Holiday Up Your House: Our Favorite Festive Décor Ideas

The holiday season might be our favorite time of year for décor. Whether you prefer to make subtle swaps to make your home feel cozy and warm during the cold winter season, or you like to go all out with your holiday décor, there's something so soothing about decorating for this time of year.

But let's face it: decorating for the holidays can start to feel stale year after year, so we've gathered some of our best holiday decorating tips and ideas to help keep you inspired. With classic decorating ideas to Thanksgiving tablescapes and décor inspired by nature, get ready to holiday up your house.

11 Chic Decorating Ideas Designers Love for the Holidays

Holiday decorating is one of our most cherished traditions of the year, but even with something as time-honored as this, that doesn't mean we do it the same way every winter. Rather, we're always on the hunt for new and statement-making ways to let our holiday décor show off our personalities without giving up the more traditional parts of the season we love so much. Keep reading for our favorite holiday decorating ideas for the season.

7 Gorgeous Holiday Tablescapes to Try Before the Main Event

Every aspect of the holidays is designed to help you slow down, relax, and indulge. But for the hosts and hostesses, the holidays present an entirely different ball game. Preordering the turkey before it sells out, delegating tasks to family members or friends, coordinating menus, shopping lists, and sleeping arrangements can get exhausting. The least we can do is help you set your table.

From simple styling with your favorite dinnerware and beautiful floral arrangements to more elaborate looks with calligraphed menus and layered table linens, there's always a way to make your table feel festive, no matter how much time and money you want to spend. We turned to our favorite hostesses and entertainers to provide us with a healthy dose of tabletop inspiration, along with some tips to get you started. Pick your favorite, and re-create the look—these tablescapes are deceptively simple.

11 Chic Ways to Incorporate Natural Materials Into Your Holiday Décor

This holiday season, go au naturel. We’re not suggesting you skip the décor altogether. Rather, when it comes to your holiday decorating ideas, avoid store-bought décor, and opt for all-natural accents instead. Not only will evergreen boughs and other organic materials add a more authentic and earthy touch to your home, but they’re also compostable and eco-friendly, too, so you can feel good about going over-the-top with your décor this year. From pine branches, to cranberries, to popcorn and more, there are countless ways you can decorate your home for the holidays using only compostable, organic items. 

7 Designers on the Holiday Décor They Use Every Year

Decorating for the holidays can be overwhelming. Do you go all out with lots of color and texture or try a more minimalist take this year? Do you have too many decorations or way too few? With the pressure of having an IG-worthy (or Pinterest-worthy, if you're really putting a lot of pressure on yourself) celebration, deciding your holiday style is no easy task.

That's why we polled our favorite designers to see which holiday decorations they always return to. From sentimental family heirlooms to clever finds from Anthropologie, these decorators know how to make their homes feel like the holidays.

10 Fresh and Unexpected Ways to Decorate for the Holidays

There is something sweetly sentimental about retrieving your storage bins full of holiday décor on November 1st and adding your classic, tried-and-true decorations to your home once more. Meaningful décor that signals the season is always great—but there should always be wiggle room to try something fresh and new.

Maybe red and green just aren't your colors, or you don't gravitate toward shiny bows and sparkling tinsel. If you want to try some holiday décor that feels different, yet still inviting, this is the inspiration you need. We're sharing some fresh and unexpected holiday decorating ideas straight from designers that are sure to bring tidings of joy, without the overdone décor of Christmas past.

Deck the halls with something other than boughs of holly this year—with this list filled with fresh takes on holiday décor, you're sure to find the perfect new idea that might just become tradition.

7 Festive Décor Ideas That Don't Scream "Holiday"

For many, the first day of November is the day to break out the holiday décor. But for seasonal spirit that doesn’t have an expiration date or clash with your aesthetic, you need to get strategic with your holiday décor—choose and display items that don’t scream “this is holiday décor.” Designer Kelsey Haywood of haywoodmade offered us her pro tips for getting a holiday look that doesn’t steal the show.