Decorating your home for the season can be stressful and overwhelming. Trying to get that stocking hung perfectly and using the right number of lights as not to blind your in-laws when they pull into your driveway. It doesn’t have to be this way though! Decorating your home for the holidays should be a fun, rewarding experience and not just another item on that to-do list.
We enlisted the help of our agents who shared some photos of their own homes and their best decorating tips.
Tip 1: Up-cycle from around your home
Marion Agent Bernadette Kelly likes to reuse things from inside and outside her home when she decorates for the holidays. Here she used an old silverplate water pitcher and charger, rustic candlesticks, and greens and winterberry from her yard. She suggests starting with a color theme – in this case, silver – to unite the disparate pieces and then add greens, particularly cascading greens as they are very forgiving in an arrangement. Bernadette uses a floral frog in the bottom of the pitcher to hold the branches upright for better more precise drape. Time to put it together: about 10 minutes!
Tip 2: Don’t be afraid to go for the “White” Christmas
Chatham Agent Sharon Mabile shared this fabulous photo of her White Christmas Tree. Growing in popularity locally, white trees, and colored trees in general, are especially popular in the midwest and south. It is a great way to bring in the frivolity of the season while letting you stick to a color theme of your choosing. Plus, it saves a tree!
Find some other great ideas for white Christmas decorations.
Tip 3: The importance of the mantel
The hearth is often the center of the home, a true focal point of many living rooms, so, don’t forget to decorate the mantel. Lights, garland, candles, pine cones and mini-trees 
are all easy ways to spruce up your living areas.
For those who hang stockings, the mantel is the perfect place to add decoration!
Osterville agent Debra Caney and Falmouth agent Lynn O’Neill both have different takes on their mantels, but both are incredibly festive. We love them both!
Tip 4: Utilize your fireplace
Speaking of mantels, whether it is used regularly or hasn’t been touched in years, as we mentioned, a fireplace is often the focal point of a living room. With that in mind, consider placing your tree and other decorations near the fireplace for that added warmth and glow.
Tip 5: Get Crafty!
Barnstable Agent Laurie Hayes took made a trip to the lumber yard, then crafted and painted this reindeer that now sits proudly on her front lawn. Projects like this, or building a wreath, or hanging lots of lights, are a great way to spend time with family or friends. The feeling you get from creating something with your own two hands is indescribable. What a great way to amp up your holiday spirit!