5 easy tips to make your home chic for the holidays
The holiday season is a special time of year for the Freling-Brown family. That’s when Amie Freling-Brown hosts a Christmas Eve dinner for more than 40 family members and friends as well as other holiday gatherings. That means her Pittsford, N.Y., home has to be picture-perfect for entertaining.
“We go all out,” said Freling-Brown, who is a designer at her business, Meme Hill Studio. Here are her five tips on how to make your home holiday picture perfect on time and on budget.
1. Bring the outdoors in
The natural, rustic look is very much in vogue and it doesn’t have to cost anything. Gather some branches to make a centerpiece. Or gather greenery such as boxwood and tuck them under a place mat.
2. Go bold
Big ornaments stand out in a decorated tree. Make sure to tuck the larger ornaments in so it doesn’t eclipse the smaller ornaments.
3. Lighten up
Lighting is an inexpensive way to add drama to a Christmas tree or a garland.
Make sure to wave the lights in throughout the tree for maximum effect.
4. Mix high and low
Don’t be afraid to mix in less expensive items with your heirloom treasures. Freling-Brown added small salad plates from Wisteria in Rochester to her fine china collection.
Her home decor is a mix of high and low with finds from HomeGoods and Marshalls mixed with with heirlooms such as her collectible Radko ornaments.
5. Add color
While the neutral white Christmas look is in, Freling-Brown wanted to have color in her holiday decor.
She selected the red and green color theme. But it doesn’t have to be traditional forest green.
There are myriad shades of green in her decor from chartreuse to emerald green.