Here we are at the beginning of September! With the holidays fast approaching and the quickly changing decor along with it I thought it an opportune time to discuss maintaining your design identity throughout the interchanging of temporary holiday decor.

Your home hopefully reflects the design aesthetic that reflects you. If you haven’t gotten it quite there yet our contact information is available below shameless plug. For each of us, the habitat that makes us feel complete and secure is different. Today I will give some of my tried and true ‘tricks’ of maintaining your habitat while also bringing in the whimsical nature of holiday decor.

If you take our home for example you will find many recurring themes throughout. I enjoy taking unique opportunities in each space but my general mood stays consistent. I lean towards classic lines while allowing myself the freedom to play in less permanent aspects. Our home is a monument of artistry and craftsmanship, however we are a young family and yes, sometimes you take a risk and paint the ceiling black. We like to play and laugh in our home and that is the feeling you have when you walk in our front door.

When I decorate for the holidays I certainly take bigger risks. I become much braver when I know it will be taken down in a couple months. But I take cues from what is already established. Much like a cartoonist exaggerates a representation of a little girl. The girl still will have eyes, ears, mouth and nose. The holidays are a time to live in an exaggerated fantasy however, I limit myself to keep the same textures, tones, and shapes that my permanent decor falls within. I want my holiday decor to add to the mood that has already been established and not become a completely unrelated layer.

TEXTURES

The textures in your home, if done correctly, are layered. Take one or two of the textures you primarily use and run wild. Sometimes I even take my highlight texture the texture I use for accent purposes an emphasis that. Adding to the whimsical mood I am trying to evoke.

tones

Think tone not so much as the color pallete but the mood that hope the space evokes.. Aim to emphasis but not to shift direction. Although beautiful, a house full of pastel christmas decor wouldn’t make sense in our home. Just because your decor matches amongst itself doesn’t mean that it automatically will compliment your home. Please don’t just decide that turquoise is your ‘color’ this year and you don’t have a lick of turquoise anywhere else.

& shapes

As I said before, our home’s lines tend to be more classic. When looking for Autumn pumpkins to Christmas trees I start with a classic or vintage shapes something that could have been plucked right out of the early 1900’s and add the daring punches as I would in any other part of my home.

I admit that temptation is of course always lurking. I find that most years there is the ‘new’ trend. Please don’t make changes to your home solely based on what's on trend temporary or permanent. At the very least you will find yourself somewhere between a quaint boutique and winter wonderland and get home with three oversized primitive sleigh bells. Your home is not at all primitive and, although darling, stand out like a sore thumb. Like any other design choice you must first listen to your space and then to yourself. Holiday decor is no different. If you stay the course you will be able to build a collection of stunning decor that will provide you the same emotions your space provided in their absence. Ultimately your space feeds you, it recharges you and aids in how you prepare to face the world. The decor you choose for the holidays should be a positive extension to those goals.

Tell us what your design plans are for this holiday season!

Design Identity within Holiday Decor

TEXTURES

tones

& shapes