Are you ready to decorate for the holidays? If you want to have your home feel designed as well as decorated, a few steps can help you reach your goal.

Adding decorations requires completely re-thinking your space. Do you have a tree that crowds the room? Consider what you can remove to make space for what is actually another piece of furniture for the duration of the holidays. You may even want to rearrange the room to allow the tree to be a focal point.

The same approach of removing before adding applies to accessories. Take as many of your everyday accessories out of the space as possible. If storage is limited, you may want to temporarily pack them in your holiday storage boxes. Decorations tend to be vivid and sparkling. Too many other items in the space can make it feel cluttered and overwhelming.

When you decorate your space, don’t feel obligated to throw holiday at every spot in the room. Instead, build tableaus using your decorations combined with natural elements such as holly and pine boughs. Do you have a collection of snow globes? Instead of scattering them, group them together to create an appealing display. Add a few shiny round ornaments or some tinsel, and you have an inviting holiday element.

Finally, find consistent elements to pull your holiday decorations together. Maybe you can pick up several bunches of two-color holly at a florist and use that to connect your holiday décor. Possibly staying with a few colors or a style will help your decorations feel like they are planned rather than random. Don’t be afraid to use contrast to make things interesting. Take a look at how the photo combines rustic natural elements with classic white and gold decorations – that took courage but it works.

Remember, you get to start over every year – experiment and have fun, and your home will be an inviting place for you and all of your holiday guests.