The Holiday season is truly the most wonderful time of year. Whenever November 1st rolls around I start dreaming of Christmas trees, holiday baking and gift ideas. While decorating for the holidays is, oftentimes decorations can be expensive and wasteful.

This past September I shot an epic holiday shoot with Style At Home. Having photographed the interior of a beautiful home here in Kelowna the month prior, I knew it would be the perfect backdrop for elevated Christmas decor and creating a cozy, winter-y setting to grace the pages of SAH’s holiday decor issue.

The team got creative in dreaming up ways to add holiday flare to the space, and without breaking the bank we were able to use existing decorations and create the perfect, elevated holiday atmosphere that was inviting and .

Below are five tips to decorating for the holidays on a budget:

• Bedding. This tip comes from my mom who is a saver through and through and never misses out on a good deal. At the end of each holiday season, she eagerly hits up Pottery Barn and always finds some beautiful bedding that’s perfect for the holiday season. She pulls it out each Christmas and it adds the most perfect holiday touch to the bedroom. We used it for the SAH and love how it complemented Tracy’s guest bedroom.

• Greenery. We knew we wanted some kind of wreath or greenery to adorn the windows in the kitchen, but when we received some quotes back we knew it was unrealistic to have five or so made (especially in September when they wouldn’t last until Christmas!). Chandra’s friend Marie took it upon herself to make stunning Boxwood wreaths that were just the touch we needed above the sink windows. There are tons of wreath tutorials online, but if you’re wanting a simpler option, simply hanging greenery is a great option too!

• Displaying Ornaments. Before decorating the tree closer to Christmas day, displaying ornaments is an adorable way to showcase family heirlooms or festive balls when they would otherwise sit in a box. We used an old scale that Tracy had in her pantry, and filled it with ribbons and hand-made ornaments from Crawford Creek Designs!

• Wrapped Gifts on Display. One of my favourite activities to do around the holidays is spend an afternoon carefully and creatively wrapping gifts. I spend untold hours each year ensuring that the presentation is just as beautiful as what’s inside! I truly enjoy getting creative with wrapping and love using different ribbons, calligraphy, pictures and paper.

• Lights. Last but not least, adding any kind of string light to an area in your home will make it feel festive and cozy. Fairy lights are so dainty and subtle, and add a beautiful sparkle to any space. We wound them around snow globes, displayed ornaments and smaller trees to create holiday vignettes around the house!

There you have it! I hope you found some inspiration in these images. The shoot took a lot of team work and many, many hours of staging and shooting, but I couldn’t be happier with the final images.

Do you have any holiday decorating tips that are easy and cost effective?

XOXO

Mackenzie