Recently a friend of mine in the design industry asked that I write a blog post for her on Holiday decorating and planning. When I started to think about what to write I began to panic with all the time and work that decorating and preparing for the holidays requires. How is it already November? Where did the time go? 

I love the Holiday season. It's one of my favorite times of the year for bringing together family and friends. I love the lights, the sparkle of vintage glass ornaments and the smell of fresh pine. But, if I am being totally honest, adding the extra task of decorating and planning for guests to everything else on my plate these days makes for an overwhelming task and I fall victim to procrastination and the "I dont wannas".

While reading through my FB feed, I ran across the following bulletin from Nordstrom.

I LOVE what Nordstrom is doing...brilliant!! Thank you Nordstrom!!! It's about time a Big Box Retailer said NO to the push to have holiday out way before it's time! I sincerely hope that more retailers will follow suit. I really think it adds to the stress of the season for Christmas to be out in AUGUST!!! Seriously, ONE SEASON AT A TIME PLEASE! Back to the post and off of my soapbox, sorry.

So in reading the Nordstrom bulletin, I had a light bulb moment!!! The solution to my holiday decorating and planning anxiety was to embrace my own design philosophy of simple elegance; a design philosophy that I have always embraced and I think goes way back to my childhood. I remember my Mom saying "You could make a pototo sack look beautiful". And true to that, I can and I love the challenge. But mostly, I love the freedom that comes with using something so simple and creating something really elegant and beautiful. I think the lesson here is that there is beauty in everything. Beautiful holiday decor doesnt have to stress you out or break the bank...relax, and embrace the simplicity in ordinary things; add a bit of sparkle to it and there you have it..a simply elegant holiday season from decorations to the family feast.

I feel so much better now after my light bulb moment and I am ready to tackle my plans for the holidays. More later on what I will be putting together :)

Happy planning,

Kim