Kathysue's Christmas Decor Formula In 10 Easy Steps

via Martha Stewart

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 us it in my décor.

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 Merry and Bright Kate Spade-ish Christmas

 

Kate Spade is known for her use of color, black and white stripes and polka-dots and touches of gold. What’s not to like?!!

In my looking at Holiday décor I kept running across some fun, and colorful ideas that reminded me of Kate Spade. If you are in need of color this year, this post is for you…….

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This room and wreath make me smile big time!!

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Now this is a very fun tree skirt!!!

Fun way to set up a buffet table.

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These would be so easy as a DIY project.

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Be sure to add these to the mix!! All of these ornaments can be found at Horchow.

How about a wreath or two, or three, or four or FIVE…… above your mantel?

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Another DIY project for you to try!!

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Another fun DIY! We are definitely talking

Merry and BRIGHT !

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This little piece of artwork ties in perfectly with a colorful Kate Spade look, don’t you think?

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I think we need a few happy pillows for the sofa!!

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We can’t forget the Polka dots!!

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You can actually have this pillow personalized with your own message!

Let’s throw in a little more color to the mix. I know, I know, it has orange, but you have to understand, it is a Kate Spade-ish room, and it has to have lots of colors.

We have our inspiration of colors in the little piece of art, pillows that continue the fun and the color scheme and ideas for wreaths and even a great saying for your wall that says it all……..

HAVE A MERRY AND BRIGHT CHRISTMAS!!!

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THIS YEARS CHRISTMAS DINING ROOM

 

This post will be showing you how I coordinate my Christmas décor, and the three areas I concentrate on decorating in my home.

You will see last year Christmas décor, and my plans for this years porch and dining room.

When it comes to decorating for Christmas I try to stick to three areas. 

There can be too much Christmas décor, even for me, so by sticking to three areas it keeps it a bit more simple, and concise…….

Tip: remove other every day decor when adding Christmas decor in order to not make your rooms look too busy or cluttered.

PORCH AND ENTRY:

This area sets the mood for your guest so be sure to make it welcoming, and festive.

This is last years door that greeted my guest. 

I created a mood of nostalgia and sweet memories by using my 3 son’s silhouettes at different ages. Also notice the jingle bells under the green bow. (you can see more here)

For this years porch and entry I am trying  going to set a mood of a simple elegance, and introduce the use of blue and white that you will see throughout my home.

I won’t start the actual decorating until after Thanksgiving, but all the plans are in action……..

I also have a red pillow option, the decision between blue or red has not been made yet, waiting for sample of the fabric. You can see the wreath I am making in the center and the other elements will be in the mix for sure.

The next area I try to make special is the dining room…..

I chose the black and white that I used on the front door, but you will notice a large Jingle bell is the main player in the dining room…..

Did you read the sign?

 

See how I am carrying out my color scheme , and theme? Black and white, jingle bells, and Do you believe?

This years dining room is actually carrying out the design theme for my family room. (more on that later)

THIS YEARS DINING ROOM PLANS:

It all started with these three guys…….

I was discussing my plans with my like minded friends, and Debbie from Confessions of a Plate Addict blog found these for me. Thanks, again, DEB!!

Be sure and visit her blog, she does some amazing DIY and her Pottery Barn knock-offs are amazing.

I immediately fell in love with their faces. The fact that there are three is also meaningful to me since I have 3 son’s and 3 Grandchildren and 3 is my favorite number. ( I know, I know, I am just sentimental like that!)

The wheels started turning, and a the color scheme emerged, black and white with touches of green and for texture, birch logs…..

This is my inspiration board with the elements I plan on incorporating.

I am pretty excited about making this come to fruition!!

Next will be the last area that I like to decorate…..

The Mantel next to our family tree……

 From last year the black and white continued as well as, “BELIEVE!” from the dining room, but one more color was added, blue!!

The tree always has our family memories on it, but I will change out the bows, and add a few colored balls to continue with the over all design.

You will also notice that my wrapping paper is co-ordinated in the colors that I use. One paper is always there and that is my black and white striped signature wrap.

I actually use my wrapping paper as part of my Christmas décor by putting it in a French market basket.

I even keep my ribbons, and tags close at hand for easy access, and when they are sitting out, they go with the overall décor as well.

Now you know how my mind works, and how I try to make my Christmas decorating, meaningful, inviting and coordinated with my existing décor in my home. 

If you would like to see more of my Christmas decorating from years past, just type in Christmas in the search box on the right side bar.

More planning to do!!!!

I start early for some, late for others, in order to enjoy every single moment of this wonderful Holiday season!! 

The actual decorating will not take place until after Thanksgiving and then you will find me humming, decorating, wrapping and cooking.

I LOVE THIS TIME OF YEAR

DON’T YOU?

(STAY TUNED FOR MY MANTEL PLANS)