Finding comfort and joy at home for Christmas

Wrenda Goodwyn • special to the Fort Myers News-Press/USA Today Network • Dec. 3, 2022

In 22 short days, we celebrate Christmas.

And of course, it’s different this year. But no matter where you will find yourself during the holidays, we’re all due a bit of holiday cheer and that starts in our homes.

Decorate a little or a lot?

Maybe this is the year to give yourself a break and make time to enjoy the season. You can still have a great holiday without trying to make the house look like a Hallmark Christmas movie set. And you don’t have to be broke, overwhelmed and exhausted to celebrate Christmas.

There are advantages to a simple (but beautiful) decorating scheme. It’s prettier. There’s less clutter. It’s not expensive or time-consuming. You can appreciate the quality of your decor rather than creating visual overload with too much. An added benefit: there is less to put away when the season is over.

Here are a few of my holiday tips: for a simple but beautiful Christmas:

Seeing too much red? Feng Shui teaches us that there can be too much red or “fire” energy in our homes this time of year. It promotes burnout and who needs that over the holidays? To prevent an imbalance, think about using more green than red. Plants and evergreens decorated with “cool” colors such as light blue, silver and white will tone down and balance out the red.

Keep this holiday simple with greenery and pretty candles. Photo: Ballard Designs.

Trade secret: Use white lights and pick two colors for holiday decorating. Cool, calm and beautiful! It works.

Small space? No problem. If your space is small, don’t overdo it. A small tabletop tree, a wreath and a few wrapped gifts will make any space festive. Ornaments in a glass bowl. Holiday music.

Use what you have. Skip a year of buying anything and go with what you already have. Rearrange and find new ways of displaying your decorations. Put the tree in a different room. Decorate the kitchen pendants with greenery and ribbons. Mix real scented candles with faux.

Set a pretty table. Even if you’re not having guests this year. Set the table for the holidays. A few small trees down the center, garland garnished with your favorite ornaments. Colorful placemats and napkins.

Chair wreaths for your dining chairs. Or barstools. These are so much fun. You will need small wreaths, ribbon and a few ornaments that you already have on hand. Or hang a stocking on the back of each chair. If you are like me, you have lots of those stored away.

Simplify. Instead of huge trees that take hours to decorate (not to mention taking them down) try a couple of pencil trees that can easily fit into any corner. They are often pre-lit so there is no struggling with lights. Decorate with only your favorite ornaments and leave the others packed.

However you decorate your home this holiday, let it be enough. My holiday wish is that you find the comfort and joy that the season is all about.

Wrenda Goodwyn is a Southwest Florida interior decorator, A.S.I.D. associate and gold member of the Interior Redecorators Network. She helps homeowners throughout Southwest Florida with timeless, affordable ways to create beautiful spaces and solve decorating problems. Her articles appear the first Saturday of each month. For more information, visit her website at spectacularspaces.com. Call her at 239-850-5800 or e-mail wrenda@spectacularspaces.com. For more decorating tips, articles and photos, visit spectacularspaces.com/blog

Finding joy at home for Christmas

Wrenda Goodwyn • special to the Fort Myers News-Press • Nov. 28, 2020

In 27 short days, we celebrate Christmas.

And of course, it’s different this year. But no matter where you will find yourself during the holidays, it’s still the most wonderful time of year. The time when we find joy and honor those traditions that make us happy. We’re all due a huge dose of holiday cheer and that starts in our homes.

What will we do? We will carry on and decorate. We will practice acts of kindness. Look out for others and we will be grateful. And we will take care of ourselves by distancing, wearing a mask and staying safe. And this Christmas will be the most wonderful time of the year.

Make your holiday merry and bright with a few simple touches. Faux potted Poinsettias and berry branches and glass votive candle holders are available at www.potterybarn.com. Photo: Pottery Barn.

Decorate a little or a lot?

Maybe this is the year to give yourself a break and make it about you. Take the time to actually enjoy the season instead of running back and forth to the mall to buy things to decorate your home. You can still have a great holiday and live through it happy and calm. A few suggestions:

• Keep it simple. If it’s not too late, don’t go crazy with the decorating. Remember: it all has to come down and it gets stored in a few weeks.

• Eliminate stress. Making plans. Friends and family commitments. Shopping. Transforming your home into a Hallmark movie set. So much to do and so little time. As a Southwest Florida interior decorator, I see the stress that my clients put themselves under to “get everything done.” We are all a little exhausted this year. My advice: Let your home be a place to escape the stress this year. Rejuvenate. Reboot.

Don’t forget the pets! Dogs in their holiday finery waiting for Santa (on stretched canvas) to arrive puts fun into the holiday. Gift box stocking holders with personalized stockings. All from Ballard Designs. Photo: Ballard Designs.

• Don’t wait too long. Make a plan this weekend and get started now so you can enjoy the season.

• Use what you have. Skip a year of buying anything and go with what you already have. Rearrange and find new ways of displaying your decorations. Put the tree in a different room. Use a different color for your lights. Decorate the kitchen pendants with greenery and ribbons. Mix real scented candles with faux.

• Do a little something in each room. A small table tree. Wrapped presents. Fresh flowers. Ornaments in a glass bowl. Holiday music.

• Many of my clients tell me that they are going to decorate earlier and more than ever. Whatever you decide works best for your home, this is a plan I follow each year. Pick a few and let the festivities begin!

