The calendar is counting down to the holidays and you may be mentally prepared with a list of tasks you would love to accomplish. The excitement awakes you as you prepare to dust off those carefully labeled boxes from the attic. Rummaging through every piece, you recall the story behind it. Each garland strand is another memory that will be represented on the tree.

Celebrate the holidays by fashioning a winter spectacular within your own home that won’t have you asking Santa for extra cash this Christmas. Whether you choose to throw a grand soiree and show off that new outfit of yours or create a down-to-earth family gathering, you can host the most memorable holiday extravaganza. But don’t take anyone else’s word on it; people who decorate early are shown to be happier, so why not throw the biggest bash you can imagine! The following are a few ideas so you can whip up your most fun-filled holiday season to date!

Bedroom Beautiful

There is no reason to take out a second mortgage to have the holiday home of your dreams. Brainstorm different themes for every room of the house beginning with the master bedroom.  This space should be your getaway when everything else starts to get overwhelming. With a few changes, it can be the calming holiday oasis you can’t wait to escape to. You can select sheer colors that you find appealing, however, plain gossamer-like inspired curtains for your light-up headboard should suffice. It will emit a warm, muted glow that is soft enough for day and night. Faux automated LED candles displayed on a mirrored plate can reflect even more light. This can easily be arranged with sprigs of holly, peppermints, and perhaps some false iridescent snow.

Decorating can be safe for your walls, too. Pick some damage-free strips and hooks from the local craft store. Rummage through the dollar bin for some inexpensive knick-knacks. Holiday-inspired figurines can be used as-is or just sprayed metallic gold or silver. Add a few color-themed yuletide throw pillows on the bed with a cable knitted quilt for some extra comfort and joy. You can always add on as the holiday approaches or keep your room simple for a special sanctuary you can escape to.

Kidding Around

If you have kids in the family, creating a specialized area for them is a wonderful way to say you want your guests to have fun and be at ease. Utilize the toys that already occupy your children’s room for their own Santa’s workshop. Purchase a tree the children can decorate with ornaments of everyday items. String up paper clips or use a dull-tipped needle to string popcorn for garland—just make sure the popcorn isn’t buttered. And make extra, as you may find yourself nibbling away at the decorations! Paper Chains are easy to make, fun to create, and can provide leisure that doesn’t have to be experienced in front of a screen. Kids can even ask friends to come over and help to leave their mark behind on the tree.

Smaller stuffed animals can be hung from the branches with a bit of ribbon or placed underneath in decorative boxes to fill up space until the big man comes for a visit. Old toys that no longer serve a purpose can also make for great ornaments. Carefully use a hot glue gun and some ribbon for an interesting addition. You can even take a piece of construction paper and bunch it up into a ball then drizzle it with some glitter paint or glue. Let dry, then spray/paint some decoupage to harden it. When using this for any craft, you can pour some into a separate cup and add color and/or glitter for an extra bit of pizzazz to your project. No room for a tree? No worries! Pick out a great string of RGB Christmas lights to enhance the atmosphere of the room. Just a simple arrangement of lights can brighten up any space that your kids will totally love.

Be Our Guest

For a guest room, you can style it as a Victorian Christmas theme that even your mother-in-law will love. Decide if a full-size or a smaller tree will work best for the guest quarters. Hanging a wall-length mirror with pine garland, intertwined with dried or plastic red berries adds a pop of color to space. Candles (LED for ambiance, real for decoration) can be placed on the nightstand and accompanied by a tray with a beautiful water carafe, some homemade cookies, holiday books, and other tidbits you would like your guest to enjoy. Changing the linens to festive patterns or colors brings in some holiday cheer. Add yet another whimsical touch to the room with handmade cut-out paper snowflakes on the tree, ceiling, or walls. Add fishing line so it seems as if the flakes are floating in the air.

