With the holidays looming and panicky thoughts of the decorating that needs to be done (along with the shopping and cooking and baking and entertaining), I’ve been giving some thought to how to decorate a home and not have it conflict with the design style you already have going on. Maybe it doesn’t matter to you, but if you are ready to purchase new ornaments for a fresh new holiday look for your home, you might consider the thoughts below.
Monochromatic Christmas tree in gold undertones
1. If you have a house full of colorful art and accessories, and/or a lot of pattern in your upholstery and pillow fabrics, consider making the tree more monochromatic. Choose a single color that is already in your home, and use it for ornaments, ribbon, and tree skirt. The difference in the texture and reflectivity of the various materials will provide enough contrast to give it a rich, varied look.
2. Maybe you are dreaming of a very elegant, formal tree that will work with any home decor you may have going on. That could be done a silver or gold themed tree, with no color in the ornaments. Choose the metallic color that goes best with the colors in your home; my preference is golds with warmer earth tones, and silver with jewel tones. For a really stylish tree and garland look such as this, I like to add a touch of nature to warm it up, such as a few birds made with real feathers, or real pine cones with a little glitter on the tips….or even some of the beautiful “fake” magnolia flowers tied amongst the boughs.
This is a rustic-themed tree, using wooden ornaments, acorn and burlap
3. If you have sentimental ornaments that you have collected throughout the years such as things your children have made in school and there is no “theme” to them (which there probably won’t be!), then embellish the tree with simple red, green or white balls (all the same color please), so the family ornaments you have kept over the years are what catches the eye. Adding cranberry or popcorn strings adds great character to this kind of family tree. Stay away from glitzy ornaments and too much sparkle!
4. “Themed” Christmas trees are delightful, assuming you don’t already have a theme you have used throughout your home. Themes can be things you and your family are particularly interested in, such as snow skiing or other sports activities, travel (maybe you’ve purchased an ornament in every city or resort you’ve ever gone to!) animals, teddy bears, angels, trains……many different subjects! This situation is very much like the sentimental family ornament one; all of the other ornaments that you need to fill the tree up should be one color, very simple, and allow all of the unique ornaments to take center stage. Depending on the theme you are working with there are many different ways to use garlands and tree toppers to compliment the ornaments without creating a hodge-podge of style.
My personal “least favorite” type of tree is the one that says absolutely nothing about the family who lives there, looks too perfect, and everything matches, with no personality! The Christmas season is a time for family and friends, wonderful moments of sharing and making memories. If the tree looks like you just purchased it out of a department store window, then to me…..should have stayed there! The design of your home should always reflect who YOU are!
