If you are like many people living in the United States, then the holiday season is likely one of your favorite times of the year. Not only is this a time of the year where you will get to spend some quality moments with those you love most, but it is also a time of the year where you can unleash your creative side through the use of some tasteful holiday decorations.
Using Christmas decorations—ranging from coniferous trees to holly to various others—is a timeless tradition that dates back centuries. However, finding ways to make your décor really begin to stand out can sometimes be quite difficult. While you could always just create the exact same display you had last year, you may be looking for ways to mix things up.
Fortunately, there are many new and creative approaches interior design firms are using that can really give your home the holiday flair that it needs. By combining some of these new design ideas alongside the proven classics, your home will be able to simultaneously realize the best of the old and the best of the new.
In this article, we will briefly examine some of the hottest new trends in the world of holiday interior design. By taking the time to pay attention to the different ways the industry has evolved, creating a memorable—yet tasteful—holiday display may be much easier than you had ever imagined.
Using Alternative Color Schemes
If you have accumulated a collection of Christmas decoration, there is no doubt that many of the decorations that you own are currently red and green. While green is a symbol for everlasting life (hence the Christmas tree) and red is symbolic of the berries found on holly, you may be looking for alternatives to this classic combination.
In recent years, many people have begun to use white and gold as their “go-to” Christmas color combination. Not only does this make your home feel significantly brighter and cleaner, but it can also be effectively combined with whatever red and green decorations you already own. Common white and gold decorations include bright sources of light, snowflake decorations, gold tinsel, white trees, and various others.
There are other Christmas color combinations that have increased in popularity as well. For example, using cool colors—such as gray, blue, and purple—can help create an incredibly calming effective. This will be especially striking when juxtaposed next to the brightness of your annual Christmas evening fire.
Creating Christmas Décor Using “Modern” Urban Materials
One of the most popular trends in the world of interior design has been the widespread use of “repurposed” urban materials. Materials such as brick, glass, and exposed metal (especially when used in a building’s infrastructure) have all enjoyed widespread use over the past few years.
If you are hoping to create a design that is a bit more contemporary, utilizing these features is an absolute must. Sleek glass ornaments, carefully crafted metal decorations, and other post-industrial features are all great ways to bring your display into the 21st Century.
Handcrafted Decorations Using Natural Materials
While some people prefer to utilize the urban chic look, others may prefer to return to the more humble aesthetic of older times. While handmade decorations may have once been considered tacky, when done with care, they can help create a warmness and personal touch that few store-bought decorations are capable of doing.
Though handmade materials can be created using pretty much anything, using natural materials can create a beautiful “return to nature” aesthetic. For example, you may want to consider creating a cross or other relevant holiday symbol using branches you have found in your yard. Other common objects include pine cones, handmade wreaths, mixed centerpieces, and various others.
Ample Use of Unpainted Wood
If you are trying to maintain a more classic look, then there is no doubt that wood will play an essential role throughout your Christmas display. Wood is a material that is highly associated with the original Christmas story and is commonly included in even small representations of the nativity scene.
Features such as holiday themed birdhouses, wooden ornaments, and wooden creations for your mantel are just a few of the ways that wood can be effectively used. Even if you have limited experience working with wood in the past, you may still want to consider going homemade—the asymmetrical, personal look will often be quite charming. Furthermore, leaving the wood unpainted will help it enhance its natural appearance.
Go Green!
As stated, the color green originally became a primary Christmas color because—like the Christmas tree itself—it is used to represent everlasting life. Green can be found in Christmas displays dating back to the holiday’s primary origins in Northern Europe.
Even if you live in a warmer climate or a climate that tends to lack coniferous foliage, there are still many different ways that green can be incorporated into your display. For example, cutting just a few branches from your Christmas tree and placing these branches around your home can help create a more unified theme. Green plant life may also work quite well on any exposed staircases.
The use of green plants—ideally real, but artificial is acceptable as well—is a further demonstration of how interior decorators have begun to appreciate incorporating natural elements in everything they do. Natural features can effectively match almost anything in your home; even if you live in an urban chic environment, the juxtaposition of natural and artificial structures can still be quite striking.
Ornaments in Unconventional Places
Though your Christmas tree may very well be the centerpiece of your general holiday display, this is hardly the only place that ornaments can be effectively installed. Ornaments are a timeless decoration that can be used in almost any room.
Placing glass ornaments along your staircase can create an incredibly pleasing aesthetic effect. Other places you may want to consider using ornaments include above your fireplace, near windows, attached to any hanging fixtures, and various others. In these situations, instead of using traditional metal hooks, you may want to consider using twine or other comparable materials.
Conclusion
Ultimately, the Christmas display that will be best for your home will depend on your personal preferences. However, there are clearly some creative trends that should certainly be paid attention to. Many of these trends revolve around the reintroduction of natural features and, in general, interior designers are challenging the much more stiff approaches to decorating used in the past. By implementing just one of these hot interior design trends, your holiday home can immediately have some more character.
