Holiday Decorating Advice From Someone Who Loves Martha But Unfortunately Will Never Be Her

I’ll start off with an important, if obvious, disclaimer: this is not a guide for wannabe participants of The Great Christmas Light Fight. But if you are the kind of person who wants to dip more of a toe than you previously had into making your home—whatever size or shape it comes in—a little more festive this time of year, take a step further into holiday cheer with me.

Buy Vintage and on Sale

I have an aversion to waste, and unexplained Depression-era tendencies, so my first recommendation is do as much scrounging as you can. The dollar store is a great place to start if you’re low on budget but want to start sprucing, and vintage and antique shops constantly have old, extremely cute, decorations dustily propped somewhere, ones that are frequently less dependent on new plastic, and are more unique than a lot of what’s out there now.

Buying off season, or immediately before a holiday like Christmas, is a great way to get great deals—places like Home Goods, for example, will sell big bins of bulbs that will go a long way in padding out your collection. Staff writer for The New York Times Magazine, friend and (most importantly) known Christmas decoration obsessive Caity Weaver echoes all this. "BUY THE DECORATIONS ALL YEAR LONG," she wrote via email. "This won’t be very helpful to people this year since it’s almost Christmas (thank God!!!), but it’s the best way to amass a great collection for minimal cost. Of course, you’ll want to hit the after-season clearance sections (I got tons of sparkly decorative pumpkins at Walmart last weekend for 11 cents apiece for next Halloween). But you’ll also want to incorporate yard sales and thrift stores into your shopping. These places can put out holiday decor (intentionally or by accident) year round. When you only shop for holiday decorations around the holidays, you’re competing with everyone else for full-priced items. Disgusting!!! Why would you ever do that?" 

If you’re looking for something particular, Etsy and eBay are obvious but consistent resources. On the former, I’ve had my eye on getting a small silver tinsel tree for my dining table, and on the latter, I recently copped a collectable ornament for Caity who loves TastyKakes as well as Christmas—yes, it’s a TastyKakes ornament. And I love buying ornaments while on vacation, instead of say, a magnet, or a novelty koozie; the kitsch is perfect for a tree, you’ll actually use it, and then, when you’re starting to decorate, you’ll feel so pleased with your past self for having picked up a few new pieces already, ones that remind you of a fun vacation to boot.

Start Small and Keep It Minimal

Coco Chanel allegedly once said to look in the mirror before you leave the house and take an item off. While this dubious axiom is generally correct for clothing, you should approach your actual house (and the things within) in the opposite way.

Layering is the only way to decorate, so put things up, see how you like them, and then add a little more. Living in an apartment? A front door or window wreath (especially one that you can keep for a long time) never goes out of style—I like to throw on a few small ornaments and a bow or ribbon—and gives your neighbors something nice to peep at as they walk by. Plus, the smell is incredible and instantly sets the vibe, particularly if you are, like me, not a scented candle person, and aren’t in the mood that year for a lot of needle clean-up and tree care.

And there’s a reason college students love string lights, basic or fancier—the light is endlessly flattering, and when the sun sets at 4:30, a great way to keep the spirits up. If you’re unable to decorate the outside of your residence, you can string them around curtain rods on your windows. (I must admit I’m now in the habit of keeping mine up all year round, and realize I may need to upgrade to a more adult set to elevate the vibes.)

When it comes to color, I personally and controversially abide by the following rule: Small white for big areas, like a tree, or the exterior or interior of your home; colored bulbs must be large, retro, and only in targeted spots. Too much more can feel (to me) chaotic. But whatever lights you choose, starting with the basics for the outside or inside of your house is easiest; the first year I decorated the exterior, I simply strung them along the very edge of the roofline, and throughout the bushes in front. You won’t have to put the ladder in a precarious place and therefore eliminate the risk of falling off said ladder and heading to the ER. You’re welcome.

Speaking of lighting: there are so many beautiful menorahs out there these days you might have trouble choosing one. For those that don’t celebrate Hanukkah, a lot of various sizes of tapers are the ultimate mood setter, can be grouped around any number of things, and aren’t holiday-specific, meaning they won’t take up valuable space in your home if you’re not fully ready to commit to a real decorating plan year after year.  

Think Temporary

Don’t make things more complicated for yourself than you have to.—develop traditions that are low-impact and easy enough to execute. My downstairs neighbors have gotten in the habit of getting cute annuals from the local bodega that they put in the same pots and cycle through throughout the year depending on what the season is; poinsettias in December, mums for Fall, etc. And use fruits or vegetables, or sparkly items that don’t seem classically holiday—in the words of former Real Housewives of Beverly Hills star Yolanda Foster, "I love to use natural things." My family used to collect all the holiday cards we were sent and staple gun them to a large pole in the middle of our apartment—be the pole you wish to see in the world. (I also used to play make believe with our tree decorations, so if you have children in your life who you need to entertain, there’s a free game.) 

Have Patience and Experiment

It might take years for you to develop a collection that really feels robust, and that’s the fun of it (if you can stomach wild impatience, that is). The first Christmas I got a tree, I cut pretty pictures out of magazines like I was making a vision board and taped them to the back of cardboard. My parent’s first ornaments are still in rotation in my collection, and those seashells and painted jar lids are some of the pieces I look to with the most love. My friend Tracie managed to convince her mom to give her the Christmas village they had in their home when she was growing up, and she’s since added to it herself—it looks incredible. And as your collection grows, you can cycle out the pieces that mean less to you to make room for fancier things, and add texture to your decor. If you’re having a holiday gathering, turning it into a tree-trimming and/or asking people to bring an ornament or some kind of decor, which is a great way to introduce a different topic of conversation into the mix, and let your guests indulge in some childhood joy as adults. 

Cleaning Up

Let’s be honest, the least fun part of the job. I always set aside one afternoon to do it all—historically in my house it’s been New Year’s Day or the day after, because having decorations linger into January is more depressing than having to spend part of your day hungover cleaning up. At first, I just dedicated a large reusable shopping bag to my items, until I realized that lack of commitment was making things messier. So as your collection grows, investing in some actual plastic-lidded boxes will make you happier. In addition, Caity recommends being organized throughout the year as you buy ornaments: "As soon as you acquire something new, pack it away with your other decorations. If your memory is as bad as mine, you will be surprised and thrilled to unwrap everything you forgot you bought. This will put you in a festive mood." And that way, you won’t do what I did, and discover in March that chocolate had been left in a stocking that was packed away and a mouse found its way into it and destroyed the stocking and its remaining contents, causing havoc in the closet at large. Happy holidays! 

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Top image by  Aleksandar Nakic / Getty Images