Kathysue's Christmas Decor Formula In 10 Easy Steps

   

via Martha Stewart

I know it is early, and we have not even celebrated Thanksgiving yet, but sometimes we need a little more time to make a plan.

So today I am going to help you out a little with a plan that just might help jump start your imagination and creativity!!

When it comes to decorating for Christmas I realized I have  somewhat of a formula. 

After years of decorating there is a method that has evolved.


Today I am going to share with you the easy formula that I use when decorating a home for Christmas.

There are 10 key elements you will always find in my Holiday décor........

Choose three key areas to highlight your holiday décor.

Look at the main focal points in the areas your guest will be seeing.  This is where you  need to concentrate  your Christmas decor. 

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If you have Christmas décor sprinkled heavily everywhere it begins to look cluttered, and messy, and to be honest it defeats the purpose of making your home festive, and welcoming. 

Try to highlight these three areas………

Porch

Dining Room

Family/Living room mantel

Make an introduction

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Remember your porch, and front door are the first introduction your guest will be greeted by. Make their first introduction a representation of what they are about to see, and experience in your home.

Choose a color scheme and have it flow from room to room.

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Looking at the color scheme above you would not need to use each, and every color in the three areas of your home you decide to decorate.

For instance, let’s say the above is on the family room mantle. Then in the dining area you could use a combination of three of the above colors, making one of them the dominant color and two others accents.

Maybe blue is the dominant with green and raspberry the accents.

Next your porch could be just the blue and green. Doing this will make the colors flow effortlessy from space to space.

Use a piece of art, or a pillow to set the theme, mood, or color scheme.

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Using pillows or a Holiday framed piece of art is such a fun and easy way to set the mood for your home. I have found Etsy and Furbish to be a wonderful resource for both pillows, and original artwork.

(unfortunately this pillow is no longer available from Furbish)

Declutter before you decorate.

This is a big one for me. I have seen so many homeowners plop down a figurine, or some greenery among their everyday décor, and before you know it, they have a cluttered looking room, and wonder why their home never pulls together during the Holidays. 

Since we are trying to add a Christmas spirit to our home sometimes our everyday elements will not work.

However, sometimes they will work, but you will have to be the judge of that. Personally I just find it easier to work with a clean slate instead of trying to fit it ALL in!!!

Use a word or Christmas saying somewhere in your room.

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I love typography, and have it displayed with letter P’s throughout my home on a daily basis, but at Christmas time I choose a phrase, or a word and use it in my décor whenever possible.

Try to find a spot in your home where it can be a focal point and set the mood, and/or theme for your Holiday décor.

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This is where you could use a piece of art or even a pillow with a Christmas saying or word on it. (dear lillie is a great online shop to find wonderful pillows and art pieces with wonderful sayings on them, HERE!)


Have a signature wrap that you use from year to year as your base.






Black and white awning stripe is my favorite paper, but you can pick what speaks to your own style. 

The other thing I do is choose one paper that is a stand-out that will help set the mood and wrap a few packages 3-5 and place in front. 

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Stand-out papers can often be expensive so using it strategically is a cost saver.

It is almost like choosing different fabrics for your pillows and co-coordinating them on your sofa or bed.

Use good quality ribbons.

I prefer a good quality double faced satin, velvet or grosgrain ribbon.

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It is so easy to tie a simple loop bow, and it always looks elegant, and appropriate. I like my bows to drape, or sag a bit, no stiff, or over done bows please!

Create a festive ambiance!

Have soft Christmas music playing in the background.

Candles and soft ambient lighting, even in the day time!!

Add a pleasant Christmas scent. Nothing over powering. So many of the candles people purchase can knock your socks off. 

Try to choose a scent that evokes Christmas memories not one that is too sweet, or even noticeable, just one that lingers in your guest memory of your home.

Keep the Memories going…


This is actually the most important, so I saved it for the last! 

Every year our boys, wives and Grandchildren get a special ornament in their stockings.

When the boys were first born each Grandmother chose a themed ornament to give them, and for every single year of their lives they have received a new ornament. (you can read about our tradition here.)

I can not tell you how important these ornaments have become to each family member.  To this day my boys still love their stockings the most, even more than a gift.

Remember: Choosing your color, art piece, word, or pillow  can be your jumping off/starting point for this years decorating.

So there you have it!! 

Kathysue’s Christmas Décor formula!!!

Hopefully this post will inspire you to come to terms with what is really important to you, and your family, and help you express it in your own personal way.

“Enjoy the Process!”

 

 

A FASHION POST: How I Shop And Plan My Wardrobe

This past month was my birthday and for this year my sweet hubby took me shopping. I must admit it was really fun for me.

Over the years I have noticed when I am shopping I shop by color first. As the day goes on I usually wind up with an unintentional color capsule for my wardrobe.

This year was no exception, and I found some additions I can add to items I already own, and I  a couple of capsules started emerging for my Fall/Winter wardrobe.

First let me show you some of the pieces I will be working with.....

 Navy and cognac seemed to keep popping up all day long!

I am so glad to see cognac, or tobacco come back in.

I wore this color a lot a few years back and actually wore out a pair of pants. Then as fashion trends go, I could not find this color, so I am extremely happy to have found it this year.

Here are some of the pieces I worked with a few years back, and many of these same pieces will still work with my newer pieces and color capsules.

 This capsule consisted of black, white, cobalt, and kelly green.

