If You Only Decorate One Spot In Your House for Christmas, It Should Be This

Understated Elegance

Add an understated touch to your entryway for all of the Christmas impact with no time-consuming decorating. Greet your guests with greenery by adding a lush garland to your banister. It is elegant and simple, a touch that is perfect for busy households (or for houses in which too much holiday red clashes with the decor).

Make a garland yourself by using the leftover branches from your Christmas tree, or ask the Christmas tree farm for extra evergreen branches. Tied together, they add a festive touch to any railing. Finish things off with a bowl of ornaments that match your color scheme.

Magnolia Magic

Put a Southern spin on your stairway garland with the addition of a cluster of magnolia leaves—green, brown, gold, and clustered with a beautiful, cascading silk ribbon. It will add personality to any garland, plus you can customize the dried magnolia leaves with metallic paint in gold or silver hues.

Wreaths with Wow

For classic holiday decor, hang Christmas wreaths throughout your foyer. A lush wreath hung by the door welcomes guests, and a series of smaller wreaths tied with ornaments and cheery red-and-white ribbon line the stairs.

Sparkling Greenery

Brighten up your stairs with an illuminated holiday flair. Take a thick garland and string sparkling lights through the length of it. Continue the Christmas tree's festivity by hanging greenery on the stair railing, even on the second floor. Hang oversize ornaments tied with contrasting ribbon to the garland for even more sparkle.

Casual Christmas

Create a vision of effortless holiday cheer with a long, pretty garland. It will play beautifully with a foyer of warm whites and woods. This low-key garland gives off an effortless vibe woven through the stair railing slats. It's festive but doesn't try too hard, and it's one of the quickest decoration installations you'll ever enjoy.

Dramatic Decor

If your stairway is begging for decorations, go over the top with layers of verdant greenery. This thick garland incorporates cascading branches, plus a strand of magnolia leaves nestled within the greenery. Gather the garland at the landings for visual interest, or create decorative rosettes with additional magnolia leaves and pinecones.

Regal Reds

Add elegant touches of red to your home with a simple table runner and red candles in your best silver candlesticks. Perfect for a holiday dinner party, these understated touches rely on the vibrancy of the red pieces, plus the addition of evergreen accents—a pine garland with magnolia leaves on the stairs and deep evergreen on the appetizer table.

Festive Bronze

This home incorporates a beautiful garland on the stairs but trades the typical red-and-green palette for green and bronze tones. A gorgeous, burnished ribbon is tied at the landing and contrasts beautifully with the deep green garland. Instead of dramatic decoration at the foyer, this home draws the eye inward, emphasizing a glittering gold wreath hung in the living room window at the back of the house.

Decked-Out Lighting

Use existing furnishing as an opportunity to add extra Christmas decor in the entryway. This tip is handy if your entrance is smaller, so you can still add holiday cheer without overwhelming the space. Match the greenery on pendent lighting to the trailing greenery on the staircase railing for a cohesive look.

Merry Mirrors

There's no need to remove your mirrors to make room for Christmas decor. Add a hanging wreath in front of your entryway mirror and create a picture-perfect spot filled with holiday decor that still functions for daily use. If you don't want to occupy the precious mirror real estate, add greenery to the sides or top of the mirror.

Berry Beautiful

Replace your everyday fruit bowl with holiday-specific berries and greenery. This simple tip instantly changes the space into a more festive environment but maintains the classy display. Don't be afraid to mix citrus fruits in with holly berries. Topping any arrangement with pine needles or fake foliage makes it a cozy winter container.

Triple Cheery Wreaths

Double—or triple—the wreaths that are hanging in your entryway. Try arranging wreaths vertically or horizontally, depending on the space available in your foyer. Multiple wreaths can each have unique decorations, or try using similar ribbons or ornaments. If mixing different elements, try using a cohesive color palette to make the display look more uniform.

Adorn the Windows

Create a winter wonderland scene on your windows, even if you don't expect to see an inch of snow for Christmas. Cardinals are prevalent in Christmas decor, so put these feathery friends front and center by placing them on a shelf near the windows. Use green and red plaid ribbons and fake branches to build the scene.

Walk the Red (and Green) Carpet

Find ways to incorporate classic red and green into your entryway through area rugs. A runner invites guests into your home and is even more festive when adorned in Christmas motifs or cheerful colors. With a bright runner or area rug, the remaining decor can be more subtle, which makes decorating simpler for you.

Forever Fresh

Invest in decorations that you can use year after year. Rather than splurging on cut flowers that won't make it past Christmas, source pretty ribbons made from luxe velvet or satin to deliver a sprinkling of holiday hues.

Floral Refresh

How to incorporate flowers into seasonal decor without breaking the bank? Opt for dried blooms. These dried hydrangeas were spray-painted gold to bring a little celebratory sparkle to the glossy magnolia leaf garland.

Blue Christmas

For a party-ready palette that doesn't rely on traditional reds and greens, look to your year-round furnishings and decor. Going all in on your home's standout shade feels equal parts festive and clever.

Small Delights

If you don't have room in the entry for an enormous tree or grand statement piece, dial up the holiday mood with a complementary wreath hung against a mirror or the back of the door. Bonus points if you attach it with an elegant ribbon that ties into the room's existing color scheme.