Home Decor Ideas

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If you’re thinking of hosting Christmas dinner at your home or apartment, we’re here to help you make it awesome. After viewing thousands of dining and tabletop products from all your favorite retailers, we’ve organized them into five on-trend Christmas dining table decorating categories: Whimsical Nordic; Black and White; Modern Red, White and Green; Snowflakes and Plaid. The products can mix and match with your existing tableware so you can make your Christmas table merry and bright.

Whimsical Nordic Christmas Dining Table Accessories

A Black And White Christmas Table

Modern Red, White And Green

A Snowflake Winter Dining Wonderland

Plaid, Plaid, Plaid

The post Here’s Everything You Need From Your Favorite Retailers To Create A Festive Christmas Dining Table appeared first on Freshome.com.

When decorating for the holidays, it’s important to focus on the table setting. After all, it’s the peak gathering area for any traditional holiday meal. This holiday season, consider going for a country Christmas theme. Rustic chic is a popular decorating option. There’s also something about Christmas that can make us all feel a little bucolic. Maybe it’s the things from nature we bring into the house, like evergreen greens and holly, or the sight of classic Christmas ornaments. If you’d like to give your home a rustic and traditional holiday look, below are some country Christmas table setting ideas.

Traditional holiday candies are a playful way to set the mood. Image: AJ Margulis Interiors

Traditional Christmas candy table setting

Nothing says traditional and country like classic candies. The creative peppermint and gumdrop displays in the photo above provide a sweet, rustic setting. They’re also an instant focal point and conversation starter. These are easy to make, as well. Buy a Styrofoam cone from a craft store, then hot glue the candy onto the cone in whatever design you can imagine.

There are other ways to use candy is a traditional holiday table setting, too. You might fill Mason jars with traditional holiday sweets, like peppermint ribbon candy, for instance. Feel free to tap into your inner Willy Wonka and get creative.

Go natural with elements like cranberry strings draped on the table. Image: AMR Design

A rustic look with natural textures

Another way to get a rustic look for your country Christmas table setting is with natural textures. The photo above shows how plenty of natural textures create a cozy, country look. From the traditional cranberry strings to the evergreen on the table, this table setting has a woodsy feel. The white candles offer a classic ambiance while the reindeer antlers add to the festive cheer.

Along the mirror, natural textures like twigs and greenery add to the rustic, country feel. The pom-poms hanging from the light fixtures also have a natural texture, reminiscent of fuzzy cattails or burs.

Small trees can give a country vibe, thanks to their natural texture. Image: Jules Duffy Designs

Minimalistic trees

You can also go for a slightly updated country Christmas table setting. The bright lime green gives this table setting an contemporary feel that just pops. The green shades also combine well with clean white shades in the candles, tableware and white tree. A green and white Christmas color scheme is a fun twist on the traditional red, green and white color schemes in most holiday decorating designs.

This table setting still has rustic textures in the wood around the vases and the trees on the table. Small trees are a good way to add natural, rustic textures to the table. The minimalist texture of the greenery on the table, however, still gives a stark, updated look. This is a great example of a rustic chic table design.

Green and red plaid is a good way to coordinate holiday colors in a space. Image: M&S

Country plaid

Nothing says classic and country like plaid. This kitchen table setting makes great use of the pattern in the table runners. Elements like the traditional English party cracker and the little present on the plate add to the pattern.

Other elements on the table also make the whole setting look delightfully country. The red pillar candles in the traditional Christmas cups are a fun feature. Sprigs of greenery in the center of the table round out the classic Christmas look.

Green and red plaid works well in a variety of different ways for a country Christmas table setting, too. You could go for plaid napkins, plaid chair skirts or even subtle plaid accents on dishes.

You can use one element of greenery stretching the table to define the setting. Image: Houseology Design Group

An understated country Christmas table setting

The photo above is an example of a very subdued country Christmas look. The greenery running the length of the table gives this style a natural, traditional feel.

