Keeping the Holidays Simple
By Susie Coelho
This December I am keeping things simple! One of my New Years resolutions last year was to get rid of all of that “stuff” that had piled up over the year. It feels great and now coming into the holiday season I am all about simplicity and ease. I am experiencing a new joy creating with all of the things that I have found during the process.
Using things that you already have and repurposing them really lifts the spirit. I am always excited when I come up with a new way to do something or a new twist on the old. Also it’s a great way to save money. Sometimes there are things you can make that are “exactly” what you want and actually it’s less time consuming than hunting around for that very thing. If you have a specific color palette you’re working with it can be tough to find the exact match, but if you make it, you can layer on colors to create the right mix to match.
This year I have chosen a metallic theme as I have a white tree with mercury glass ornaments from my Grandinroad collection (www.grandinroad.com.) I am keeping it very simple and very clean to align with my new kitchen, media room and dining room, which is very clean lined. I am doing minimal décor all around the house but just enough to make it feel like the holidays.
We leave for most of the season so having the house done up in a grand way just seems like a waste of time as we have little time to enjoy it. What I try and do it set up the tree just before or just after Thanksgiving (depending on whether we are staying in town for that holiday.) By getting the tree up, which is the main focal point, then I can putter around in the evenings and create other fun vignettes throughout the house over the next week or so. This gives us enough time to enjoy the holiday spirit before we leave town to visit family.
So this year I suggest getting rid of whatever you can first. Then pick the ornaments you want to create with and get your tree up by no later than the end of Thanksgiving! You will be way ahead of the game and be able to spend more quality time with your family in the weeks leading up to the holiday season. This year I feel it’s especially important to keep things simple so that you are not stressed out. There is enough stress and this does not need to be one more added one. This is a time to enjoy family and friends and share your love and joy with others.
