Tips for a joyful holiday home

Wrenda Goodwyn • special to the Fort Myers News-Press/USA Today Network • Dec. 4, 2021

Don’t you love it when someone reminds you that Christmas is only 21 days away?

It’s true. And this year, from what I can tell, we are making our homes more festive than ever. Maybe trying to make up for the last two holiday seasons where we were all feeling less like celebrating.

Set a pretty table vignette that you can leave up during the holiday season. Keep it simple with fresh flowers, greenery and a few timeless table decorations that you will enjoy each Christmas for years to come. Photo: The Riviera Collection from Serena & Lily.

Decorating my home for the holidays is one of my favorite things. I think it really is the most wonderful time of year and that we should create an environment that brings us joy. And each year is different. And it should be less like work and more like fun.

As a Southwest Florida interior decorator, I tell my clients not to be pressured by magazine photos or Hallmark Christmas movies where homes are decked out from ceiling to floor with every square inch stuffed with something red and green. You will not be happy.

Instead, decorate mindfully. Try to find that perfect balance that is just enough and not too much.

My process for holiday decorating is to put something in each room. A small table tree. Wrapped presents. Fresh flowers. Ornaments in a glass bowl. Holiday music. Then I go back and see if I need or want more. Hardly ever.

A tray with greenery, candles and some favorite holiday ornaments makes a pretty vignette for dining or coffee table. Photo: Pottery Barn.

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.

Use what you have.

Skip a year of buying anything new 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.

Think timeless.

Just as with any purchase for your home, when adding new declarations go for items that are timeless that you will use for several years to come.

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. Create a beautiful vignette for the holidays. A few small trees down the center, garland garnished with your favorite ornaments. Colorful placemats and napkins. I like white plates that I can use all year with any color and at Christmas, I pull out the red napkins and runner. I try to change that color each year depending on my decorations.

Set a pretty table for the holidays with colorful placemats and napkins. Photo: Pottery Barn.

If you don’t have a fireplace mantle.

Create a similar vignette on a couple of bookshelves with items that you already have and a few lights. You can also hang stockings from a shelf.

If you don’t have plans for a tree this year.

No problem. Hang a few ornaments from mirrors, doorways, stair rails. Or arrange a collection of trees (bottle brush trees are popular this year in all colors) on a mantle or desk.

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. Don’t forget the lanai or porch.

Don’t forget yourself.

A little something in each room. For the bedroom, fresh greenery, a wreath and a wrapped package. And don’t forget fresh, new linens to sink into at the end of a long day. Easy and pretty. Décor and furnishing from Ballard Designs. Photo: Ballard Designs.

This is a perfect month to invest into new linens for your bed. Sheets, a few new pillows, a throw. Then enjoy relaxing into a blissful bed at the end of day of holiday fun.

However you decorate your home this holiday season, let it be enough and enjoy every moment. This is my last column for 2021. See you in 2022. 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 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