The winter holidays are approaching way too fast, and we’re all stretched in a million different directions. Yet, we’re yearning to celebrate the season in high style, especially after last year’s pandemic gloom. Here, a handful of designers and style pros offer some easy ideas to jump-start your holiday decorating.
Build on What You Have
Design holiday decor around your existing color scheme for a rich, harmonious environment. Ali (who keeps her last name private), the influencer behind The Alluring Home on Instagram, celebrates Christmas and Chanukah with her family, and she keeps her decor consistent with her year-round palette of blue and white. She liberally mixes elements of both faiths among her chinoiserie porcelain. (She recruited a chinoiserie pot as a base for her Christmas tree.)
“I use a lot of decor that suggests snow, along with pine cones, so it isn’t so much a religious feeling but more of a wintery feel,” she says.
For Aerin Lauder, founder of New York City-based lifestyle brand AERIN and style and image director at Estée Lauder, Christmas decor means adding cheerful touches of red to her main color palette of dark blues.
Set the Scene with Scent
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“Smell is the strongest trigger for memories,” says Michelle Feeney, founder of the London-based, eco-conscious fragrance brand Floral Street. “When you want to create new ones, scent is a beautiful way to do that.”
Swathe your home in different fragrances to create different moods, she suggests. Warm, cozy smells like vanilla and amber radiate feelings of intimacy, while rich, spicy ingredients such as pepper and cloves boost your holiday ambiance.
Light scented candles earlier in the day for a lasting, subtle aroma, or set out diffusers, which give off a gentle, continuous fragrance.
Add Glamorous Glass
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Alfred Beam, an interior designer at Walter E. Smithe furniture stores in Chicago, uses vintage mercury glass candleholders on his dining table for a tastefully glamorous ambiance. Small vessels and decorative objects made of mercury glass can also be incorporated throughout the house for a sophisticated shine.
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Ali also favors mercury glass, but she also adds a touch of sparkle here and there, such this cake dome topped with crystals.
Set a Tempting Table
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Multiples of anything set a stage of luxury and abundance. Beam fashions a table display by staggering a row of glass candle holders in various sizes, then interspersing them with floral picks to add fullness.
“Instead of setting a floral centerpiece in the middle, I have an installation that runs the entire length of the table,” he says.
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For Lauder, the key to setting a luxurious table is layering dishware—so, salad plates atop dinner plates. It adds dimension, she says. Mixing and matching patterns creates a lively, festive feeling. Lauder is also passionate about candles—the more the better, she says, and not just on the dining table.
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A tradition in Beam’s family is to welcome the start of the Christmas season at the end of the Thanksgiving dinner. So, the main course is served on fall-themed dinnerware, and dessert is served on holiday plates. That’s the signal to start decorating the tree.
This article originally appeared on spacesmag.com.
How to Help:
For design lovers who want to give back, consider attending the San Francisco Decorator Showcase, which is accessible virtually, and making a donation. Since 1977, the showcase has raised over $17 million to benefit the San Francisco University High School financial aid program. This event continues to allow hundreds of deserving Bay Area students access to a world-class college preparatory education.
More from Better:
- Dr. Helene Gayle: Giving Back Has Always Been ‘Part of Who I Am’
- John Edwardson on Hard Work, Giving Back and ‘The Right Thing to Do’
- Thanksgiving Recipes for Every Diet: Gluten-free, Vegetarian, Vegan or Keto, We’ve Got You Covered
Pamela Dittmer McKuen is an award-winning Chicago-based freelance features journalist who specializes in home, design and travel. She has dual passions for dark chocolate and cats. She’s an ardent supporter of Bridge Communities, a nonprofit that helps homeless families transition to self-sufficiency, and Feral Fixers, a trap-neuter-release and cat adoption agency.
