9 Easy Steps for Holiday Decorating

I would love to say that I have time to decorate the entire house and get it all decked out for the Holidays, but I don't. I take short cuts, and I wait until the last minute.. But it's OK, because sometimes the last minute easy decorations also look the best! And the biggest perk - cleaning up is often also easier when you do quick decorating instead of when you pull out of all twenty boxes of Holiday decorations out of your garage. Here is my nine step plan how to decorate your home for the Holidays, easy and fast!

1. PICK DECORATING COLORS

I always choose decorating colors first - after that it's easy to stick to those colors. This helps you to save time and money, and you will not buy that cute ornament you see at the store because you know it won't fit in your theme. Also, your home will look stylish - and not like you just pulled out every Christmas ornament that you own. Favorite color combos for the Holidays are red & gold, red & green, blue & silver, blue & gold, white, white & gold. But really - if you want to have a pink Christmas, go for it! Just stick to the color theme, and your home will look fabulous.

2. PICK THE THEME

Yes! Pick a theme for the Holidays. Not just "Christmas" but decide are you going to use snowmen, Santa Claus, elves, angels, lots of ball ornaments, stars... Pick a few elements that fit together and stick to those. For example if you have red & white decorating colors, it's fun to use lots of candy canes in your tree. If your colors are blue & white - snowmen might be the best theme. To get a sparkly and classy holiday decor you might want to use golden & white and decorate with angels and stars.

3. PULL OUT YOUR HOLIDAY DECORATIONS

Pull your holiday decorations out of the storage boxes. ONLY take those out that fit your color & theme. This makes it easy and fast, and your home will look stylish because you don't have every single item out.

4. USE WHAT YOU HAVE

Got lots of flower vases? Collection of empty jelly jars? Empty wine bottles? Hurricane vases? White dinnerware? Look around your home what you can repurpose or reposition or use as a holiday decoration. Remember to stick to your color and decorating theme, and think if you have items that fit. Remember, everything doesn't have scream "Christmas" - use different objects to get a cohesive look. 5. CANDLES

Candles are such an easy way to decorate and light up the room. Get beautiful votive candles that fit your theme, and lots of pillar candles always make a great display - and don't forget the inexpensive tea candles in small votives.

6. FLOWERS

The easiest way to decorate your home to any season is to bring in seasonal flowers. Pick flowers in your decorating colors and make easy flower arrangements that fit your theme. You can also buy a mini Christmas tree on the table top and decorate it with mini-ornaments. I like 1-800-flowers.com for ordering arrangements for me and as a gift, real flowers make such a difference when you decorate and they always have something that fits my theme.

7. PERSONAL TOUCH

 The end of the year and the holidays are a great time of the year to reflect on the year that just passed, and remember the holidays from the past. Add something in your holiday decor that reflects something that happened this year - or use that family heirloom item passed on generations. We usually buy a Christmas tree ornament of every place we go to and this year I want to remember the fun we've been having in New York City during the holiday time, and I bought kids ornaments from Radio City Music Hall to remember the Rockette's Christmas Spectacular.

8. MAKE IT YUMMY

Bring on the food!! What are the holidays without food? Whether it's decadent imported chocolate, assorted nuts, large vase of fruit or a basket full of candy canes - use them to make your home ready for the holidays. Remember - you don't have it to eat it all... 

9. WRAP IT!

Time to wrap up these step-by-step holiday decorating instructions with one of the most inexpensive and easiest tip of them all: use wrapping paper to decorate! I interviewed Nate Berkus recently and he shared a tip to buy gift wrap that is in a pattern that you love and cut it into use for placemats and – or even a table runner. For Holiday decor I like to buy wrapping paper that fits my decorating colors and either place all the gifts early on under the tree to make it look pretty - or make large fake gift boxes with the pretty wrapping paper. One tips is to wrap all of your gifts in white and use beautiful ribbons in your decorating colors to make a statement under the tree.

You might also want to read 30 Party Decorating Ideas for more ideas!