Setting Up Your Home For The Holidays: The Biggest Dos And Dont’s
Setting up your home for the holidays is one of the most exciting times of the year. It gets you in the mood for what’s to come and makes the whole season all the more enjoyable.
But what are the dos and don’ts for setting up your home for the holidays? How can you get it right and avoid getting it wrong?
Here’s everything you need to know:
Do Declutter First
You’ve heard of spring cleaning. But it turns out that winter cleaning is also a thing, especially if you’re planning on putting up all sorts of Christmas paraphernalia around your home. Decorations need to be put up against the backdrop of a relatively clean and tidy property. Otherwise, you risk adding even more mess.
Start by decluttering the living room and then expanding from there. Once you have a clean slate, you can get a better idea of how many decorations you can add before it starts looking messy.
Don’t Neglect Safety
Yes, LED fairy lights are far safer than their incandescent predecessors. But, unfortunately, they still carry risks. Animals and children can get caught on the cords.
You’ll also want to be wary of any candles you decide to light. These should be kept away from anything flammable at all times, especially crate paper.
Also, check any lighting or electrics for frayed wires. You don’t know whether mice might have been through your decorations box since last year.
Do Focus On Key Spaces
When it comes to Christmas decorations, you don’t need to put them everywhere. Just a few key spaces will suffice, like the living room, dining area, and kitchen. You can also put a wreath on the front door and Christmas trees on your lawn. But beyond that, there’s not much else that you need to do. If you go overboard, you should do it in a deliberate tongue-in-cheek manner. For example, you can illuminate your entire home, but it should be fun, not serious.
Don’t Ignore Your Outside Areas
A lot of people get so carried away with Christmas decorations inside that they completely forget about their outdoor space. From the outside, everything still looks the same, denying you an extra opportunity to indulge in the festive spirit.
For that reason, we suggest paying close attention to your outdoor spaces. These are often the places where you can put the most extravagant decorations, like a life-size model of Rudolph or self-illuminating statues of Santa Claus.
If you want something simple, just add some fairy lights to your home’s exterior. Add it to your property’s outline to emphasize the architecture and create more of a visual impression.
Do Add Natural Elements
While synthetic Christmas decorations are everywhere, it helps to keep them natural from time to time. In fact, that’s the trend today. More people are choosing simpler options they can make themselves, like holly wreaths.
Adding natural elements contrasts nicely with the vibrant colors and bright lights of artificial decorations. They take you back to a time before when Christmas and life in general were simpler.
Examples of natural decorations include pine cones, holly leaves with red berries attached, amaryllis and poinsettias. You should be able to find these rummaging around in your garden or at a local natural area.
Don’t Wait Until Christmas Eve
It’s also not a good idea to wait until Christmas Eve to start putting up decorations. You want to get going well before then. It shouldn’t be a mad rush just before the big day.
On top of that, you also want to give yourself some time to get into the festive spirit. Putting up decorations early reminds you that Christmas is coming and it won’t be long now.
If you try to put up decorations while you’re rushing, it invariably leads to stress. You feel flustered and ultimately wind up creating something that looks cobbled together at the last minute (which it was).
Therefore, do it over a weekend at the start of December. Keep working at it until you’re happy with the results.
Do Layer Your Lighting
If you’re still not in a festive mood, try layering your lighting. Changing how the light falls on objects can make a significant difference in a room’s ambiance. Twinkling string lights, lamps, and spotlights can all work together to add to the mood. If you have the ability to implement recessed lighting, do that too. It creates a winter wonderland-type atmosphere, turning your property and living room into a cozy cabin.
