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How to Decorate for the Holidays in an Original Retro Style

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When decorating for the holidays in an original retro style you need to first think about what colors are going to give you that feel as if your living room is from the forties, fifties or sixties. Stick to a palette of bright red, sky blue, avocado, muted gold and mocha. If you choose Christmas balls in these colors you have won half the battle in making your tree look authentic.

Traditional Christmas décor was also known for it’s themes. A Hawaiian or Tropical theme complete with shell garlands and hanging star fish was a big design hit in the seventies. In the fifties and sixties it was not uncommon to see cute elves decorating the tree, stockings and Christmas cards.

Plastic wreathes are very retro and if you hang one above your mantel you are immediately telling visitors that you are into the vintage Christmas look. Another lovely retro motif are nativity scenes made completely out of plastic or train sets running around the base of the tree made out of plastic as well.

The artificial bottlebrush tree is also very much from the sixties and seventies. These were metal spikes with evenly spaced arms with spines on them. The entire point of them is to not look too natural. The trendiest original retro colors are artificial white or pink. To decorate them drape them in thick hanks of metallic gold tinsel and opaque multicolor lights. It is also very sixties and seventies to have an angel at the top of your tree.

Gifts are wrapped in polka-dot and atomic pattern papers and plaid ribbons and bows. Tissue paper wrapped gifts with pink or powder blue ribbons that have been hand “curled” with scissors are also very sixties. Placing gifts in a basket with no wrapping and just a ribbon s also a very seventies thing to do.

When it comes to food the classic things to have on hand are canned cranberry jelly, a rock hard Christmas cake that reeks of booze, ham with pineapple slices and gingerbread cookies. Be sure to also have a bowl of walnuts and an old fashioned Nutcracker that looks like a soldier from the Nutcracker Suite on hand. It is also classic to serve eggnog and have a centerpiece made of poinsettia and holly in the center of your Christmas table.

How to Decorate Your Home in Winter Whites

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Decorating your home in winter whites is all about simplicity. First of all the color scheme for winter white décor tends to be white with dark brown wood. So the floors should be stained a dark brown if they are not brown already. Frames and other accents can also be made of dark wood. Otherwise everything from the door frames to banisters to kitchen cupboards is painted white. Eerie single wall is painted white as well.

Lucite furniture works well in an entry way along with oversized mirrors with white or chocolate brown frames. A great place order furniture is EverythingFurniture.com they have a huge selection. If you order from there be sure to pick up an EverythingFurniture.com discount code from MomsDiscount.com and save some money. White throw rugs or small footstools with white leather covers also work well here. Make sure everything from Kleenex boxes to plant holders is also white.

In the living room plain white cotton curtains and white bamboo shades make great window covering. A white rug with an even whiter pattern on it also completes the design. White ceramic posts and white shades should be a design feature of the lamps. Silver coffee tables with glass tops and round coffee tables made out of dark wood are also a good option.

There should be few pictures on the wall but the ones that are in place should have white ceramic or brown frames.

Floral arrangements should be lush but using white flowers such as roses, hydrangeas and calla lilies. A touch of green can be added in the form of moss or hydrangea leaves. A plain white ceramic vase filled with white money plant leaves can make a nice addition to a white room.

At Christmas time there are great ways to harmonize a white décor into your holiday color scheme. When you trim the tree, keep the lights all white and as small as possible. Clear glass and plastic ornaments and white ornaments should be interspersed with gold ones. Tie big white ribbons to the very end of the branches for a nice effect. Garlands of white pearls also suit the white-washed Christmas look.

Garlands for this type of scheme do not have to be fussy or expensive. You can tie greenery with a bit wire and white ribbon. You can also hang a boxwood wreath above your mantel or in a prominent place in the living room. You can also spray pinecones white and make a still-life in basket out of them for your mantelpiece.

Finally you can really make your Christmas tree look unique by wrapping all of your Christmas presents in white and decorating them with white ribbons as well.