Decorating Your Home for Christmas? Think Like an Interior Designer

Decorating your home for Christmas? There's more to Christmas decorating than hanging ornaments on a tree. Decorating your home or office for the holidays is an opportunity to create a festive and joyful atmosphere for all your holiday parties.

Just as in interior design, your decorating scheme for the holidays needs a focal point. The Christmas tree is a natural pick for this.

Place your tree where it can be seen when you first enter the room. It shouldn't be right by the door, but within the natural sightline of anyone coming into the room. Get as big a tree as possible without overwhelming the space.

Choose a theme for the tree. One example would be painted wood ornaments. You need not purchase high-end hand painted ornaments. Many department stores offer ornaments that appear to be hand painted wood but are actually faux wood and factory painted. The aim is the appearance of painted wood.

Continue the theme throughout your Christmas decorations. Create vignettes using two candles and three painted wood ornaments. One vignette would have two white candles and three painted figures such as elves. Another vignette would have two green candles and three Santa Clauses.

Set these vignettes throughout the room, using damask tablecloths or velveteen fabric as table coverings to show off your vignettes.

This simple scheme is low-key and charming. Any theme can be used, from Santa's workshop to the Nutcracker Suite. When it comes time to entertain, you can expand on your theme.

Lay out a buffet table using the same fabrics used for your other tables. Create a centerpiece that highlights your theme.

Replace your artwork with large-scale prints of holiday scenes in keeping with the tone and color scheme of your decorating design. Add two larger, stand-alone pieces to the room. If your theme is painted wood ornaments, you could include a rocking horse and a dollhouse. Place these so that they and the Christmas tree make a triangle encompassing the room.

Add sparkle to any decorating scheme with silver bowls filled with fruit and silver platters filled with cookies.

Christmas holiday decorating is very much like interior decorating. Create a focal point and allow that to inspire the rest of the decorations. Holidays offer a wide spectrum of themes to choose from, and using a single design idea creates a sense of cohesiveness that is pleasing to the eye.