Christmas Decorating Ideas

Glass decorative bowl filled with gold and red Christmas tree ornaments.

These Christmas decorating ideas can help bring festive elegance to your home this holiday season.

Elegance - with a 3-year-old? Yeah, right. And let me call in my uniformed nanny - it's the butler's day off.

Seriously, though - festive holiday decor can be as simple as accessorizing with a few luxurious fabrics. Think velvet pillows or slipcovers, cozy faux fur throws, or beaded organza table runners in brilliant seasonal jewel colors.

Here are some easy Christmas decorating ideas to get you started.

Christmas Decorating Ideas for Festive Elegance

To make room for the festive Christmas decorations, pack up some of your usual decor and put it away until January. This is Christmas! If you don't have many Christmas decorations, enjoy the clean look for a festive change.

In the dining room, add a sparkly table-runner on your Christmas table or crystal bowl filled with glittery fruits or holiday ornaments.

Or, deck the table with candles - lots of candles - in the same color, but varying widths and heights. Corral them on a sterling silver tray. Bring out your traditional Christmas decorations and blend them into your new design. You can also make Christmas ornaments to add to your family's collection.

Christmas Decorating Ideas: Lighten Up Everywhere

String tiny white lights throughout your home's living areas as part of your Christmas decorations. That way, at night, the whole house will twinkle with the classic warmth of the holidays.

Drape lights to frame windows, over tall houseplants, along doorways, and around bookcases. Dim your regular lights and enjoy it.

Focus on a Single Theme

Don't mix funky Frosty the Snowmen Christmas decorations with elegant Father Christmases, no matter how tempting using all your favorite decorations may be. Instead, choose one or the other as the theme for your Christmas decor this season. At the very least, keep the themes uniform in each room.

For example, if you have both types of decorations, you could do a fun Santa theme in the family room, and a more formal, sophisticated theme in the living room.

Group Christmas Collections Together

Collectibles such as your favorite wooden nutcrackers - or china Santas - are always more visually striking when grouped instead of spread about the room.

Go Wild with Ribbon

Gold curling ribbon and three Christmas ornaments isolated.

Greenery is so messy. Consider making garlands of Christmas ribbons instead.

They'll stay fresh through the season and be a lot less expensive. Use the wired kind of ribbon for the best results.

Loosely twist two colors around a strand of twinkling white lights. Or, drape the ribbon duo down a banister or across a mantel.

Think - and Decorate - Vertically

Don't just decorate your Christmas table and mantels: Hang ornaments and decorations from tall house plants, chandeliers, even mirrors, and plants. If you have ornaments too delicate or precious to risk, display them on a high shelf.

Don't stop at one Christmas tree. Consider several small Christmas trees in the family room or one each in the kids' bedrooms and let them decorate them just the way they want.