A Christmas Facelift

You probably think that’s a funny title for a painting blog. And it is—until you think of it in the context of decorating. Does your house need a facelift this holiday season? You’ve come to the right place!

You’re probably not going to dive into a remodeling project right in the midst of the holidays. But just in case you are, we want to help you use the momentum of the season to propel you into a masterpiece of interior decorating. In other words, let’s get inspired by Christmas!

Red and Green

First let’s talk about how to incorporate Christmas colors into interior design. Obviously painting a room with red and green is going to give it a Christmas feel year round, which doesn’t really look great in the middle of a hot summer (unless you looooove Christmas, in which case, go for it!).

But if you think about it, isolating one color to a room or series of rooms won’t force a permanent Christmas theme. For example, choosing your favorite holiday shade of green for the entryway and living room, then switching to a favorite shade of red for the bedrooms and kitchen. You could potentially paint the whole house with just red and green, but if they don’t coincide, you’ve just used your favorite Christmas colors without making Christmas the focal point of the house.

And it’s not all about red and green. Take a look at these multi-colored Christmas trees for ideas about tasteful color combinations. If you pick a tree from this list and paint your rooms with its colors, no one would ever know you used Christmas as the inspiration for your color scheme.

Evergreen Trees or the North Pole?

When it comes to themes for room décor, Christmas can actually be a great inspiration. There are so many variations on Christmas themes—a country Christmas, candy canes, the Nativity, Father Christmas, snowmen, gingerbread, on and on. Check out this long list of holiday themes to help you brainstorm your favorites.

Once you pick a theme, you can use it to direct your choice of décor in every room. You don’t want a country Christmas year round—but you might like the rustic wooden furniture and gingham fabrics that this theme inspires. Get creative!

It’s Cold Outside

Moving outdoors, using Christmas to guide your landscape design isn’t such a bad idea. We don’t mean you should be that annoying neighbor who won’t take down their Christmas lights—but a string of lights placed strategically in your garden (not red or green of course) can be quite tasteful. You can also employ the same strategy for choosing an exterior paint color that we used above to paint the rooms—choose a shade of a Christmas color like red, and no one will know Christmas was what sparked the idea.

You can also use these Pinterest ideas for yard décor. Things like rough hewn logs paired with burlap ribbon bows is a great Christmas decoration, but can be a timeless decoration too. Again, be creative. You like reindeer? Cut some deer shapes out of wood scraps, set them up in the yard, and you’ve got year round lawn ornaments. Just throw on some garlands at Christmastime and take them off in January!

Have you ever been inspired by a holiday?

Although you’ve probably never thought about using a holiday to inspire the décor in your whole house, it’s not a bad idea. If an interior remodel or even just an update is on your mind this month, don’t push it out of your mind as a distraction from preparing for the holiday. Use the gorgeous decorations all around this year to inspire your color and themes.

Has a holiday ever inspired your home décor? We definitely want to know about that—did it work? Did anyone guess your color choices came from a holiday? Leave a comment now so we can discuss it with you!