Festive Decor to Get You in the Holiday Spirit

The holiday season is my favorite time of the year. I find holiday traditions and festive decor so magical. A well-lit Christmas tree, the smell of Christmas cookies and the promise of a wonderful time with family is the perfect way to get you in the holiday spirit.

The past couple of years I’ve started decorating more our apartment and I wanted to share a few easy tips I’ve learned along the way. I think these really incorporate the festive time in an affordable way without complicating things.

Decor to Get You in the Holiday Spirit

1. Start with a Christmas Tree

There’s nothing like a Christmas tree to get you in the holiday spirit! I know this sounds obvious but it’s such a great way to incorporate the holidays in your space. You can get a tall tree or a shorter one for one of your tables. I love a tree with white sparkly lights and Christmas ornaments in red, gold, and green, this makes a very traditional and nostalgic tree.

2. Add a Christmas Tree Skirt and Topper

I couldn’t stress enough how important a tree skirt is and make sure you get the right size. A small tree skirt always looks weird to me! I love a solid textured one such as one made of faux fur. I have one that my mom created that includes a pretty fringe and it really adds a special touch to the tree. For tree toppers I love a star or angel. Right now we need one and I cannot decide which one to get.

3. Personalized Stockings

Keeping with our more traditional theme, our stockings are needlepoint with our names on them from Sferra. They’re great because they’re available every year making it super easy to add to the collection when you welcome a new family member to your home that year, have a baby, or get a pet! You can also get some with beautiful floral fabrics, have fun with it!

4. Wrapping Paper and Ribbon

I like to keep my wrapping paper to no more than three different kinds and I love mixing a solid if you are doing some patterns. I think if done right it can really tell a color story nicely with your tree. One color with different ribbons also looks very pretty. Gold wrapping paper is always my favorite, it looks so chic with red or green satin ribbon.

5. Wreaths and Garland Throughout

Wreaths aren’t just for the outdoors. For the longest time I would go without them because I thought they only belonged outside of the main door and living in an apartment building often times is against the rules (which is our case). This year I’ve put small boxwood wreaths to the back of the kitchen stools and one on the inside of our entrance door, then added red satin ribbon and they look adorable. You can do this on windows, mirrors, and wall artwork or picture frames. They are so easy to do and you can use the wreaths for years to come.

Garland are also fun to decorate with. They go perfect on a mantel but if you don’t have one like me incorporate it in other spaces like your TV console or entryway table.

6. Throw Pillows and Blankets

We have some gold throw pillows I put out every Christmas and it really adds that special sparkle to our couch. They are inserts so I just put the current throw pillows inside them and voila. A throw blanket is also a great way to elevate the look.

7. Floral Arrangements & Accents

You know I love flowers so for Christmas I like to add a mix of real and silk floral arrangements around the apartment. This year I’ve added red berry branches to my entryway and red anemones to my living room coffee table. I’ve also repotted an orchid in a gold pot which goes in our dining table. I am all about mixing real with faux flowers because you don’t need to worry about always keeping up with them. Don’t forget to add accents as well, reindeers and nutcrackers are elegant options you can use year after year.

8. Holiday Scented Candle

Every year I get a small Diptyque holiday candle to add to my space. I also got a couple years ago on a trip to London a beautiful carousel that goes on the top of the candle and turns while the candle burns. It’s so chic and they come out with a new one every year, this year it’s silver, get it now before it sells out. Since we have an artificial Christmas tree this candle really adds that beautiful pine smell to the space.

9. Christmas Music and Movies

Make sure you have a few playlists and albums saved on Spotify so you can play them on rotation. Christmas songs really help get into the holiday spirit, here are a few of my favorites: Christmas Hits, Christmas Classics, Instrumental Christmas Hymns, Michael Buble Christmas, Barbara Streisand The Classic Christmas Album, The Holiday Soundtrack (I can seriously listen to this year-round).

For Christmas movies, I love Elf and older classics such as Home Alone 2 (I became obsessed with the Plaza after this movie), Miracle on 34th Street, The Grinch Stole Christmas, The Holiday, Love Actually, The Sound of Music, and White Christmas.

10. Check in On Those You Love

Call, FaceTime, Zoom, and send holiday cards to those that you care about. This is the time to check in on everyone in your life. A simple “hello, I’ve been thinking about, how are you?” can make someone’s day and lift their spirits up.

I hope you find this helpful as you begin to decorate your own home for the holidays. Let’s stay connected, send me a message to my email address, chanel@cocoonfifth.com, and comment below on how you like to decorate this time of year!

If you enjoyed this post filled with festive decor to get you in the holiday spirit, don’t forget to check out my holiday gift guides for him and for her!