This past weekend a friend and I went on Guelph’s Christmas Joy Home Tour- a self-guided tour of six homes that had been completely decked out for the holidays by a team of professional decorators and florists. It was such a fun and inspiring way to spend the day, and got me in the mood to go home and start decorating my own house for Christmas. If your community has a holiday home tour like this, I highly recommend going! Plus, Guelph’s home tour is a fundraiser for a local organization doing amazing community work around poverty and homelessness.

I love seeing how other people style and decorate their spaces no matter how large or small. Here are a few decorating ideas from the home tour professionals to try in your home this holiday.

Dark Colours and Moody Florals

Black table cloths, brass accents, inky blue tapered candles and overflowing unstructured floral arrangements in purples, red and pinks. This vibe was in two houses we toured and I absolutely adore this colour palette for the holidays. It makes me think of intimate dinners with jazz playing and a fire roaring in the background. This sophisticated and glamorous look would look amazing for a New Year’s Eve party too.

Simple Greenery

Sometimes I think we can overthink holiday decorating, so I was happy to see lots of sweet little vignettes turned festive with a simple sprig of greenery added to the mix. Greenery adds movement and softens hard lines with it’s organic shape. Fresh greenery will last indoors for about two weeks, and is best kept out of direct sunlight and drying heat sources. Daily misting will also help to prolong its life.

Flocked Trees

I love the nostalgic feel of a flocked or snow-covered Christmas tree- this look has a vintage vibe that reminds me of an old-fashioned Christmas. Flocked trees have much more lightness and dimension than regular artificial trees, and look great both loaded with ornaments and with minimal decorations.

Big and Bold Decor

Scale is such an important concept in design in general, and certainly holds true in decorating for the holidays. Nothing looks as lacklustre as a dinky wreath on a large door, or a too-small tree in the corner of your living room. This concept takes some time for your eye to develop, but generally you want to try to fill the space as much as possible. See how well proportioned the wreath is on the door in the image below- they opted for an extra large wreath instead of a standard size. In the second image two large trees are used in this contemporary great room with soaring ceilings and large proportions. While going bigger costs a bit more, the effect is definitely worth it.

Wreaths… everywhere.

A good reminder, that when in doubt, stick a wreath on it. We saw wreaths on shower doors, on walls, on mirrors, on windows, on range hoods, on cabinet doors… you get the point. Wreaths are a classic and no-fail way to add festive cheer to any room that needs a little holiday boost. Save wreaths with real greenery for exterior spaces as they will last longer in outdoor temperatures. I use faux wreaths for indoors, and the artificial options available today look so much more realistic than the plastic wreaths of the past. I recommend buying plain pine, evergreen or cypress wreaths that you can switch up with your own ribbon or adornments (like dried orange slices, for example!) year-to-year.

I hope this little round-up of decorating ideas inspired you to try something new, or at least get excited about decorating for the holidays if you aren’t already! Tell me- which idea will you try?