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How To Decorate For The Holidays Like An Interior Designer

With the holidays fast approaching, my thoughts are all about creating a beautiful home for the holidays. When people picture holiday décor, often bright red images, tinsel wrapped and flashing everything pops to mind. If you’re tired of that whole look, want to pack away the plastic Santa, and elevate your home’s aesthetic, then you’ll enjoy today’s post – I’m sharing five tips for elegant holiday decorating!

decorative flower arrangement on dining table

Use Fresh Greenery & Flowers

Using fresh greenery not only looks beautiful but will also help your home to smell heavenly. Holiday flowers like potted paperwhites and amaryllis are wonderful to scatter throughout your home as well. When shopping for beautiful arrangements, I always go to Fiori Oakville, located in downtown Oakville. The arrangement pictured above in my dining room is called “Deck The Halls,” and it’s absolutely perfect for any dining table. You can order it online from Fiori Oakville’s website HERE, and opt for delivery anywhere in the Greater Toronto Area or the Golden Horseshoe, which helps make your holiday decorating effortless. How great is that?

Choose The Right Colour Palette 

Your home décor should help you decide on your holiday colour palette. Your holiday décor should complement your space, not compete with it, so be sure to select items that coordinate. Can’t find anything to match? Stick with natural elements and add hints of white, silver and, gold, and everything will coordinate nicely. If you have neutral home decor and are a fan of the traditional red and green, then go for it. In the past, I have used mostly neutral decor with small bits of light blues or blush pinks, but now that my son is three and excited about Santa, I’ll be incorporating more traditional items and red into the mix. Traditional Christmas decor can be great to add, especially if you have little ones, as long as it’s done tastefully.

Wrapping Counts Too 

Seeing as gifts often sit out under the tree, keep the wrapping just as lovely as the décor, and be sure it ties in with your colour palette. Wrapping your gifts with beautiful paper and grosgrain ribbon is just as easy to do as wrapping with standard wrap and curling ribbon, so why not? Elevate your gift wrap and ribbon so that your home will look even more special.   

Add A Little Shine

Shine and shimmer are lovely to add to your home during the holiday season, but just don’t go overboard. Shiny ornaments grouped together on a tray or in a bowl with some pretty scented candles are a great way to add a bit of shine while keeping things looking elegant. Of course, having a tree in your home with lots of white lights and glass and metal ornaments will also add that warm shine and sparkle that we all love around the holidays.

Let The Kids Have Fun

For all of the parents out there thinking they cannot have elegant holiday décor because they’ve got kiddos, I have a solution for you – Let the kids have fun in their own spaces. That’s right; let the kids help to decorate their bedrooms and playrooms with decorations they like. My son is at the age now where I will be giving him a tree for his bedroom. He’s selected ornaments he loves with Paw Patrol characters, Elmo, Thomas The Train, and diggers and dump trucks. While I don’t want those decorations on our main tree, I am delighted to let him have them on his own tree that he can get creative with. Set up a tree for the kids in their room or play area and let them have fun, and you still get to maintain an elegant looking home. 

Enjoy The Process

And there you have it – Five tips to help you decorate your home for the holidays while keeping things elegant. I also wanted to mention the most important part about decorating for the holidays: enjoying the process. Things can get extra busy around the holidays, so I suggest turning off electronics, turning on the music, pouring a glass of something delicious, lighting some candles and have fun decorating with your family.  

Shop My Favourite Christmas Decor

Join Me Online 

If you’re looking for some more holiday inspiration, be sure to check out what I’ve been pinning over on Pinterest HERE. You can also join me on Instagram HERE to see how I’m decorating my own home. Thanks, and happy decorating! 

 

Behind the blog

Welcome to the SED Edit — my corner of the internet where I share interior design tips, project updates, favourite finds, and the small everyday things that make life feel a little more beautiful.

My hope is that each post gives you clarity, inspiration, and the confidence to create a home you truly love.

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