Simple Holiday Decorating: My Top Tips
I don’t think I can properly describe how much I love holiday decorating.
Few things make my heart happier than when it is finally time for “the tubs.”
Do you have “tubs”? I bet you do.
I have a few plastic storage bins labeled “Fall Decor” (and more than a few for Christmas decorations). Every year when the day comes to pull out the tubs, my heart does a little happy dance inside my chest.
I’m always oddly surprised when I pop off the plastic lid and peer at the contents inside. A year has passed since I last considered the contents, and today it feels like I’m unwrapping a gift. “Oh!, I totally forgot about that!” I think as I pull my holiday decorations from their dormant state.
Although I’ve been decluttering and minimizing many areas of my life over the past few years, holiday decor is one area that I haven’t spent much time on. Partly because it spends most of the year in hiding, but also because I know in my heart I know I will never be a minimalist when it comes to holiday decorating. I love it too much.
That being said, I HAVE been making an effort to be more intentional with my purchasing in terms of bringing new decor into our home.
My goals for holiday decorating include:
- Choosing fewer knick knacks and trinkets and opting to invest in more quality pieces that will last for years to come.
- Creating a decorating process that is quick and impactful, not an all day event (because I don’t have time for that anymore).
- Making my home feel decorated but NOT cluttered; it’s a fine line!
After spending some time reflecting on how I want to accomplish this, I have come up with a plan that works well for me.
Since this week’s Fall Bucket List Challenge is to “Update your Fall Decor,” I wanted to share my plan with you today to offer some guidelines. Remember, there are lots of specific ideas in the free 20 page ebook. (If you haven’t downloaded that yet…what are you waiting for? It’s FREE!)
Without further ado, here is my 3 part strategy for easy holiday decorating:
Add accent colors
This is fairly straightforward if your home is already decorated in the neutral tones that seem to be dominating home decor. But even if you live with more color, it is easily accomplished!
My house is mostly whites and tans with blue. That is my base.
I choose an ACCENT color for each season that I layer on top of that palette to give it a fresh feel.
Currently, the seasonal colors I rotate include:
Spring/Summer: Aqua, Brighter Whites, Royal Blue
Fall: Sage Green, Creamy Whites, Rust (see photo above)
Holiday: Sage Green, Creamy Whites, Red (I just swap out the rust from Fall…otherwise, I keep things the same)
There are many gorgeous seasonal palette ideas out there. Use current home decor magazines or Pinterest for inspiration.
Pick Focus Areas
Covering every available surface is a quick way to make your home feel cluttered.
If you’re a holiday decorating maximalist and that feels good to you… do what makes you happy!
But, if you’re like me and want to keep things feeling clean and simple, try to focus on a few key areas.
Our house is a pretty open floor plan, so I focus on 1.) The living room/kitchen area 2.) The porch 3.) Master Bedroom.
That’s pretty much it.
(I also let the kids paint a pumpkin or set up a mini tree in their rooms as well if they want.)
My Decorating System:
1.) Swap out pillow covers + blankets
2.) Add a seasonal touch to each vignette
I add pumpkins to my usual table centerpiece, for example, or some evergreen branches to my mantle display).
3.) Swap out front door wreath
Choose low clutter solutions
The more you own, the more you have to store. That’s why I am working hard to choose decor that is as compact as possible to reduce the decorating related clutter.
I made a short video with my top 3 low clutter decorating solutions if you’re looking for ways to simplify your holiday decorating routine, check out my YouTube video for 3 clutter free decorating ideas.
A few weeks ago I asked my friends on Instagram what they wanted help with this holiday season, and several people replied “Holiday Decorating.” I know October is just the beginning of holiday decorating season… so I wanted to make sure to share my basic tips early enough for you to start planning for the upcoming months.
My #1 advice (if you haven’t figured it out by now) is to keep it simple!
Less to set out + less to maintain + less to store at season’s end = more time to enjoy the holiday at hand.
Thank you for joining me for another week of the Fall Bucket List Challenge. I’ll see you next week with some ideas for hosting a fun Fall movie night!
Happy decorating.
Thanks for stopping by!
