Is it too early to start planning, organizing and decorating for Christmas? Not in my books! I’ve already started researching all the holiday decor trends (which you will hear about over the next weeks), penciling in holiday party dates and thinking about all the locations where I can place the tree in the house this year.
Friday, I land at the Jasper Park Lodge to attend a two-week event called Christmas In November, which will get me completely pumped about entertaining and decorating for the holidays.
When I finally land home from being in “the land of a million Christmas trees,” I’ll be pumped to get the house decorated and the parties will then start.
Here’s an early buzz list to get you thinking about the holidays: It’s my list of common Holiday Decorating Mistakes; what not to do if you want to impress:
- Don’t scatter holiday cards and collections: placing your itsy-bitsy collectibles all over the house just looks messy.
- Do: The collectible holiday bells, angels and snowmen will look much more impressive if you group them together in a tight collection. Use your mantel, sideboard or floating shelf and tightly group your collections.
- Don’t buy a too-short tree: choose a tree that is no more than one foot shorter than the ceilings. Anything shorter will look wimpy.
- Do: If you want give a short tree some height, place the tree on a sidetable covered with a festive tablecloth or Christmas wrap. If you live in a small space, consider putting a full-sized tree outside on the balcony and decorate with outdoor ornaments and lights.
- Don’t use wimpy garlands and wreaths: Most store- bought garlands are thin- looking and need some beefing up.
- Do add a second garland rope to it or add artificial greens to the garland or a skimpy looking wreath. Fuller, lush and fresh looking is better! If you live in a condo, consider hanging your wreath on the inside of your condo door so you can see it more often.
- Don’t display bowls of candies, chocolates and nuts as decoration: Honestly, I don’t like dusting off my chocolates before eating and guessing whether your dog licked over the candy bowl (and you know it did!).
- Do: If you want to create a holiday display on your coffee table, use fresh items like lemons, pomegranates, and tangerines. They’ll not only add colour but wonderful aroma to the room.
- Don’t use too few tree lights: A sparsely lit tree looks cheap and very Charlie Brown.
- Do: Here’s the shining rule about tree lights: add 100 lights for each foot of the tree’s height then add 10 per cent more. There’s nothing more romantic than a dim room illuminated only by the glow of festive lights.
For free, daily decorating lessons, follow Karl on Twitter at: twitter.com/karllohnesCTV
