already.

Would you like to find out some unique ways to decorate your home at other times of the year, too? Check out our blog to see how to improve the look of your home one step at a time.