After Thanksgiving I’m all about turning my house into holiday central. We are never not playing Christmas music and everything feels so cheerful and festive. This year, I stepped up my holiday decor game by asking my friend Prudence, an interior designer, for some tips on how to make it a little more elevated than usual.

I bought a few new pieces (I linked everything I could find online all the way at the bottom of the post), but we repurposed a lot of what I already had and she had so many cute ideas that I decided to share all of her holiday decor hacks along with mine. Scroll down for both of our tips as well as a ton of photos of our living room, sunroom, entryway, and Amalia’s room.

Hacks from Prudence:

1. Tie your own tree topper
You don’t have to spend a lot on a tree topper, especially if you can’t find one you love. Using beautiful ribbon is an affordable way to add a beautiful detail to the top of your tree. It has to be sturdy with some wire in it so it’s not too floppy. I love to add a little ornament on the tip top to give it an extra special touch. Birds, angels and butterflies always work wonders. On Julia’s tree, I used one of her mother’s golden bird ornaments perched right on top of the ribbon.

2. Incorporate ornaments into your garland
A holiday garland on your staircase or mantle packs a big punch. Make it special by weaving in your favorite ornaments, however create a theme so it looks polished. Since Julia loves her ginger jars, I found ginger jar ornaments and secured them along with her vintage bells along the garland to spice it up. You can attach them using wire and then tie beautiful ribbons around each one. Stick other holiday greens and florals in to take it to the next level like. I like holly, berries, or Baronia.

3. Repurpose Home Items
I love to find new uses for items around the house during the holidays to save money on holiday decor. For instance, put a small floral arrangement in a jigger on your bar cart instead of using a small vase. It’s creative, festive and unexpected! Julia had a gold one that worked perfectly.

4. Turn fashion into decor
When decorating your home, it’s always special to use everyday items in a new way. I had a spur of the moment idea to use Amalia’s hair bows along with a few soft ornaments on a sparkly little tree to add personal holiday style to her nursery without breaking the bank.

5. Less is more
When it comes to interior styling, including holiday decor, adopt a less is more approach. Too much of a good thing is not always a good thing so not every surface has to be adorned with holiday cheer. Adding a simple arrangement to an entry table or console sets a mood for guests and you when you walk in the door. A little pop of green and red from nature goes a long way every time. Use a gold or mercury glass vessel to elevate the look even further. You can see how we did this under Julia’s TV in a small ginger jar. It’s not overkill but brings a little holiday cheer to this space.

6. Incorporate one theme throughout the house
When it comes to holiday decor, pick a theme and stick with it throughout your home so the effect is polished and chic not busy. I personally love bows in my home during the holidays so I pick one ribbon style in different widths and use it throughout the home for garland, hanging wreaths, on Christmas trees, and even around topiaries. This consistency is key to creating a beautiful holiday home without feeling cluttered and messy. You want to dazzle the eye not overwhelm it! We used a gold and white striped ribbon throughout Julia’s home (on her garland and tied around a topiary below) to tie it all together… Literally!

Julia’s Hacks

1. Replace photos with holiday photos for the season
I have so many family photos that I love and switching out my usual framed pics for holiday themed ones are a nice touch. It’s not only fun to reminisce, but it helps keep the decor seamless and not competing with beach shots from summer trips!

2. No fireplace? Use a console for stockings
Although I sometimes get bummed that we don’t have a fireplace, we make it work at the holidays with my Society Social console table in the living room. I hung our stockings using affordable sparkly table hooks from Target and had Prudence help me style up the top of the table. She taught me to create anchor pieces on each end and then add pretty knick knacks in between. Using books to add height is always a good styling tip too. Sprinkle some fairy lights and greens around the decor and you’re good to go!

3. Decorate your kid’s room for a magical surprise
Seeing Christmas through Amalia’s eyes is magic so I knew I wanted to decorate her room this year so that she is excited from the moment she wakes up every moment. Her room is all white and pink and I’ve always dreamed of a holiday look in softer colors so I figured this was the place to do it. I picked out a mini metallic tree and used that as the base of the decor for the room. Prudence had the cute idea to hang a pretty ornament from the curtain rod, and I added sparkle on the bookshelves with fairy lights and snow globes. The best part is that nothing is breakable!

4. How to hang a wreath
I always buy a simple boxwood wreath and hang it up with a ribbon. I loop the ribbon around the top of the wreath and use a removable hook on the back of the door. Loop the ribbon over the top of the door and stick it on the hook. Prudence added her touch by suggesting we use the same gold and white ribbon that we used throughout the house to tie it all together.

So those are our tips! I hope they’re helpful for your holiday decorating this year. Scroll through a ton of photos below and everything is sourced below that. If you’re looking for something and I didn’t link it, let me know! Some of it is family pieces or things I’ve had for years but I did my very best!

Living Room / Entryway

Kitchen / Sunroom

Amalia’s Room

Living Room:
Fairy Lights
Preserved Boxwood Wreaths
Similar Stockings (Ours are sold out)
Similar Tree Skirt (Ours is sold out)
Society Social Console Table c/o
Blue and White Print c/o
Glitter Deer Stocking Hooks
Similar Silver Glitter Trees
White Moosehead
Tortoise Cocktail Shaker
Brass Bar Cart c/o
Vineyard Vines Fleece c/o
Monogrammed Mug

Entryway:
Garland: Real boxwood bought locally
Ginger Jar Ornaments
Brass Bells: Vintage
Similar Striped Ribbon
White & Gold Ginger Jar
Mirrored Chest
Brass Lantern Light Fixture

Amalia’s Room:
Countdown to Christmas Nutcracker
Silver Tree (Only $8!)
Pink Feather Tree
Fairy Lights
Gold Love Balloon Sign
Mirror (Under Nutcracker and Unicorn)
Ikea Bookshelves
Acrylic Wall Bookshelves
White Crib c/o
Similar Wall Monogram (Ours is no longer available)
Raffia Dresser c/o
Jute Rug c/o

Thank you to my friend Prudence for helping me style my home for the holidays and thank you to Kirby & Company for helping me find all of the final touches I needed to make my home perfectly festive! Anything that was gifted to me is marked with c/o in the list above. Photos by Julia Dags.