If you look closely, you can also see that there are bird figures on the napkins and reindeer figures on the two table ends. These animal-themed elements on the table add to the natural country feel. Small tea lights give off a classic ambiance and accent the large pillar candles. It all goes well with the rustic, textured dining room table. This display is a good example of a simple design that’s still effective in crafting a country style.

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There’s nothing like the quintessential scents of Christmas wafting through the house. Pine, peppermint, cranberry and apple cinnamon all come to mind. An all-natural way to get these scents is to make your own holiday simmer scent pot. All these easy ideas require is throwing a few food items into a pot full of water. You then simmer them on medium heat until your home smells amazing. You can even put fresh or dried food items into a Mason jar for a thoughtful homemade simmer scent gift. Read on to discover several ideas for holiday simmer pot recipes. We’ll cover fruity scents, herbal scents and some scents made to mimic holiday food favorites. You can make some of these on your own and some you can even purchase premade.

Fruity holiday simmer pot recipes

Some of the most popular items to use in holiday simmer pot recipes are fruit. These release a delicious scent when boiled. Citrus scents are especially popular, since they give a clean, deodorizing scent to the home without the need for harsh chemicals. Cranberries are also especially popular this time of year, since few things say the holidays more than cranberries. Many recipes even call for apples and cinnamon, so you can get that fresh-baked holiday dessert scent wafting through your home. Take a look below for some delightfully fruity scents that are sure to make your home smell amazing this season.

This simmer scent uses orange and a variety of spices. Image: Etsy

This recipe contains dried lemons, rosemary and vanilla beans. Image: Dream a Little Bigger

Orange and cranberry go well together in a holiday simmer scent. Image: Etsy

Here’s an idea that veers heavily into the cranberry scent; simply fill most of the pot with fresh cranberries. Image: Half Baked Harvest

Get the apple scent of spiced cider with this blend. Image: Etsy

Herbal holiday simmer pot recipes

Certain herbal scents are also popular during the holidays. Cinnamon always conjures up images of holiday cooking in the form of Snickerdoodles and a holiday apple pie. Fresh sprigs of pine are also popular choices for holiday simmer pot recipes. If you get a live Christmas tree, you can simply take a few sprigs off the back of the tree and stick them in your simmer pot for a boosted pine scent in the home. If you want a more rich, unique scent, check out options like licorice. So take a look below for some top ideas on how to get a wonderful herbal scent in your home for the holidays.

This heady blend contains cloves, anise, cinnamon, ginger and orange. Image: Etsy

Here’s a set of three dried simmering potpourri packs boasting a complex blend of herbs: it comes in Pumpkin Spice, Country Spice and Spiced Apple and Peel. Image: Etsy

Keep your home smelling fresh this season by simmering some fresh pine and lemon peels. Image: Kimberly Belle

Amazing scents like clove, rosemary and cardamom make this simmering Potpourri a delight. Image: Etsy

Bay and licorice will appeal to anyone who likes the heady scent of strong herbs. Image: Etsy

Holiday food favorites

Holiday cooking fills the home with its own amazing smells, of course. But what if you want your home to smell like holiday cooking even where you’re not entertaining? Or what if you want a specific food smell that reminds you of Christmases past, even if that’s not the food you’re preparing at the moment?

That’s where food-themed holiday simmer pot recipes come in handy. With some simple items added to a pot of water, you can create amazing scents like pumpkin spice, candy cane and apple pie. Check out these easy ways to boost those amazing holiday food smells without always having to cook a full meal or dessert.

Get the smell of peppermint and cranberries with this combination of ingredients. Image: Gabrielle Tyler

Here’s a recipe for pumpkin pie scent perfection. Image: Pinterest

This apple cinnamon recipe is sure to make your home smell like everyone’s favorite pie. Image: Etsy  

Here’s another idea for using actual peppermint candy in your simmer pot: combine a candy cane with fresh pine and cranberries. Image: Do It Yourself Divas

Having oranges with cloves stuck in them is a popular way to add some foody scents to the home, so boost this delicious scent by simmering them. Image: A Beautiful Mess

What’s your favorite holiday scent or simmer pot recipe? Let us know in the comments.

