Welcoming Holiday Guests to Your Home

Decorating is a holiday tradition for many families. We know we'll be inviting lots of guests to visit for a meal or intimate gatherings with a few or … lots of people. When we know we'll be having lots of guests, we're more inspired to decorate our homes as there will be lots of people to provide ohs and ahs, and enjoy the results of our effort.

Decorating takes some time but it shouldn't involve spending lots of money. Holiday decorating is great way to pull out some lost treasures that you've hidden away in a closet, that kitchen cabinet above the refrigerator or boxes stashed in the attic/basement. Just pick up some holiday greens at a local nursery, find a good pair of snips in your gardening bucket and start combining the old with the new for some of these wonderful displays.

Decorating with Natural Greenery

Some of us are lucky to have a large yard with an assortment of evergreens we can snip each year. If you don't, then you'll need to visit your favorite nursery. Even better, get on their mailing list and sign up for a decorating workshop (photo upper left from Matthew Mead decorating workshop at Churchill's in Exeter NH) where you can see first hand how easy it is to arrange things old and new, with a bow tucked in here or there.

You'll want to use several different evergreens for texture plus an assortment of … yikes, plastic leaves (cranberries and gold leaves below, which you can buy at your local crafts store) or colored ribbon. Candles are also a great way to add a splash of color to an arrangement and especially when you've got some gorgeous candlesticks you can pull out of a cabinet and show off each year.

Handy Tip: Maybe you're not a decorator and you've never worked with one. Consider finding someone willing to come to your home and working side-by-side, teach you how to decorate your home. You'll learn some decorating tips, gain insight into how decorators work and ultimately the decorator hopes you'll ask them back for another job. My decorator, Jennifer Myers (wonderful photos on Jennifer's facebook fan page), has also become a good friend over the years and the photos here reflect projects we've done together.

For other decorating ideas, visit these articles in our series of Holiday Photo Ideas …