Traditional Christmas decorating can encompass many things.
Perhaps the main element of traditional Holiday decorations is that all
time favorite - an evergreen Christmas tree. While in some ways, the
décor of the season has undergone a slight change, there are some things
that have remained the same over the years.
Christmas
tree decorations were once hand strung popcorn and cranberries. Dried
oranges were hung with thread. Candles were balanced on fresh evergreen
branches. Traditionally, all Christmas trees were freshly cut, still
bearing the scent of pine and still oozing sticky sap. Now we have a
multitude of options when it comes to Christmas trees. In addition to
live trees, whether freshly cut by ourselves or purchased from a
Christmas tree lot, we also have the option of buying artificial trees.
Christmas trees can be purchased in a variety of heights and widths.
They may be artificially flocked or even colored. For a traditional
look, choose either a green tree, whether live or artificial fir, pine
or spruce, as a start for your tree decoration. Although not impossible,
it can be very difficult to have a fabulous Holiday decorating theme
around a mediocre or lackluster Christmas tree.
Traditional
Holiday colors are red, green, white and gold. Yellow, blue and silver
can also be used in appropriate shades but are not the primary
traditional colors. Your Christmas tree can be decorated with lights.
Electric lights in white replace the old fashioned candles both for
safety and cleanliness reasons. Ornaments can be hung and popcorn and
cranberry strands can be hand strung or purchased freshly made or in
artificial varieties. Highlighting your Christmas tree will be easy with
the use of a braided oval rug in cranberry or forest colors. Placing
the tree atop an area rug will also help define its area in a room.
Decorations
can easily continue throughout the rest of your house with the use of
braided area rugs, old fashioned wooden accents and traditionally
colored textiles and wall hangings. Holiday wall quilts, hand stitched
throw pillows and painted wooden Christmas crafts will add to the
traditional feel of your decorations. Round glass ball or glass-looking
ball ornaments will brighten a tree and reflect the lights throughout
your room.
One of the nice features of traditional Holiday
decorating is that you can utilize old fashioned looks without having
your house appear outdated. Old fashioned accents or rugs will give your
décor a homey warm feeling when at other times in the year those same
pieces will make your home feel outmoded. Keeping large pieces of décor
available to exchange during the holiday season can really set your
decorations apart from the rest of the year. Large area rugs, special
pieces of furniture like rocking chairs, standing decorations such as
rocking horses or old fashioned drums sets, and even large basket sets
for holding blankets, throws and pillows can all be brought out and used
as part of your holiday decorations to bring that traditional feel to
your home.
Keeping your color scheme to the traditional colors
will help to maintain the traditional feel throughout the Christmas
season at your house. Allowing the cranberry reds and forest greens to
dominate your décor will help to keep this theme alive.
Fran is an expert contributing author happy sharing her Christmas
ideas about interior design. Her most loved decor tip is to use good
quality
modern rugs and
oval area rugs.
