Whether you love to decorate your house for Christmas or you dread it, decorating isn’t always easy. I recall when I first started decorating, it was a frustrating experience. Decorating ought to bring joy not frustration and fatigue, so here are a few things I learnt the hard way that I’d like to recommend. I hope that these tips will make your decorating experience easier and less stressful!

Step 1: Choose the areas you want to decorate

Alright, so here’s the thing about decorating for the holidays, it doesn’t have to be all over the place in ever single corner around the house. So for instance, you don’t need to have fairy lights hanging over the TV in your lounge, a Christmas tree in your living area and garland over the mantle and on your buffet, Christmas wreaths over the windows in the kitchen, a Christmas tree in the bedrooms and garland over the bedhead. If all of this decorating is happening in a small house like ours, we’ll all be suffocating. Not to mention, of course, that it’ll probably cost a lot to decorate all the rooms.

If you can afford to decorate every area or if you have a big house and vast areas to fill up with decorations, go for it, but if you don’t have the space or you’ve got a tight budget, don’t fall for the pressure. I don’t decorate the whole house, only the living room, dining area and front yard.

• In the living room, I put a Christmas tree, decorate the mantle and set up the nativity scene. I also like to add a centerpiece on the coffee table.
• In the dining room, I decorate the buffet.
• I don’t find it necessary to decorate the bedrooms, and if I wanted to, I’ll keep it really simple; a vase with baubles and a tree candle on the dresser will do. Simple is the new black!

Styling Tip: When choosing your Christmas decorations, consider the space you want to decorate and budget. If all you can afford is to have a Christmas tree, do just that, but do it really well and create the best Christmas tree that you possibly can!

Step 2: Clean and Declutter

Let’s face it, a clean, clutter-free space is the basis for any beautifully decorated house. So if you were to have all your invoices scattered on your coffee table, your remote control, car keys and plastic water bottles on the mantle, kids toys all over the floor and clothes on the couch, would you be able to notice a Christmas tree in that space? And if you did, would you be able to admire it? Clutter and holiday décor don’t mix! It’s either clutter or beautiful Christmas décor, but certainly not both, and what you choose comes down to what you value.

Before I decorate, I like to vacuum clean the living room and clean up the buffet. It feels good and it makes a difference. I also clean up and declutter after I finish decorating.

Styling Tip: If you have kids under 5, think of the areas that are far from their reach that you can decorate. If you can’t place a garland on your buffet, you can always place it over the mirror on your buffet or hang Christmas wreaths on your windows. Just because you have kids is not an excuse not to decorate your house for Christmas!

Step 3: Organise decorations and tools

Organising my Christmas décor and tools before I decorate has made a huge difference in my decorating journey. Seriously. When I first decorated the house for Christmas, I I had some materials and decorations in the living room, some in the shed and others were in an all-purpose wardrobe. Half way through decorating, I would stop to go look for stuff. It was very frustrating and tiring and took the fun out of decorating! I learnt to get organised, the hard way.

• Before I set up, I take out the Christmas tree and ornaments a day or two before I begin to decorate, air them out, sort the ornaments by colour and texture. It does take a bit of time to organise things, but it makes styling the Christmas tree easier.
• I also bought a craft/tool cart two years ago and stored all the tools in it. I either sort the tools I needed in advance or I can take the cart with me. This is one of the best investment buys I made!

Step 4: Match your Christmas decorations to your décor

A beautifully decorated space is one where everywhere you look you see coordination, in style and in colour. In our house, I’ve picked a metallic colour scheme; it goes well with our taupe and neutral furniture and it adds instant glamour! When it comes to choosing a colour scheme, I recommend choosing three or four colours but not more than that.

Styling Tip: It’s always best to choose Christmas decorations that blend in nicely with your home décor. When in doubt, go for a metallic palette. Metallic decorations add instant glam and go with any style and colour of furniture.

Conclusion

You really don’t need to be an expert stylist to know how to decorate your house for Christmas. If you love to decorate your house but don’t know how, here are the main points to keep in mind:

• Don’t feel pressured to decorate every room or area in your house and don’t feel bad about it if you can’t. Just choose an area that you spend most of your time in and decorate it as beautifully as you possibly can.
• When you’re choosing a colour scheme; I recommend not choosing more than four colours. Make sure it matches your interior décor. It will make a serious impact!
• The secret to a beautifully decorated house is cleanliness and tidiness, clean up and declutter before and after you decorate
• Plan and organise your Christmas decorations in advance, it makes decorating a whole lot easier!

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