Holiday Decor

A tree with every ornament you own on it can be charming. It can also look like you couldn’t decide. Picking a theme mostly just narrows the choices, and it doesn’t mean starting over. For each theme below there are three things that carry the look, and the ornaments you already have can fill in around them. Classic Red and green. The one everyone pictures, and it works in any house. Get: about 24 shatterproof red balls (on Amazon) in mixed finishes, a roll of wired red ribbon (on Amazon) to loop through the branches, warm white lights (on Amazon). ...

Nutcrackers now come in every size from stocking stuffer to taller than a child, and most of the trouble with them comes from buying the wrong size for the spot. Get the height right and place them in pairs or deliberate groups, and even an inexpensive one looks good. Sizes 12 to 15 inches. About the height of a wine bottle. (Slightly smaller 10-inch pairs (on Amazon) work on tables and shelves too.) Fits on bookshelves, side tables, consoles and windowsills. This is the size most people need. Buy them in pairs or threes; one on its own looks like it lost its partner. Three in descending heights (say 15, 12 and 10 inches) makes a nice step pattern. ...

If there’s no mantel and not much floor space, a bookshelf can carry a lot of Christmas on its own. There’s no tree to water and you can change it in an afternoon. The difficulty is that a full bookshelf already looks busy. Add ornaments to every shelf and it just looks crowded. Most of what follows is about making room and being choosy. Make room first Take 20 to 30 percent of the books off each shelf before you add anything. Paperbacks, duplicates, the ones you keep meaning to donate: put them in a box in the closet until January. The gaps are where the decorations go, and the shelves look better with some space even before you start. ...

An advent calendar sits out for almost the whole of December, which is longer than some people keep their tree up. So it’s worth getting one you actually like looking at, rather than a cardboard box that sags by the 10th. Most of the ones below are refillable. You buy them once and they come back every year. Wooden ones 1. A tower of 24 drawers. About the size of a shoebox standing on end, 12 to 16 inches tall, with small numbered drawers. It fits on a mantel, a bookshelf or a console without taking over. If you only get one refillable calendar, this is the safe choice. Check that every drawer slides smoothly before December 1; on cheap versions they stick. ...

Most village collections start with one little house (on Amazon) that was too charming not to buy. A few years later there’s a church, a bakery, three lampposts and a question of where it all goes. Places that work An entryway console. Usually the best spot: eye level, the first thing people see, and often 14 to 18 inches deep, which is enough for two rows. Tall buildings at the back, small cottages in front, a snow blanket (on Amazon) underneath. Leave an inch or two between houses so it looks like a town with streets rather than a pile. ...

Guests notice the bathroom more than you’d think. It’s the one room where they’re alone for a few minutes with nothing to do but look around. It’s also the cheapest room in the house to decorate: one set of towels, a tray and a candle gets you most of the way. The main thing to plan around is steam. Real greenery wilts, paper curls and candles don’t throw much scent in a humid room, so a few of these ideas are about choosing things that cope. ...

People tend to either love flocked trees or find them a bit much. They’re beautiful, they’re also messy, at least at first, and whether that trade is worth it depends on your home. What flocking is A sprayed-on coating, usually cellulose fibers and adhesive, sometimes with a little glitter, applied to an artificial tree to look like snow. It ranges from a light dusting on the tips to a heavy coat that hides nearly all the green. ...

Once the tree is up and decorated, the bottom of it is usually a metal stand and a tangle of cords. Something has to cover that, and there are two choices: a collar or a skirt. They do the same job in quite different ways. Tree collar A rigid ring, usually woven, metal or wood, that sits around the stand like a cuff. It gives the tree a neat, finished base and looks more modern. ...

Garland does a lot for the money. One good strand changes a mantel, a staircase or a doorway more than almost anything else you can buy. The two common mistakes are buying too little of it and buying faux garland so cheap it looks like plastic. Fresh or faux Fresh garland smells like Christmas, and nothing else really does. A cedar or fir garland on the mantel scents the room for two or three weeks. ...

Fabric covers more of a room than any decoration does. Change the pillow covers, a throw and the bedding, and the whole place feels different without a single ornament. It takes about half an hour, nothing goes on the walls, and in January it all swaps back into one tote. The half hour Pillow covers (10 minutes). Take the everyday covers off the sofa and bed pillows and put holiday ones (on Amazon) on. Buy covers rather than whole pillows: $8 to $15 each instead of $25 or more, and they store flat. Most sofa pillows take 18 by 18 inches, but measure yours first. ...