Is your home ready for the holidays?

Guests, gifts, shopping, parties, decorations… the list is endless on the things holidays bring along….Oh my! And the mood.

It happens every year- the holiday mood sweeps all of us, but the most unfortunate part is that we are always never ready. Then when the holidays are around the corner, panic mood sets in, and we begin to rush.

However, you can avoid that by preparing your home and readying it for the holidays early. How can you make your home feel and look more welcoming and inviting for your holiday guests and more entertaining for your family?

Here are expert tips that you can use to make all the festivities that come with holidays a bit easier. We divide them into; interior design and exterior design.

1. Creating a Good First Impression In Your Interior

Like everything else, the first impression counts. Although this applies to your whole property, the interior of your house matters the most. There are rooms that warrant a little bit more investment and focus than others. By this, we are talking about the living room, kitchen, bathroom, and bedrooms.

• Living Room

When it comes to the living room, comfort should be your main priority, followed by style. It is the place you and your family, as well as your guests, want to rest and relax. Therefore, you need to make sure your room oozes comfort in all its spheres- from walls and ceiling to floors and furniture.

First, you need to invest in long, comfortable sofas that your family and guests can sit and lie on. Do not take shortcuts when choosing sofas.

TIP: Go for those with removable, washable covers for ease of cleaning and maintenance. Also, go for those with brightly colored materials to give your room more character and inviting appearance.

You will also want to position the furniture in a “U” shape or circle to allow your family or guests to converse easily. Also, create a décor theme by either scattering cushions around your living room or having a wall work.

Furniture-wise, go with oak as it is easier to match most interior themes. You don’t have to go for the most expensive ones since they are likely to get scratched while the kids play around the house. There are many cheaper options you can go for that are equally robust and great-looking as expensive ones. You just need to look around.

Also, ensure that there is plenty of storage points to keep clutter to a minimum. Use coffee tables and TV stands with cabinets to hide game consoles, books, remotes, etc.

To add to your living room design, don’t forget the lightings and wall designs. How do you ensure your wall designs and lightings complement and accentuate your living room design?

Well, your empty walls are filled with possibilities, and a few creative additions can make your house feel homey. Here are wall décor ideas you can try to refresh your space;

• Large-scale art. An oversized photograph or painting will act as the focal point of your room and set the tone in a smaller living room. A black and white photo will be ideal in a minimalistic space
• Gallery wall. You can add color and personality with a gallery wall. Display a collection of photographs or art. Opt for cohesive frames and bring a collection of decorative variations to mix things up. You can even an extended gallery wall to the ceiling to make your room look larger
• Accent your wall. Besides adding arts and photographs, decorate with wall works. Also, think about how you can creatively transform your ceiling with wallpaper or repainting
• Use fabric on a wall

For lighting design, you can consider accent lighting, ambient lighting, or task lighting.

Ambient lighting is a diffused background light that fills your room. It may fill your living room but may not be sufficient for activities such as reading. Chandeliers, pendant lights, and ceiling fan light kits are some of the ambient lights.

Task lighting shines bright on a specific task to highlight something. You can have it focus over a table, cozy corner, wall work, etc. This can take the form of desk/table lamps, full-spectrum lamps, swing-arm lamps, etc.

Accent lightings are more of decorative lights and add subtle touches to your living room lighting. They include picture lights to highlight artwork, up-lights shining upwards, or accent lamps.

• Kitchen

Your kitchen is the heart of the home, and thus it should be given a fair share of your focus as well. Before you begin to think about its design, asses the condition of the kitchen appliances. Ensure they are in good condition before you think about repainting its wall, installing new doors, and adding wall décor. Focus on refining worktops or replacing them altogether to refresh your room.

Keep in mind that kitchens can be expensive to renovate, which is why you have to plan well in advance. There are a few things you can do to revamp your kitchen including;

• Minimizing clutter by having trays and baskets to store your kitchen essentials such as utensils, spices, towels, etc.
• Investing in decent pans and pots that will serve you for many years
• Having cabinets to maximize upward space
• Hanging wall fittings to save on cupboard space
• For smaller kitchens, you can have light times, light wood and white cabinets to make the room look and feel bigger
• Add a cozy seating area/island for your kids or guest. You can have an interesting kitchen wall work near the island
• Have a quirky area like a blackboard where you can have your recipes or warm message written

Ensure that your kitchen looks welcoming and of course, paint colors associated with hunger.

• Bathrooms

Although not a major area to focus on, your bathrooms should not be ignored. Color-wise, you can choose a white finish to make it look elegant and fresh. Alternatively, you can go with a darker finish to make it look cozy. The color scheme you settle for should suit your overall house theme.

Here are essentials when it comes to bathroom design;

• A great, power shower
• Have blinds instead of curtains
• Have a storage place for toiletries- a basket would be ideal
• Adequate lighting
• Power outlets for hairdryers and shaving

Make sure you to uplift all the bathrooms in your home.

• Bedrooms

Over the holidays, your bedrooms should be a place of comfort and romance, especially the master bedroom. Ideally, bedrooms should be carpeted. Avoid wooden floors and tiles as this can be cold, especially in the morning. If this is not something you can change, add thick rugs to make the floor cozier for your under-feet.

