Holiday Decorating | by a Salt Lake City designer

As the weather starts to cool off I start thinking about holiday decorating. One thing I used to have a problem with was how to decorate my house for the holidays or seasons, and not have to change everything in my house to make it match. If my regular decor isn't fall colors, how do I add those great fall decorations? How do I make the red and green of traditional Christmas decor work in my space of pale blues and creams?

One way to do this is to change out the throw pillows on a cream colored sofa and add a cozy throw along with candles and a tree. That would feel like a holiday space, but how about selecting holiday or seasonal decor that actually goes with your design? 

No one said that your holiday decor had to be red and green or that your fall colors had to be orange and yellow! I love fall! I love fall colors, but I don't want to live with those colors all year around. I also don't live in the country, so the homey style fall decor of baskets, pine cones, colored leaves and pumpkins won't exactly go with my downtown urban condo. So I had to find a way to get the feeling of fall in my decor without feeling like I put a barnyard in my less than rural surroundings!

When you enter our condo the first thing you "en-counter" is a large kitchen counter! To me, this is the best place to set the "tone" of the space. If it is clean and clutter free, the rest of the space feels more open, if it is crowded with piles of mail, keys, and all of the other things that we carry in, the rest of the condo could be empty and it would still feel cluttered. So, this is the first spot I wanted to decorate, thinking that if I can put the "flavor" of fall here, the rest of the space benefit from the aroma, so to speak! 

I don't have a great number of spaces to add decor of any kind, practically every inch of my tiny space is filled and has to be functional, but I love the changing of season and I love having a little touch of change inside to reflect the changes outside. I try to find decor that doesn't scream the season to you, but gently puts you in the season's frame of mind.

Now, for my husband, it's not autumn, it's football season, and it would be fine with him if we decorated the entire space in red and black and covered it with University of Georgia memorabilia! Ain't happening! But what I did was use decorations that went with the color scheme I already had in place and had a more "contemporary" fall flair!

My bathroom is teals and browns and I found this beautiful blown glass pumpkin in those colors and I think it looks awesome, without changing the style of my bathroom.

Now fall is not necessarily about pumpkins, but it is about wonderful rich colors. The best part of fall to me is the changing of color and the crisp air, it just smells different than any other time of year. I wanted to bring that into my space as well, so in the kitchen, I gave a little nod to the purple wall and used it as my inspiration for color.

I found beautiful candle holders that have a dark purple paisley/floral pattern on them. They aren't typically a fall decoration, but the color was wonderfully reminiscent of deep fall leaves. I paired them with deep green, gold and purple flowers. The flowers are in a julep cup which is pewter and I just loved the tie in to these little turkey salt and pepper shakers. I didn't feel like the items I added were necessarily Thanksgiving, but rather that I could have them here all through the fall and it would feel fresh and timely.

I'd never thought of grapes as being fall colors, but I absolutely loved the way these grapes were the colors in the candleholders, and the colors in my kitchen. I also didn't think of the kitchen as being fall colors, but it just worked perfectly! Adding scented candles in pumpkin spice or whatever scent you associate with fall, will make your home instantly feel more festive.

Now, I said that fall is about color, but my bedroom isn't and I still wanted just a touch of fall decor in there, and I found the perfect little touch. I had found this little ceramic pot of cream roses and I love the romantic feeling of it in my bedroom, so when I found these ceramic cream pumpkins, I just had to add them to the space.

I'm not suggesting that you should add holiday or seasonal decor to every room in your house if that's not your taste, I'm simply suggesting that there are ways of doing so without changing the style, look and feel of the space you've designed in which to live or work. Interior decor and design is about structuring the space for the lifestyle you want to live. It's about reflecting who you are and what you love in your surroundings. So, if the season is one you love, or if you just want to have a new look and feel to your space, then don't be afraid of adding that seasonal touch, but make it all yours!