How to Decorate for the Holidays Without Overwhelming Your Home 🌲

In this episode of Design Unscripted, Manuella shares how to create a warm and festive holiday home without overwhelming your space. From choosing a cohesive palette to editing before you decorate, layering textures, elevating your lighting, and keeping your tree sculptural and simple, this guide shows you how to embrace the season with intention. If you have ever stepped back from your holiday decor and thought, “Why does my house suddenly feel chaotic?” this episode will help you bring back the calm in a beautiful way.

For more design tips and behind the scenes moments, follow Manuella on Instagram, subscribe on YouTube, and join her Substack community.

 You can also read the Elle Decor article she was quoted in, where she shares her approach to styling a holiday tree.

And if you want to bring a little more warmth into your home this season, shop Manuella’s favorite holiday candles mentioned in the episode.

Chapters

• 0:00 Intro: Why Your Holiday Decor Feels Chaotic
• 0:39 The Real Problem with Holiday Decorating
• 1:08 Start With a Clear Vision
• 1:40 Choose a Cohesive Holiday Color Palette
• 2:24 Edit Before You Decorate
• 2:51 Choose One or Two Focal Points
• 3:22 Layer Texture, Not Objects
• 4:15 Lighting Is Your Secret Weapon
• 4:50 Decorate Shared Areas Only
• 5:27 Keep Your Tree Simple and Sculptural
• 6:22 Scent and Sound Count as Holiday Decor
• 6:58 Give Yourself Permission to Stop Early
• 7:18 Outro and Ways to Connect

Transcript

Have you ever finished decorating for the holidays, stepped back… and thought, “Why does my house suddenly feel chaotic?”
 If so, you’re not alone.

Welcome back to Design Unscripted.
 Today we’re talking about how to make your home feel warm and festive, without overwhelming your space.

There’s something about December that makes people want to put up every décor item they’ve ever owned. And suddenly your home goes from calm and collected to… visually overstimulating.

So I want to walk you through how to decorate for the holidays in a way that feels warm, intentional, and sophisticated, without overwhelming your space.

THE REAL PROBLEM

The reason holiday décor so often feels cluttered is simple. Most people are layering their decorations on top of whatever is already out. They’re adding more color, more texture, more shiny things… and hoping it feels cohesive.

But design doesn’t work that way.
 You can’t add ten things and expect calm.

The real secret to a cozy holiday home is not how much you add. It is how intentional you are about what you choose.

START WITH A CLEAR VISION

Before you buy anything, before you take anything out of storage, ask yourself one question.
 How do I want my home to feel this season?

Do you want it to feel minimal and elegant?
 Warm and classic?
 Winter white and tonal?
 Or natural and organic?

Choosing the feeling first makes everything else so much easier. It gives you direction, and it also stops you from grabbing random décor “just because it’s cute.”

A clear vision prevents clutter.

CHOOSE A COHESIVE HOLIDAY COLOR PALETTE

Holiday decorating gets really overwhelming when every room has a different theme.

One of the easiest ways to make your home feel elevated is to choose two or three colors and stick to them everywhere.

Neutrals with gold.
 Winter whites with champagne.
 Deep greens with wood and natural textures.
 Or even a monochromatic palette.

This instantly makes your home feel designed, even if you are only decorating a few areas.

And a quick tip. Metallics count as part of your color palette, so mix them intentionally. Gold and silver can absolutely work together when the tones feel cohesive and the placement is balanced.

EDIT BEFORE YOU DECORATE

This is the part most people skip.

Before you add holiday pieces, remove some of your everyday décor.
 Clear surfaces create breathing room.
 Take away small objects you don’t need right now.
 Move things off counters, console tables, and coffee tables.

Remember, editing matters just as much as decorating. Your holiday décor will actually look better when it is not competing with everything else.

Once editing is done, let’s decide where to add the hero décor items.

Instead of placing little bits of holiday décor everywhere, choose one or two focal points to make an impact.