Deck The Halls

The majority of your friends and family will most likely be spending time in the living room and the kitchen. To make it easier for you, get a prelit tree that doesn’t need much attention besides trimming. As you dig out the box of ornaments, you don’t have to worry about the potential of vacuuming rogue pine needs or watering the tree. You and the family can spend time together arranging the decor on not just the tree, but the rest of the house, as well. Adding some flair by replacing regular pictures with holiday-themed one are a great accent. Garland can be hung on stair banisters with or without lights. Add a finishing touch to under the tree with wrapped boxes to give the illusion of a mountain of gifts waiting to be opened.

Party Time

Since you are most likely to host an array of family and friends, get party-ready with decorative disposable china. It won’t break the bank and your good china won’t be broken either if dropped. If you are entertaining for a large crowd, catering can be a pretty penny. Pot luck is a great money-saving idea in addition to involving your guests in the festivities by asking them to bring their favorite dishes to the party.

During this time of year, the hustle and bustle can be daunting. The last thing on your mind is what to wear. Shopping can be made easy if done online. Select from an array of short dresses that are both festive and match your style. You can even start a new tradition with your guests by showing up in holiday-themed pajamas or participating in “donning” that ugly sweater for a fun-filled contest.

Spread Holiday Cheer

Another part of the holiday season means there are families and individuals going without much celebration. Turn the hardships of others into a joyous holiday by helping those in need. There are many children in need of warm clothes for the winter and families less fortunate coming in from the cold for a warm meal. Gather your loved one and volunteer in one of the many soup kitchens this holiday season. Donate some of your clothing to the variety of associations that help those less fortunate. A great idea you can incorporate at your party and family gathering is the encouragement of canned goods for a local food pantry. The Christmas season reminds us of what we can do to benefit others and spend time with the ones we love.

For most people, nothing else can bring any room together like a gorgeous area rug. Aside from giving your living space the perfect finishing touch, it also adds warmth to your flooring system, carries out your color scheme and décor, and gives your room a stylish yet cozy look. However, when it comes to picking the right size for your rugs, things can get pretty tricky. To help you find the ideal rug size that would go well with your room, check out these tips below:

Measure the Dimensions of the Room

There’s nothing worse than seeing rugs that look like postage stamps in relation to the room’s dimensions. To avoid making this mistake, you must measure your rooms. Conversely, rugs that are too big for your room size will make your furniture pieces look like they’re in a dollhouse. One of the biggest mistakes people make is to use a rug that spills out of the space that’s intended for the furniture. Worse, some of these rugs are even large enough to touch the walls! Click here to read more common mistakes in placing rugs. 

The ideal border measurement between the rug’s edge and the wall is 8 to 12 inches. Before you go shopping, be sure that you have the measurements of your room while keeping your desired furniture arrangement in mind. Doing so will give you an idea of the rug that’s perfect for your space.

Use the Furniture Test

Large rugs work best for seating areas. If you’re thinking about using a rug to bring your dining room to life, make sure that all of your chair legs, as well as their stands, don’t feel and look cramped when you position them on the rug. The furniture test allows you to check if the chair legs are falling off the edges of your rug when your guests pull them out before they take their seats. When they don’t fit comfortably on the rug, this means that your rug is too small. 

Furthermore, when you’re going rug shopping for your dining room, be sure to get a rug that has the same shape as your dining table if you’re going for a cohesive look. However, you can also opt for something that features a contrasting look between round and square-shaped rugs.

If you’re looking for the perfect rug for your bedroom, keep in mind that you’re not required to place all of your bedroom furniture on the rug. In most cases, people forget that the main piece of the room is the bed and not the rug. Bedroom rugs are supposed to frame the bed. In order to effectively do this, you can choose a layout that has all of your furniture’s legs on the rug or you can opt for another layout that only has the bottom two-thirds of your bed positioned on your rug. Whichever layout you choose doesn’t matter as long as the portions of the rug that stick out on both sides of your bed are of equal measurements.

Learn to Improvise

In case you’ve already purchased a gorgeous rug that doesn’t fit, don’t worry. Try placing the front legs of your furniture on it and position them against the wall. You can also achieve a framing effect if you try taking all of your furniture pieces off your rug and placing the coffee table on it instead.