‘Tis the season to be merry and that means adding some festive glamor to your home. To help you get into the spirit, we asked top holiday decorators to share their decor tips for transforming your space into one that’s happy, jolly and bright. To add to the magic, our resident music guru DJCaliforniastar has also curated the perfect holiday playlist. Happy Holidays from the Travel Curator team, Fa-la-la-la-la, la-la-la-la.
Kelli Delaney Kot, Travel Curator lifestyle contributor and KDHamptons founder
Design vibe: The holidays are a time for celebration, spending quality time with loved ones, and decking the halls. This season, upholding family traditions and making our homes feel happy and inviting is more meaningful than ever. Everyone loves to walk into a cozy Christmas house illuminated with a twinkling tree, a crackling fire, and festive touches all around.
Floral Table: Set the tone by adding a big beautiful festive bouquet to your table as the centerpiece. Get creative and incorporate winter accents like berries, magnolia, pine branches, and giant real pine cones. Wrap a big red velvet bow around the vessel for the finishing touch. Topiaire Flower Shop in Southampton designs my centerpiece each season.
Trees: In addition to your main tree, add baby Christmas trees in unexpected places around the house, I have one by my clawfoot tub that I love. Terrrain.com has a great selection.
DIY Wreath: Designing your own Christmas wreath adds a meaningful festive touch to your home. Set up a fun al fresco table with baskets of decor items like ribbons, holly, pinecones, and encourage your friends and family to get creative and into the spirit. You can find everything you need at michaels.com
Light it up: Weave a beautiful strand of real boxwood and holly garland through the lights in your dining room or chandelier. Add a second garland straight down the dining table as a simple centerpiece. Tuck in a strand of tiny battery operated tea lights.
Holiday Scent: Try this easy trick to infuse your home with the scent of Christmas. Simmer a shallow pot of water with orange and lemon slices and cinnamon sticks on low heat and add a couple of sprigs of rosemary to breathe in the magic.
Gifts that give back: Wrap your presents in chic eco-friendly 100% recyclable newsprint like this cute twisted newspaper print by Wrappily.com
Georgia Tapert Howe, Interior Designer, The Eye Agency
Design vibe: At heart I’m a traditionalist but it’s really all about the mix, some old, some new. I want my interiors to feel inviting and not too precious. Your home and each room should be the backdrop for a beautiful life and a space that feels festive and lived in and somewhere you want to gather and celebrate with your friends and family (eventually).
Add Festive Glamour: The minimal look isn’t going away but right now the trend is toward cheerful colors and layering. I love a beautiful garland draped over a fireplace mantle with some candles. In fact candles everywhere are always a good idea. I recently bought some small white poinsettias and put them in simple little pots and scattered them around the house, they feel festive without screaming over the top holiday season.
Lisa Perry, Interior Designer, The Eye Agency
Design Vibe: My personal design style for interiors can be summed up as “minimal modern white spaces with pops of color”. I like to mix vintage pieces with new and always like to have a surprise in the space such as a big lighting statement or a bold colorful piece of art. People are afraid of color, but I’m a big believer. Steer toward blue or green to add interest to your space, and lift your mood.
Add Festive Glamour: The best and easiest way to add some holiday cheer is with bowls of candy. I’m a minimalist at heart, so I don’t over decorate but I always have colorful M&M’s displayed in my spaces. For the holidays I add a huge bowl of Hershey kisses to the middle of the coffee table and I love that pop of silver. It’s also cute to have candy canes hanging in fun unexpected places like doorknobs, it makes people smile and the more candy the merrier.
Holiday Soundtrack:
What better way to evoke the festive spirit and get you in the mood for decorating than with the perfect holiday playlist? Make yourself some eggnog (recipe below) and enjoy Travel Curator’s Festive Glamour soundtrack by DJ California Star on Spotify.
The Perfect Eggnog Cocktail
Now that the decorating is done, it’s time to cozy up in your favorite chair and enjoy some holiday eggnog. Kelli Delaney shares her recipe for this holiday crowd-pleaser. Cheers.
INGREDIENTS
- Course sugar and cinnamon to rim glasses
- 2 cups eggnog, very cold
- 1/2 cup brandy, chilled
- 1/2 cup chilled Amaretto Di Saronno
- 3 large scoops of frozen vanilla ice cream
- 1 tsp ground nutmeg
- Amarena black cherries, cinnamon sticks, and rosemary sprigs, for garnish
- Makes 4 to 6 cocktails
