Decking the halls while maintaining your personal taste can be a tricky enterprise. Let’s face it, there are a lot of “less than subtle” holiday decorations out there… So we asked our D Moms decor maven, Tracy Martin Taylor, to give us some tips on how to make your home feel sufficiently festive and whimsical for the littles while still feeling like, well, you.
Here’s what she had to say.
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By Tracy Martin Taylor
Holiday decorating is all about balance, right? No, I’m not talking about balancing the wine glass while you trim the tree (although, that’s part of it) but balancing the influx of different décor into your home. Maintaining your aesthetic sensibility can be a challenge, but I think I’ve figured out how to be festive without looking like a holiday decoration store took up residence in my living room.
One tip is to theme your tree. I’m partial to sticking to a main color as the base to create a strong backdrop for all those (unavoidable) kid-favorite ornaments. I’ll admit that as my wee one grows, I’m losing the white lights trimming the roof and vintage ball ornaments to multi-colored outdoor lights, fairies, and other whimsical creature ornaments. But by keeping my tree grounded in clear lights and a (hefty) layer of blue vintage glass balls and blue-green ornaments, I’ve kept things looking (somewhat) sophisticated, or at least not totally willy-nilly.
One of my favorite tricks is to use vintage glass balls in similar colors as your tree base throughout the common areas (guest bath too!) in glass vases, bowls, and other decorative vessels. It’s fast, effective, and fabulous. You can’t beat the color and the classic presentation it gives will not disturb your ‘rest of the year’ vibe. Curiosities in Lakewood is my go-to spot for vintage holiday finds.
And don’t forget to pick your wrapping paper to match and enhance your tree. After all, the presents will be on display there for weeks (if you are ahead of the game) or at the very least by the day before family arrives. Whether I’m ahead of the game or woefully being, the tree pic looks great when I put thought into my wrapping paper.
Vintage paper is fab in my book, and you are certain to be exclusive with your presentation. Whatever you use, the key is the ribbon. Don’t bother with buying ribbon in the wrap department. Instead, hit the fabric store and get a big roll of satin, sparkly, or whatever strikes you. Real ribbon makes the gift. Sometimes, I use brown paper for my gifts so the ribbon becomes the show stopper. It’s especially cool to tailor the ribbon the recipient to make it extra special (e.g. that vintage Chanel roll of loveliness above for the fashion-lover in your life).
I typically save last year’s calendars and use the pretty shots and even the date pages for smaller gifts. I still use the paper from my Stendig calendar from a couple of year’s ago. The black and white graphic print paired with a turquoise wire ribbon is unexpected and festive.
We started a tradition a few years ago of putting up the tree and all the trimmings on Thanksgiving night. It’s fun to have everyone doing it together, and you can crank the entire production out in a couple of hours… And, selfishly, it means my bro-in-law is there to unload the attic boxes. I highly recommend it!
Love your space,
TMT
For more design inspiration from Tracy, be sure to check out her blog.
