You don’t have to use gaudy tinsel and cheap lights to decorate for the holidays. Designer Laura Stein, of Laura M. Stein Interiors in Toronto, has these tips for a kitsch-free Christmas.
1. Start with a welcoming entrance. Don’t leave all your decorating to the living room. Invite guests in with a wreath on your door and hang some stockings in the entranceway, which can later be used as a creative way to send guests home with a little treat.
2. Work with your existing decor. “Swapping out your usual throw pillows for some that are more festive adds a great holiday touch,” says Stein. 3. Not every surface needs to be decked out. There is a lot of crazy stuff in stores and it’s easy to go overboard. A few interesting, well-placed pieces will keep the look classy and have a much stronger impact than if you go for the sensory overload approach.
4. Your dining table is where your guests will be spending a large part of the night, so make it special. Keep the colour scheme consistent with the rest of the space and add a little sparkle with silver, gold or bronze accents.
5. “If you’re feeling creative, try an unusual centre piece,” says Stein. “A tree branch can work well in a traditional home, with a few glass ornaments hanging from the ends. Or, instead of a typical floral arrangement, fill a glass dish with red and gold ornaments.”6. Tie an ornament to a napkin ring to make a great first impression when guests first sit down, and it can double as a nice little keepsake at the end of the evening.
7. Incorporate some natural materials. Greenery and flowers make a room feel fresh and give it a wonderful smell. Use real cedar on the coffee table and elsewhere. If you have a banister, decorate it using traditional cedar rope or try branches with berries and hang ornaments from them.
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