Getting Your Cincinnati Custom Home Holiday-Ready

The holidays are coming, and during this festive time of year, you want to showcase your home in all of its glory. At Chris Gorman Homes, we love this time of year and all the decorating opportunities it brings. Getting your custom home ready for the holidays should be a fun, festive time, and we can help. Here are some ideas to get you started.

Declutter First

Before you start decorating, you need room to do so. This means you need to declutter as much of your home as possible. You will need areas and surfaces to decorate, and this is a great time to unload some items that you no longer love and enjoy using, too. A decluttered home will feel far more welcoming when it’s dressed up for the holidays.

Clean Everything

Next, spend some time cleaning. Wipe down surfaces, vacuum or sweep floors, and clean stains and other problems. Starting the decoration process with a spotless home will make it far more enjoyable to do.

Create a Welcoming Entryway

The first step in making your home a home for the holidays is to create a welcoming, festive entryway. Do what makes you happy with this, but make it something that welcomes people warmly and has a touch of holiday cheer.

Start outside your home. A holiday welcome mat, wreath, and garland around the doorway will set the stage for the welcome people will receive inside. Small potted faux evergreen trees flanking either side of the door are a good touch. If you have railing on your steps, hang some outdoor lighted garland on it.

Inside the home, set up a console or entryway table, and add some decorations to it. Use a throw rug in a festive holiday print to make the space feel even more personalized. Swap out your existing artwork for something with a festive touch. If you have enough room, add a small Christmas tree to the space, but keep the décor on it simple. Some lights and a few hanging balls are sufficient. Since one of the modern home building trends is a large, open entryway, this should be easy to do.

Decorate!

If setting up your entryway gets you in the holiday mood, you are ready to move on to the rest of the house. Here are some tips to get you started.

Focus on the Fireplace

If your home has a custom fireplace, this is the perfect place to start your decorating. Add garland and decorations to the mantle, then put some cozy throw rugs or pillows around the hearth. If you aren’t going to use the fireplace, put a candle arrangement inside. The fireplace can be a focal point as you get your home ready for the holidays.

Add Holiday Scents

A festive holiday home should smell like the holidays. Use cinnamon sticks and scented candles to give it that holiday smell. Plan ahead with your baking so you can have fresh-baked treats before you entertain, and the smell of those treats will add to the holiday scents of your home.

Create a Holiday Table

Setting the table during the holidays is an art form. Start with a table runner in a festive print, then build the rest of your decor off of that. Perhaps you want to have placemats and holiday place settings, or maybe you want a centerpiece to draw all the attention. Make sure you leave enough room for the food, because no holiday celebration is complete without beautiful and tasty things to eat, but don’t be afraid to make your table look quite festive.

Build a Tree Display 

Your holiday tree is an important part of your decorations if it is part of your customs. Many families will have a tree that displays sentimental ornaments, while others will choose a themed set of decorations. Either way, you need to choose your style and keep it consistent as you trim your tree. Consider having your tree’s décor blend in beautifully with the rest of the décor in that room for a pulled-together look.

Keep Consistency

Decorating for the holidays in a custom-built home gives you a chance to flex your decorating style, but try to be consistent. If you want to decorate in all one color scheme, do so. If you want different colors, consider having each room have its own theme, but do your best to have something that draws the different elements into each other as you move from room to room.

Make Your Custom Home Shine This Holiday Season

As you get your home ready for the holidays, remember all the reasons you chose a modern, newly-built home. Capitalize on the parts of your custom dream home that you love most in your decorating style as you prepare to celebrate the holidays at home. If you don’t already have a custom home, reach out to Chris Gorman Homes to learn more about our home building process in Cincinnati, and let next holiday season be the chance to let your dream home shine. You can also view our gallery to get more decorating ideas you can implement this year.