It’s not even December yet, but here’s some Christmas styling tips to get you up and rolling!
Whether you’re mad for all things Christmas or haven’t quite got your head around the fact it’s only 30 days away, here’s some simple Christmas decorating tips can help prepping your home that little bit easier.
Confession time. I’m not really crazy for the Christmas season with all it’s present buying and frantic pace. However a little person in my family most definitely is.
She has helped me see that preparing my home for Christmas is worth investing a little time into - you should see the smile on her face when I’ve implemented these tips from a previous blog that I wrote a few Christmases ago.
I hope your family gives you the same reaction…
Christmas styling doesn’t need to stop with inside!! Often the way you bring some Christmas cheer to the outside of your home is more impactful as you share your festive spirit with the neighbourhood.
Get in the Christmas styling mood.
Get your Christmas music out and playing. It’s mandatory that you have your favourite festive tunes playing when you begin your Christmas styling, as it really does produce decorating with heart and soul.
If you want to go even further, get your Christmas scented candles or incense burning and I promise your styling will feel easier and more enjoyable.
Here I’ve used lots of texture with the basket, wreath, fabric stockings and pine garland. You can bet I had my Christmas tunes playing when I styled this space!
2. Edit your Christmas items before you start styling.
Bring all your Christmas decorations and other styling items together in one place. To do this, go through each room in your home and gather the general items you’d like to include in your styling, and look at them together with your more traditional Christmas things you use every year.
Place them all on the dining table and start being objective with what you want to keep and edit. Objects that won’t make the grade could be based on their colour, texture or size. Equally you only want to include items that add to the overall vibe and feeling you want your Christmas styling to give.
Be ruthless here to ensure that you start with a collection of items you love, rather than having to go back and take things away later. You’ll thank me for this!
I also added some smooth ceramic vases, along with the candle stick and sentimental childhood ‘Christmas bottle’ to offset all the textural natural materials in this styling arrangement. Remember to mix your materials for interest and balance.
3. Remember texture plays a big role in Christmas styling.
Regardless of your design style, texture is super important in Christmas styling. Think about the Christmas tree and the way it’s so textural and try to sprinkle other elements of texture in the space to complement this.
You can incorporate texture through fabric Christmas stockings, table cloths, table runners, wreaths and anything else made from interesting materials.
Here’s another example of balancing the rough textures with the smooth silvery stars and eucalypts leaves. It’s not something that you notice on first glance, it’s more about it feeling balanced and ‘finished’.
4. Include smooth, reflective objects to your Christmas styling.
Now that I’ve highlighted the need for texture, my next suggestion is to add a good dose of smooth and reflective styling objects. Your styling will always feel more balanced when you mix smooth and rough elements.
Consider using shiny baubles, fairy lights, glass vases and candle holders all of which bring that beautiful contrast that will elevate your festive styling.
Using glass and reflective surfaces work a treat in Christmas styling. It’s always so lovely to have some shimmer and shine in your styling, especially at this time of the year. Glass baubles and vessels are a simple way to add this element to your accessorising.
5. Pick a cohesive colour scheme for your Christmas styling.
Sticking to a colour scheme is important to stop your styling from feeling busy. Because you’re generally displaying more items around your home at this time of year, keeping your chosen colour scheme consistent helps to keep your spaces feeling connected.
There’s no right or wrong when it comes to the colours you love, your theme could be based on an eclectic design style (and so you will have many and varied colours in your styling), or quite understated through only using black, white and green for example.
Whatever your personal style; be true to it and stick to it throughout all areas of your home.
I love the simplicity of a constrained colour palette and always want the greenery of the tree and decorative foliage to take centre stage. So my colour palette consists of white, green and the brown hues of the the timber doors and rattan wreaths & accessories. This combination is easy to translate in any area of my home too, so it’s one that I always circle back to.
6. Elevate your Christmas styling with handmade elements.
Last, but not least, don’t forget to add some of your personality when you’re styling for Christmas.
There are numerous ways that you can do this, but one of the best is to add some thing hand made. Whether it’s something you’ve made, or a trinket from your child or family member, find a way to add something that is individual to you.
To make your styling unique and personal to you, an important tip is to include things that you can’t buy off the shelves. I made a big bamboo star for my outside shed this year and covered it in fairy lights so I can enjoy the ambience in the evenings.
There’s plenty of ideas out there for DIY Christmas styling, so find something that you love and have a crack!
Think about where you spend the most amount of time in your home, and what you look out at when you’re in that space, to work out where to place your decorating items. Our open plan area looks out at this garden shed, so popping this star that is lit up with fairy lights on the shed gives us something beautiful to enjoy as the sun sets.
Bring some homemade element to your styling (like this bamboo star), and suddenly it feels more like a true reflection of your style rather than a replication of what you see on the shop shelves. Mixing bought pieces with your own DIY objects is a must. (Our puppy Sunshine in her first styling photo! She’s much bigger now but still struggling to sit still!)
Christmas styling doesn’t have to be hard, rather it should be something that makes you feel joyous about all that this season brings. Some people love to style lots of rooms with Christmas cheer while others prefer to keep it minimal with just their tree. Wherever you sit when it comes to Christmas styling, I hope these tips will help you to get started and enjoy the process!
If you enjoy learning about all things interior design and decoration, I have a monthly email newsletter where I share many more tips and insider knowledge. I’d love you to subscribe if you’d like to learn more.
You can subscribe here and in the meantime I look forward to hearing about your Christmas styling successes or questions! Let me know in the comments below. Bec x