To ensure your bedroom feel luxurious and bring the holiday mood that you feel while in a luxury hotel, here are things to have;

• Invest in the highest quality mattress
• Invest in a king-size for your master bedroom
• Have plain cotton linen
• Scatter cushions
• Have black-out blinds or even thick floor-length curtains
• At least two pillows for each of you
• A wardrobe, preferably with sliding doors to save on space
• A dressing table
• Several power outlets

Also, add romance to your master bedroom by having red fabric, kinky artwork, soft lighting to create ambiance, etc.

Also, ensure that your room has a focal point, such as an artwork hanging over the bed to add character to a room. Preferably, have a large piece or a collection of three individual smaller pieces of arts. Avoid all-white wallpapers. Instead, go for bold, patterned artwork to give your master bedroom the “WOW” factor.

As for children rooms;

• Have built-in bunk beds, especially if you have small rooms to maximize space
• Have kids’ wallpapers and their photographs to customize their rooms. You can ask for their color preference to make them feel relaxed when in their rooms

Other Rooms to work on

• Dining Room

Your dining room should be cozy to keep your family sitting at the table long after dinners. To do this;

• Make the space open with soft ground lighting and an overhead lighting
• Have comfortable chairs and a large dining table
• Add a vase of flowers
• Have candles for ambiance

You can also work on your dining room painting to make the room inviting.

• Hallway and landings

You can make your hallways and landing stylish and welcoming by;

• Placing a table and chair/bench with pillows to fill the area
• Adding mirrors and a piece of art to act as a focal point
• Use monochrome color schemes to make the area neutral

Designing your interior takes time and effort, but with little creativity, you can make your home a relaxing place to have the best time during holidays.

Before we talk about how to uplift your home exterior in preparations for holidays, let’s share some interior design secrets you can implement to give your rooms a personality;

• Focal point. As you can see from the above interior design ideas, every room needs to have a focal point. This could be an artwork, mirror, statement furniture, fireplace, or wall work. Keep in mind that large rooms should have more than one focal point.
• Warm colors. Holidays are all about relaxations and welcoming guests, and thus you should use warm colors such as pink, blue, green, and violet to make the rooms welcoming. PRO TIP: Blue is a powerful color to use in most of your rooms. Why? Because most people love blue.
• Color scheme. Every room needs to have its main color scheme or two contrasting colors that create a color scheme. Bold colors make a big impact. You can use cushions, pillows, flowers, throws, or wall works to make your color scheme in a room click
• Use bright white paint in small spaces to make them feel and look bigger. White, being a reflective color, opens your room, making it appear bigger.
• Comfort. Provide plenty of cushions and blankets for everyone
• Wall works and artwork. Art brightens a room and can act as the focal point. Think of a style you want to achieve to make your home ready for holidays. Ensure the wall work or artwork you use has a purpose.
• Accessories. Add accessories such as artwork, wall works, and candles to enhance rooms. Make sure they are coordinated
• Mirrors. This is an old trick that always works. Mirrors reflect light and make a room look bigger

You can have an interior designer to work on your interior walls and designs.

• Your Home Exterior Is as Important as Its Interior

If decorated correctly, your garden and patio can act as retreat and enjoyment spots on warm nights and sunny days. During warm days, your exterior will be the ideal spot to relax in. No matter the size of your exterior, you can have something to uplift it.

Here are three areas you need to focus on when working on uplifting your exterior and readying them for holidays;

• Gardens

Irrespective of the size of your garden, you can be creative and make them seem relaxing and fresh without overcrowding it.

Think about;

• Planting vegetables or herbs
• Planting low-maintenance flowers with vibrant colors
• Adding a water feature
• Adding seats and umbrellas where you can relax
• Installing a hot tub

You don’t need to complicate things here. Going natural is the best way to make your garden attractive.

• Patio

Take your time to design a patio since this is where you will be relaxing.

Think about;

• Installing lighting, fireplace, or a heater to make it warmer and comfortable at night
• Add a decker to make the patio feel bigger
• Add a table and have enough outdoor chairs
• Add a BBQ station

That’s all for the patio

• The Front Area

Designing your house’s front area is vital. This is the first thing guests’ see when they enter your compound, and thus you need to create a great first impression.

• Plant flowers or plants on the doorway
• Have parking areas and proper paths
• Paint the front door with welcoming color
• Work on the exterior walls- you can hire a wall works expert to do this for you

To finalize this section, it is important to mention that when decorating and uplifting your exterior, whether using lights, plants/flowers, seats, or wall works, ensure that it matches your theme to make your home look coordinated.

Final Thoughts

Designing your home is not the easiest of tasks. Where do you start? What style or theme do you choose? These decisions can be difficult, especially if you are not a designer.

The good news is that you don’t need to reinvent the wheel. You can work with an interior designer or wall works expert to uplift your home to give it a holiday feel. There are also social media sites such as Instagram and Pinterest, where you can check for inspiration.

Remember that you don’t need to renovate your whole house to make it ready for holidays- a little thing as adding wall works, artwork, or repainting with vibrant colors can make your home feel welcoming and relaxing.

And if you do it right, you only have to do it once. The rest will be general maintenance and keeping up with the trends.

If you need some help making your home holiday ready with fresh paint colors, fixing damaged drywall, or sprucing up your kitchen cabinet look, give us a call at 951-695-5588.