Maybe the focal point is your tree,
 or a beautiful garland on the staircase,
 or a sculptural wreath in your entryway.

Even just one strong moment feels elevated, whereas twenty small moments feel cluttered.

Just like in styling, your space feels more elevated when there is one focal moment that guides everything else.

Just like in styling, having one defined focal point keeps everything feeling cohesive.

And once that main moment is set, everything else becomes about supporting it, which brings us to one of my favorite design principles for the holidays, which is to layer texture and not objects.

LAYER TEXTURE, NOT OBJECTS

Texture is what gives a room its sense of warmth and coziness, and it does that without adding visual clutter.

When you think about holiday decorating, don’t just think ornaments and objects. Think about how the room feels.

Swap in warmer materials like cashmere pillows, thick knit throws, soft rugs, faux fur, velvety textures… anything that adds that soft, inviting energy. You are enhancing the atmosphere, not crowding the space.

Natural textures work beautifully too, even if it is just a simple woven basket with extra blankets.

These subtle layers make the room feel lived-in, comforting, and seasonal… without adding anything that competes with your focal point.

And once those textures are in place, there is a key element that can instantly transform the mood of your home, and that is lighting.

LIGHTING IS YOUR SECRET WEAPON

I always say that lighting is half the mood of a room, and during the holidays it is everything.

Instead of adding more décor, adjust your lighting.

Dim the overhead lights or turn them off.
 Turn on your table lamps and wall sconces.
 Light candles.
 Use warmer bulbs.
 Let your tree be a source of ambient light.

Lighting creates holiday magic without adding any visual noise.

DECORATE SHARED AREAS ONLY

The next thing, and it is such an important one, is to decorate shared areas only.

Here is what this means:

You do not have to decorate every single room.
 You don’t need garlands in your bathroom.
 You don’t need mini trees in your kitchen.
 You don’t need holiday signs on every shelf, on any shelf actually. This applies all the time.

Your holiday décor should live in the shared spaces like your entryway, living room, and dining area. It is where they will be enjoyed the most. Editing where décor lives makes everything feel intentional.

Now let’s talk about your tree. This is usually the focal point, and the way you style it can completely change how the whole space feels.

KEEP YOUR TREE SIMPLE AND SCULPTURAL

I will bring in my own tree here as an example.
 My tree this year is literally champagne-colored branches with fairy lights. Minimal. Sculptural. Chic.

And guess what? It feels very festive.

You don’t need to go as simple as me, but you also don’t need to do a lot. A simple, thoughtfully edited tree can feel more elevated than something that is completely packed.

If you are adding ornaments, you can get creative with the placement, like grouping them asymmetrically so the eye moves upward, which is a tip I recently shared with Elle Decor. I will share the link in the show notes.

You can also consider just adding lights to the tree for a more understated look.

The point is to let the structure of the tree speak.

And once your tree is styled and your space feels visually balanced, this is where I love bringing in the other senses. I talk a lot about designing with all five senses in mind, and scent is such an important part of that, especially during the holidays.

SCENT AND SOUND COUNT AS HOLIDAY DECOR

This is honestly one of my favorite tips.

A great scent can shift the entire atmosphere without adding anything to your space. You all know I love a good candle. I will actually link some of my favorites in the show notes.

You should also consider sound.
 Design is really about creating an experience, and having a great playlist in the background elevates the moment.

GIVE YOURSELF PERMISSION TO STOP EARLY

The last tip I will share is to give yourself permission to stop early.

You don’t need to fill every gap or cover every surface.
 You don’t need to decorate like everything you saved on Pinterest or match what you see on Instagram.

Give yourself permission to do less, and do it intentionally.

That is all.

OUTRO

Thank you for listening to Design Unscripted.
 If this episode helped you rethink how you decorate for the holidays, share it with a friend or leave a quick rating. It helps so much.

And if you want more design tips, you can follow me on Instagram and subscribe to my YouTube and Substack for more behind-the-scenes content.

Thanks so much for listening.