The post 15 Holiday Simmer Pot Recipes with Amazing Scents appeared first on Freshome.com.

Christmas is a unique time. You can deck out your home in the most traditional of ways and never have it go out of style. That’s because our cultural ideal of Christmas is one from a traditional era. It’s the scenes set in our favorite holiday songs and stories: lush evergreen decorations, festive ribbon and chestnuts roasting on an open fire. A traditional Christmas truly is timeless year after year. Below, we’ll cover some key ways to establish a traditional Christmas room design this season.

Pops of bright red bring any holiday decorating design to life. Image: Leanne Michael

Use red and green

This idea may seem obvious, but a trend in many modern homes is to eschew the traditional Christmas colorings. All-white color schemes, blue color schemes and even black and white color schemes are all modern choices for decorating at Christmastime.

To keep it traditional and timeless, you’ll definitely want to stick to a red and green color scheme in your holiday decorating. Pops of bright red are especially popular; you might want to think of using red as an accent color. You have many options, like bright red throw pillows, presents under the tree and seasonal figures around the room.

Then you can balance these red accents with plenty of deep forest green. The natural green can come from the Christmas tree itself, garlands, throw pillows, small table trees or seasonal green statuary.

Different textures like lush plant life and smooth ornaments can give a layered look to the decorations. Image: The Yellow Cape Cod

Go traditional with layers

A common design trick in traditional homes it to decorate in layers. Traditional designs favor lots of texture and layers of color. It’s part of what makes traditional design and Christmas decorating go so well together. The traditional look allows you to fill up your space with all those seasonal heirlooms, trinkets and other decorations you’ve accumulated over the years.

In order to get those layers, you should first focus on placing different textures around the room. Layer deep textures like wreaths and smoother textures like ceramic figures, for instance. You should also layer color. For instance, you might have cherry red throw pillows and deep burgundy seasonal floral arrangements. You can play with this idea and get truly creative with it.

The mantel is a great place to assemble your holiday treasures. Image: M&S

Get a traditional Christmas by using groupings

A challenge with decorating for the holidays is how to incorporate all those disparate items into one cohesive design. We tend to get all kinds of holiday items as gifts from family, from Secret Santas at work and by finding items we like ourselves. And then there are all those family heirlooms that come down to us through the ages. Often there’s no way to make sure all our holiday home items look like they’re from the same collection.

One way to bypass this problem is to use small groupings throughout your home. If you have a collection of snowmen, for instance, think about placing them together. For example, you could gather them on top of a long side table. This creates a sort of diorama that stands on its own as a distinct element in the room. You could also do this with different items sharing similar colors. Or arrange a table setting devoted to just heirlooms.

Natural textures like intricate centerpieces and evergreen on the light fixtures can give an instant traditional feel. Image: Dawn Hearn Interior Design

Go for lots of natural textures

Another element of a traditional Christmas is keeping it natural. Traditional Christmas scenes are full of lush evergreen textures in garlands and trees. Colorful poinsettias often sit on multiple surfaces. Other seasonal flower arrangements like deep red and white flowers make great centerpieces. Wall hangings commonly have sprigs of evergreen in them. Rings of natural seasonal plant life go well around candleholders.

Outside of using realistic plant life, traditional Christmas decorations also often have natural motifs. Think everything from throw pillows depicting poinsettias to table runners with rich flower and berry patterns. Faux items can be good stand-ins if you don’t want any of your pets eating real poinsettias, since poinsettias can make them sick. (You can also learn how to use natural textures year-round here.)

Do you like the traditional Christmas look? Let us know your favorite designs below.

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