Each Monday on the DesignQuotient™ blog, DesignCoach™ Los Angeles Designer James Swan answers readers’ questions. Post your design dilemma today.

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This week on the DesignCoach: Keeping Your Holidays Real

Q. It’s time to decorate our home for the holidays. My dilemma is simple…I don’t want my home looking like the holiday displays at every department store in the country. How can I make my home beautiful for the holidays without looking as slick and glossy as most window displays I see around town?

A. There is no getting around the “corporate” trappings retail holiday decoration concepts. The simple reason is that they are created and installed by corporations and they meet with their requirements for “selling” Christmas in their highly competitive business environment. Making your home a beautiful and personal reflection of YOU is key to avoiding a slick corporate approach to holiday decorating.

Here are 5 Steps to Beautiful-Holiday-Design:

1. What resources are at your disposal? Look through the attic, basement and spar closets and gather an accurate inventory of holiday decorations on hand. Then asses what resources you have in your community giving particular attention to crafts and unique handmade items that are unique to your area of the country. From hand-made wreaths to one-of-a-kind holiday stockings you need to know what special products you can easily (and often inexpensively) find in your own back-yard. I find that by using local arts and crafts you quickly and effectively avoid the “too corporate” look. The holiday season is about family…so make your decorations reflect things important to yours. Also consider your time. It’s a valuable resource so be responsible with how you use it. There are only 24 days until Christmas!

2. Create a “decoration map”. Put on paper the areas of your home which you want to decorate. WRITE IT DOWN. Just having these ideas bouncing around in your head is not enough. Commit your ideas to paper (list, annotated floor plan..etc.). By doing this you can break each area down into lists of what you “have” vs. what you need. Shopping becomes a snap.

3. Pick your theme. You can use one theme throughout the house or on a room-by-room basis. What inspires you? What makes you smile? What family traditions would you like to feature? Maybe you’re crazy for angel? Antique toys? Animals? Vintage glass ornaments? You decide and then notate your “map” accordingly.

4. Allocate your resources. Understanding what you have tells you what you need. Make your lists and then take a serious look at your budget. Realize that holiday decorations, like holiday traditions, roll-over from year to year. You may not get to everything on your lists this year… shop smart all year long and you’ll be that much closer to your dream when 01 December rolls around next year. Also there is nothing wrong with keeping things very simple. Sometimes JUST beautiful garland (sans the bows, bulbs and sparkling lights) be perfect. Mother Nature does still know what she’s doing.

5. Make a schedule. As we’ve said there are 24 days ahead which are filled with great demands on our time. Set reasonable goals and get everyone in the family involved. Time spent together is always time well spent.

Let us know if we can help with your design dilemma. Send us your questions and together let’s find Smart-Design-Daily