It’s that time of the year when most people have holiday decorating on their minds. Many homeowners add decorations where we’d like without much thought to existing home design elements or potential dangers or damage to the home. We’d like to get you to stop and think through some strategies to help make holiday decorating quicker and safer. After all, we provide professional holiday decorating services to property owners in the Bethesda, Maryland and greater Washington DC area so we have had plenty of experience with what works best.
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Holiday Decorating Tips for New Home Design
If you’re building a new home, one of the most proactive things you can do that will truly make your life easier down the road is to include holiday decorating elements into your home design. Incorporating specific ideas into your home design can help make decorating your home faster, safer, more economical, more energy efficient and more beautiful.
Here are some specific home decorating elements to include in your new home design:
- Outdoor outlets near gutters, mounted next to trees and mailboxes, or in other strategic locations.
- Easily accessible roof for adding lights.
- Adding outlets inside your home on counter tops, above cabinets or with recessed outlets make miniature villages come to life during your festive evenings, without the mess or irritation of running extension cords all over the home.
- Adding floor outlets can help reduce the need for extension cords and the fire harzards that come with overburdening outlets.
- Plan for storage. Consider any wasted space when you are designing your new home. Install window seats for storage in spacious hallways. Floor to ceiling closets can house standing and even decorated trees. Space under staircases can be more accessible with foyer cabinets and drawers.
How to Protect Your Home When Holiday Decorating
Homeowners who love to deck the halls around this time of year may be concerned about damaging surfaces with festive decorations.
Here are some smart solutions to typical decorating damage dilemmas:
- When you don’t want to use nails or create other permanent holes to hang decor, there are a couple approaches to consider. Are there already nails present or are there places where you wouldn’t mind some permanent nails or screws? For example: You want to hang eight stockings on your mantle, but you do not want eight hooks, nails or holes the rest of the year. How about ornate decorative accent knobs instead? These hold heavy stockings and look like they are permanent fixtures of the piece from New Year’s to Thanksgiving! In other places, take down non-essential frames, clocks and other wall hangings to use the existing nails. There are some cutting edge products in the hardware department of any store, that allow for attractive hooks that come down without damage. They even say how many pounds they can hold and include attractive faux finishes to match your room’s decor.
- Avoid decorative items with toppings that are loose or fall apart easily. Consider ways to secure these materials right after purchase. If you are a serious decorator, choose railings for that new porch that can be zip-tied around to alleviate the need for nails or staples.
- Pillars are a beautiful and expensive addition to any home and after such an investment, it’s hard to imagine using staples or nails to affix greenery for the holiday. The same can be said for intricate wooden banisters. In this situation, use tension instead of any permanent or damaging adhesive. For example: On staircases, use an over-sized clip found at the hardware store, to hold the top of your greenery. Wrap the remaining down the banister and clip again at the bottom. Clips can be tucked away in the leaves and the arrangement can be fluffed and added to afterwards to appear more full to your liking. A similar idea will work for your pillars.
- Consider decor designed for its purpose, that leaves nothing behind. Lawn arrangements that are anchored to the ground, outdoor shatter-proof ornaments and free-standing statues are just a few of the many options.
Is it Worth It To Invest in More Square Footage Purely For Holiday Storage?
Obviously this is a personal decision and depends on how much storage you need and what your existing budget is for your new home. However there are many who would subscribe to the theory that you can never have too much storage and whether you use it for the holiday or something else, it would most definitely never be wasted. Although it may be an additional expense at the time, if you end up purchasing storage containers or erecting some type of shed or other building later on you will simply absorb the cost later. This would most likely be a much lower quality solution that won’t last as long as a permanent closet or small room attached to your home. Square footage and storage only increase the home’s value and there is something to be said about protecting the money you’ve spent on your holiday decor.
The holidays certainly aren’t going anywhere, so holiday decor is not temporary. Your family will continue to grow and your love of the holiday season isn’t likely to go away. Perhaps your habits or even some of your growing collection of decor will go to your children or grandchildren someday. All the more reason to keep it safe and secure, while still maintaining your home in the same fashion.
Being a homeowner might mean a deeper investment in your holiday decorating, but this also means you have the freedom to take steps to avoid damages and create permanent solutions. This makes your holidays a little less stressful and improves the value and condition of your home.
The only true and reliable method for holiday decorating without damage is planning ahead both in purchases and home design. Please contact us for the best ways to prepare and protect your home during this holiday season and for all those to come. We can give you a free estimate for professionally decorating your home or business too!
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