The holiday season is here, and with it means visits to friends and family, last-minute shopping, and thinking of new excuses to avoid eating Nana’s fruitcake. There’s a lot to do, and on many people’s to-do list is decorating their home to celebrate the season. You don’t necessarily need to haul out the holly as you decorate your doorstep for the holidays, but it is a wonderful way to embrace the holiday spirit and add a bit of wonder for you and everyone who passes by.

If you are looking for ideas for how to decorate your doorstep this year, we’ve got a few suggestions. Keep in mind that exterior decorations should always be prepared for unpredictable winter weather, so choosing waterproof pieces is a good idea. You can also apply these ideas to other areas of your home. In all your décor schemes, find things that fill you with holiday cheer and reflect the kind of image you want to create.

Don’t Forgo the Foliage

Winter isn’t exactly known for its abundance of plant life, yet it does have some flora that encapsulates hardiness in challenges and celebration through difficulty. Perhaps that’s why so many holiday decorations include evergreen bows. They can also be used in a variety of ways. Wreath on doors and windows is a classic, but you can also wrap railings and support columns in garlands of green. Try draping garland around your front door or on the porch overhang. 

Firs and pines aren’t the only foliage of the season, though. Of course pinecones and holly berries can be a fine addition to the way you decorate your doorstep for the holidays. Consider using them to spruce up garlands and wreaths or to fill up jars or even decorative lanterns. You might even try a wreath that is entirely made of holly berries and skip the greenery all together.

Of course many a holiday display is not complete without a few poinsettias. These festive plants are relatively easy to care for, and their red leaves add a burst of color to the winter landscape, a slash of scarlet against virgin snow.

Bold Strokes

Because color is such a powerful decorative tool, you might consider a new paint job as you decorate your doorstep this holiday season. Painting your front door can be a great way to change up the appearance of the front of your home. Consider a bold red, a rich green, or a soft gray, unless you want to embrace winter’s colder tones. A crisp navy or classic black can serve such color schemes.

Wrap It Up

For a more temporary addition of color, ribbon is a great decorative resource. You can use it to replace or augment garland wrapped around railings, and if you wrap it around your front columns, you can create a candy cane effect. Big bows above doors or even on windows make for great statement pieces.

Let There Be Light

A big part of holiday decoration magic is in the lights we use. There is something inspiring and wonderful about driving through a neighborhood and seeing each house framed like a gingerbread house, even in the dark. As you decorate your doorstep this year, consider extending the magic to the fringes of the roof. Holiday lighting comes in many forms, from strings to curtains to icicles.

You have your pick in the lighting department. White lights, colored lights, twinkling lights, lights in holiday shapes like stars and snowflakes. Your lights can even flash in time to music if you like.

You can also embrace the lights your home already has, especially if they are designed as lanterns. In fact, lanterns can be incorporated in your decorations whether they are lit or not. The same is true of candles. Consider using them to line your front stairs.

Odds and Ends

We have been focusing on general design elements, but it is the details that make the way you decorate your doorstep unique. What do you love most about the season? Find a way to incorporate these elements into your decorations. Consider small Christmas trees and large nutcrackers. Signs hanging from the door or propped in the corner can welcome guests or Old St. Nick. Your welcome mat may do the same or call visitors filthy animals.

If you want your porch to be a gathering place, add seating with festive cushions or throw blankets to stave off the winter chill. Buffalo plaid or tartans in similar color schemes are common. Feeling mischievous? Hang a sprig of mistletoe for incoming guests. Make your doorstep your own, and happy holidays from Brush Brothers to you.