Getting Your Home Festive (But Not Frou Fou) for the Holidays

By Emily Hsieh
December 13, 2010

Katie Lydon With Christmas right around the corner, we're hankering for a little extra sparkle to celebrate the season. And while there is certainly a wealth of holiday decorating ideas out there, discerning where to draw the line between cute and cutesy can be a little tricky. Enter Katie Lydon, British-born, Tribeca-based interior designer who specializes in cool, chic, contemporary and super-elegant spaces (just ask Elle Decor Magazine, which named her one of five interior designers to watch earlier this year). Here, Lydon shares her Christmas decoration tips and tricks—all, thankfully, easy to replicate—for getting your home's holiday decor spruced up.

Katie Lydon Interiors

Interiors designed by Katie Lydon (photos provided by Katie Lydon)

Go Classic. "If you're buying holiday decorations, you're going to want to be able to use them again and again, so go for things that you can imagine pulling out years from now that are beautiful and not just a fad. It pays to invest in quality."

Keep Holiday Decor Fresh. "Skip the obvious green and red. Personally, I'm drawn to crisp, cool tones. For holiday, I like mixing silvers, whites, and golds, with touches of red here and there. If you're drawn to a certain color combination, stick with it."

Christmas Light Up. "I'm really into strands of white lights—never color, and never the blinking variety. They're great not just on your tree, but to light up a big piece of furniture. At home I have a huge mirror in the entryway and drape fairy lights around the top every year. It's slightly kitsch, but it really does look gorgeous at night."

Pile It On. "Though I love simple, modern interiors, I love fun, really ornate holiday decorations; the kind that make you feel like you've gone back in time. The Christmas tree is a Victorian conceit, and I love to see mine loaded with different elements — it's all about abundance. Add as many ornaments as it can hold."

Get Crafty. "Anyone can run out to the market and grab a bunch of stuff with red bows all over it. But buying bunches of fresh holly or a plain green wreath and adding your own decorations will look so much more special than a ready-made version. It's really simple to make your own centerpieces too. Buy a big hurricane vase, fill it with inexpensive silver beads, and stick a plain white pillar candle inside for something sparkly and different."

Crank Up The Volume. "Music really helps set the mood. I tend to go for more old-fashioned stuff, though it ranges from Johnny Cash's Christmas album to the Cambridge King's Choir, which reminds me of growing up in England. I always end up listening to the radio a lot this time of year, too. I love tuning into random stations on my Tivoli (radio) and hearing what holiday songs pop up."

Make Holiday Decor Delicious. "Food can be really decorative. Get a silver bowl and wrap it with beautiful ribbon, then fill it with oranges and lemons. I also like to leave out cut glass or crystal finger bowls of candied almonds for the entire season, which looks so pretty and festive."

Keep Christmas Decorations Kid-Friendly. "I have two children, and I give them each a small 18” tree to put in their bedroom. They love them! They decorate them themselves, and put all kinds of crazy ornaments on them, like miniature Coke bottles and funny little things. Even—or especially—if you do something more streamlined elsewhere in the house, it's a really nice thing to have a whimsical, kitsch tree for a playroom or bedroom"

(images provided by Katie Lydon)