I am pretty consistent when it comes to the colors and styles I wear. I call it classic grown-up preppy style.

These are just a few of the shoes that will work in my wardrobe, trust me I have more. In fact I was a lucky girl and purchased three new pair.

and

and

I think you will be able to see and appreciate how my new shoes will be working with my Fall/Winter wardrobe. 

Notice all are casual and flat? That is what works for me these days so why not get something comfy and cute?

And I can't forget my booties.....

I think I am pretty set!!

 Let's take a look at how the color capsules turned out......

Here is a line-up of colors I can mix together to further my wardrobe.

 

This next scheme is a little unusual for most, but you will have to trust me on how this can work...

 I plan on wearing my cognac pants, leopard flats and bright pink cashmere sweater together.

 Or I could wear my cognac pants, pink checked shirt and navy vest. These are just a couple of ideas.

See how pretty it looks!

The next color capsule that started emerging while I was shopping was......

As you can see from the pieces I have to play with the navy is a constant, and so is the cobalt blue. 

By adding bright yellow, bright pink, or cognac I can really make my wardrobe work for me.

Of course there is always a little black and white thrown in there since that is always the base in my wardrobe.

Shopping Tip:

 

When I shop  I always use one criteria before purchasing a piece, unless it is a special occasion dress....

...I ask myself, "Can I put this with more than 2-3 pieces?" If I can it will be a good purchase for me, but if I can't, I have to be honest with my self and let it go. My goal is to make my wardrobe work for me and go further.

Look in your closet, and put together like colors, and you will start to see a color capsule emerge. 

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Ask yourself what pieces do you need to make your wardrobe go further for you. Write down those pieces and look on line first to do a little pre-shopping.

Once you see what is available in the market, and you have your list you are all set to go and have some fun shopping!!!

btw:If you would like to see what I am pinning for this Fall/Winter season check my pinboard out here....

FALL/WINTER LOOKS

 

 

Where To Start When Decorating A Room

   

    What Is Your Design Springboard?

In my years of consulting there was one question that was asked by most, if not by all...

 Where do I begin? 

Which should I choose first? 

The sofa, rug, curtains etc? 

 I wish there was one pat answer but it truly will vary from project to project. 

I did offer a guideline that seemed to apply in the cases where the homeowner was doing an entire room with new purchases.

I would tell them to choose the least available element first. 

In other words, a rug or sofa will be much more limited on choices that you will like than maybe curtains or accessories.

 Paint is a bottomless pit, paint can always be custom mixed, so I never start with a paint unless the walls are going to be the statement, and all other furniture pieces are going to be neutral.

In bedrooms I would have the bedding chosen before we would move onto other choices. 

 In living areas, such as living rooms or family rooms. it would be the sofa or an area rug.

There were the occasions where there was a fabric or an accessory that the homeowner absolutely loved and we would use that as a jumping off point, or what I like to call a spring board.

 On many blogs you see design boards and I love looking at those. Do you ever wonder which element they started with first, what was their spring board?

 In this post I thought it would be fun to look at some rooms that are well done and think about which of the elements the designer or homeowner would possibly have chosen first.

Here is a perfect example of a room with a lovely rug. I would venture to say the client wanted neutrals and some blue in her room so the shade of blue for the fabric was the first choice.

  The reason I think that is because there can be a multitude of different shades of blue in the rug and it will still work. The color of blue on the sofa and day bed are a very specific shade of blue and they are the statement piece in the room. What a gorgeous room done by none other than Candace Olsen.

This room is done in all neutrals with a pop of black and the only lively colors are in the artwork.

 I would imagine that the rug with its interesting border was chosen first for this room.

The right hue of neutrals could be taken out of the background of the rug. The fabrics on the sofa and chair were obviously chosen for their texture and for the fact that they match the rug quite nicely.

 What keeps this room so interesting is the colorful artwork and the use of black in all the right spots. What a warm and inviting room.

Here we have a very handsome bedroom. The back wall is covered in a unique patterned wallpaper. This would be my first choice. In this room I think the spring board is the wallpaper.

 There will not be that many wallpapers that will be pleasing to you so I would find the perfect paper and work off of that.  They kept all other pieces dark and sophisticated and then added this great pop of bright yellow to liven it up.

This keeps the room from not becoming  too serious and dark. The yellow also brings out the gold tones in the wallpaper background.

This room is a good example of one that could have started with several pieces such as the fabric on both chairs or the wonderful armoire.

 Since the armoire is a statement piece with an unusual color I will guess the armoire is the room's spring board or jumping off point.

 Because this room has a country feel and also looks like a home that is on the water, all the other choices were probably pretty easy to make according to color and theme.

I find this picture interesting. Since this is such a large statement piece of art I think the room started here.

 I am not one that matches art to a room, because that can look contrived and I find art to be such a personal statement.

  You will notice just washes of the green overlaying the beautiful lavender color. Using green in this room is fresh and a natural with this piece of art.

The room is kept interesting with the use of texture and pattern in the fabrics. I like these fabrics. These are what I call non-committal fabrics. They are fabrics that will go with just about anything.

I hope this gives you a few options of how to get a jumping off point or Spring board for your next room project.

 I gave you guidelines, but never be afraid to use an accessory that you love as your starting point.  If it inspires you, you can plan a room around it and you will love the process of planning and the end result of a room you love to live in.

"Enjoy the Process" Of:

 Finding your own Design Springboard for your next project.