All The Trimmings – and Trappings – of Holiday Decor

Ah, Chicago! What a fun and engaging city for holiday festivities! There’s always something going on – some holiday related event – to put you in the mood for celebrating. For me, it’s attending the annual Magnificent Mile Lights Festival, a huge parade and celebration to kick off the coming holiday season. The party is held the weekend before Thanksgiving and brings people in from all over the area, both Chitown residents and visitors from far and near. Floats, music, a celebrity or notable here and there, culminating in a splendid fireworks display from the Chicago River. Michigan Avenue – or The Magnificent Mile – is decked out to the nine’s in full holiday regalia, with cheer, lights, interactive art pieces, and best of all, holiday decor from every lamp post and planter, spilling out onto the famous thoroughfare. The decor is beautiful and tasteful, replete with holiday flair and finery. This is the part I enjoy most of all, in preparation for Christmas (or whatever holiday you celebrate this time of year), taking notes and writing down ideas about decor and furnishings I see in store windows and displays. Something that can pose a wee bit of trouble is all the many, various and sundry trimmings used to pull off a beautiful holiday look. This blog is about how anyone can get the best look out of their existing decor without adding too much more to it. It’s also about how to avoid making it overdone, overly busy and stuffy, and worst of all, an over committed look that poses more of a challenge when its time to take down all the various trappings and store them away for another year.

For some people, decorating for Christmas is a very fine line between grand and gaudy, cute and cloying, or lovely and laughable. It’s always a juggling act to get the look and feel you want without grossly overdoing it or making it look as though your holiday storage closet exploded into your home like a nuclear detonation, leaving fallout and debris in bright, festive colors. As a kid, I think that’s an appropriate look – I mean, Christmas is for everyone, and our society puts a great amount of focus on “Christmas is for kids”, so a look that’s more of a “free-for-all” works – but as we get older and desire to make our holiday celebrations a bit kinder to our schedules and pocketbooks, we have to consider how we can still get a great look from our existing decoration and holiday items without needlessly adding more and more, ending up with even more clutter to find space for in our closets, garages and basements.

One thing I’ve always done in the past is decorate using a color theme; this let’s me stretch my existing ornaments and holiday decor. By only using certain items in that color scheme, I’m not throwing everything I have out of their storage bins and boxes and onto every surface of my home. I still have to live there and function comfortably in my surroundings, so the last thing I’m going to want is to be drowning in a glut of snowmen, angels and large jolly men dressed in red. To keep this rotating theme in check, I organize all my holiday decor by color, storing them in plastic stacking opaque drawer bins. I can see the color tone through the front of each bin so I don’t have to open each one to know what’s inside. If my theme for the year is silver and blue, I go to those color drawers and use as much of the existing items as I can. Should I need more decorative bits in these colors I can easily bulk up the look by purchasing a few inexpensive boxes of ornaments or bulbs at Target or some other store carrying holiday decorations.

Another thing I do is periodically go through my decorations and get rid of things I no long want, need, or just haven’t used in long time. Like clothes, we can’t wear all that we have all the time, and holiday decorations tend to accumulate more and more over the years. It’s a great time to give your unwanted ornaments to your local charity, senior center, doctor’s office, community center – literally, there are so many organizations and people in need of holiday happiness that your donation will go a long way to bring smiles and cheer to anyone – and you’re doing so in the true meaning of giving with the Christmas spirit. You could also use some of your unwanted ornaments to decorate gifts you give to friends and coworkers. It adds an extra bit of flair and whimsy to a beautifully wrapped present, while passing on a well loved ornament to someone who may find another level of joy from your thoughtfulness.

Something else to consider is the time commitment involved in decorating for the holidays – not just the putting up of your decorative bits but the taking down of as well. If you’re like me, you don’t want to drag it out any longer than you have to, and especially not over the course of several days. I want to get it up in just one day so I can move onto other projects for the holidays or just get on with my normal routine. My rule of thumb is to decorate on “Black Friday”, that crazy mind-bending insane day after Thanksgiving when everyone is madly dashing about looking for great holiday sales and unbeatable bargains. Since I usually give out few presents, I do most of gift shopping online, or purchase gift cards for those friends that are difficult to buy for (should my time permit, I’ll make cookies and give them to friends with a card expressing my holiday wishes). I find that Black Friday is the perfect day for me to get all my decorations out of storage and put up, still giving me some free time for other pursuits on this day off. What can also be fun is hosting a decorating party with friends where you invite them over to help you decorate your space all while making it a party, serving snacks, holiday beverages, and listening to holiday music. Heck, if you have Thanksgiving leftovers, this is great opportunity to serve them up and clean out your fridge of all the excess food the day before!

Always keep I mind that decorating your home for the holidays is no different than you getting dressed up to go out for a nice dinner or fancy party. You pick out a fantastic outfit and accessorize it accordingly, avoiding excess. Apply this same thought process to your home, decorating it for a fancy party without overdoing the accessories and decorative aspects. Christmas decor can go a long way using very little so be mindful of the urge to use everything you have. Such indulgence can lead to a hodgepodge look that says more about your chaotic frame of mind than your decorating sense. Overdoing your look will make others you invite over feel crowded or uncomfortable in a setting that’s full to the gills with Christmas tchotchke and bric-a-brac. Less is best, keeping it simple in scope, color and theme. And you’ll feel better for those weeks you have to share your home with so many added decorative items requiring the occasional dusting. Sticking with the color theme will help you appreciate the decorating time and effort, and keep your mind active for how you might want to decorate next year.

My last thought regarding holiday decoration is one I’ve shared with you before, but I’ll include it in this blog for your reference. Like many frugal and savvy shoppers, I do most of my shopping for holiday decor the day AFTER Christmas when the sales are starting and all the holiday furnishings are drastically marked down, prices slashed. I start with hitting the websites for CB2, Crate & Barrel, West Elm, and Target, just to name a few. I’ll also visit Cost Plus/World Market and Pier 1 in person as their offerings tend to be more extravagant and extensive. But I stick to my color theme needs, and never buy things that I don’t need just because they’re pretty and on sale. Be smart with your money and stretch your hard earned dollars how and where you can. You’ll find that you’re less likely to get trapped while getting all your trimmings!