• Start at the front door. A new holiday welcome mat sets the tone. I have clients who paint their front door red for the holidays. Why not? Happy, easy and fun. A wreath for the door. Twinkling lights go a long way toward holiday happiness and they are inexpensive so use them generously. Potted plants at the door.

• Set a pretty table. Even if you’re not having guests this year. Set the table for the holidays. A few small trees down the center, garland garnished with your favorite ornaments. Colorful placemats and napkins.

• Chair wreaths for your dining chairs. Or barstools. These are so much fun. You will need small wreathes, ribbon and a few ornaments that you already have on hand. OR you can hang stocking on the back of each chair. If you are like me, you have lots of those stored away.

• A tree in every room. This is my favorite and if this is all you do, it’s enough. Start with your entry table (collection of small trees and greenery), office (medium on desk), each bathroom (small), living room (large), bedrooms and kitchen (as space permits). You can coordinate colors and design with each room OR you can put a small, green tree with a bow in each room. Some can have lights, decorations, or not. Last year I discovered pencil trees and they allow for lights and decorations and also fit into space-saving corners.

However you decorate your home this holiday season, let it be enough and enjoy every moment. This is my last column for 2020. See you in 2021! Merry Christmas!

Wrenda Goodwyn is a Southwest Florida interior decorator, A.S.I.D. associate and gold member of the Interior Redecorators Network. She helps homeowners throughout Southwest Florida with timeless, affordable ways to create beautiful spaces and solves decorating problems. Her articles appear the first Saturday of each month. For more information visit her website at spectacularspaces.com. Call her at 239-850-5800 or e-mail wrenda@spectacularspaces.com. For more decorating tips, articles and photos, visit spectacularspaces.com/blog

Holiday decorating: keep it simple and happy

Create a holiday tablescape with some of your favorite décor and leave it up for the entire season. A nice touch: try a pretty, petite wreath on the back of dining chairs for a festive gathering. All décor and furnishings from Ballard Designs. Photo: Ballard Designs.

Wrenda Goodwyn • special to the Fort Myers News-Press • November 30, 2019

Let me guess. Chances are that you’ve barely recovered from Thanksgiving and you’re thinking (stressing) about the fact that Christmas is 25 short days away. This really can be the most beautiful time of year.

Everything seems to have a softer glow. People we run into in our daily lives seem a little softer as well. It’s the time of year where we are wrapping things up and looking hopefully to a new year. We are fortunate to live in Southwest Florida this time of year where not only the weather is beautiful, but the area is filled with seasonal events that you don’t find anyplace else.

But the holidays can be complicated.

Travel plans. Friends and family commitments. Shopping. Transforming your home into a Hallmark movie set. So much to do and so little time. As a Southwest Florida interior decorator, I see the stress that my clients put themselves under to “get everything done.” My advice: don’t.

A good lesson

At this time last year, I had just moved into a new home and was still getting settled. The thought of pulling my Santa collection (along with snowmen) out of boxes to clutter up my still not-quite-finished home, gave me nightmares.

It was a real lesson and set the tone for my future holiday decorating. I learned that that less is more when it comes to the holidays. I put up a tree (two). Put a wreath on the door. Added fresh flowers and fresh scents. That was it. And it was fine. I will do a little more this year but not much.

Enjoy the holidays: that’s what it’s all about.

Give yourself a break this year and make it about you. Take the time to actually enjoy the season instead of running back and forth to the mall to buy plastic things to decorate your home. You can still have a great holiday and live through it happy and calm. A few suggestions:

• Keep it simple. If it’s not too late, don’t go crazy with the decorating. Remember: it all has to come down and gets stored in a few weeks.

A little something in each room. For the bedroom, fresh greenery, a wreath and a wrapped package. Easy and pretty. Décor and furnishing from Ballard Designs. Photo: Ballard Designs

• Do the things in your home that make you happy all year. Fresh flowers. A pretty scent.

• Don’t wait too long. Make a plan this weekend and get started so it doesn’t all pile up on you.

• Use what you have. Skip a year of buying anything and go with what you already have.

• Pick a look that goes with your home’s décor instead of trying to create something that doesn’t work and leaves you frustrated.

For example: my home is done in a beach/coastal décor. So, this year I decided on a white Christmas tree with pink and turquoise. It’s a little crazy but stay with me on this. The tree is on my lanai and sits in an old, antique row boat that my husband pieced back together and repurposed for our décor. You can read about the boat at https://tinyurl.com/wyzzltv.

And this is the boat today and my lanai tree this year, here it is. A little Key West vibe.

• Don’t put all of your decorations out. Pick a few and be done with it.

• Declutter at the end of the holiday season. Take what you can’t use and donate it to someone who can use it.

• Do a little something in each room. A small table tree. Wrapped presents. Fresh flowers

• Create a tablescape on your dining table and leave it there the entire holiday season. Candles, flowers, small trees, a bowl of glass balls that match your décor. Use whatever you love. Switch it out a few times during the season.

• For me, the lights make the holiday season. Use lots of them around your tree, outdoors, on your porch or lanai.
Enjoy this most beautiful time of year. I will be back in 2020!

Wrenda Goodwyn is a Southwest Florida interior decorator, A.S.I.D. associate and gold member of the Interior Redecorators Network. She helps homeowners throughout Southwest Florida with timeless, affordable ways to create beautiful spaces and solves decorating problems. Her article appears the first Saturday of each month. For more information visit her website at spectacularspaces.com. Call her at 949-1808 or e-mail wrenda@spectacularspaces.com. For more decorating tips, articles and photos, visit spectacularspaces.com/blog