Welcoming Winter: Ideas for Festive Decorations for a Carolinas Home

The Halloween decorations are down. Or at least you have that task on your to-do list. But that means you need to start thinking about how to decorate for the holiday season. These ideas for festive decorations for a Carolinas home can help you spruce up your house for the season.

Here in North Carolina and South Carolina we don’t always see winter snow. That could change this year with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration predicting a wet wintry season in the south thanks to an El Niño influence. Yet it depends also on the temperatures and cold air setups, and those are more challenging to predict.

Yet whatever the actual winter weather holds in store, you may still be looking ahead to the holidays wanting to put up festive decorations. It helps get everyone in the spirit of the season!

To give you get some fresh ideas for 2023, we’ve rounded up some fun suggestions for both outdoor and indoor decorating for your winter home.

Outdoor holiday decor ideas

There are many different styles of home, which can make decorating more interesting. If you have a Craftsman-style or a classic Colonial Brownstone home in Charlotte, for example, you may take a different approach than someone with coastal luxury home on Kiawah River. We’ll try and keep our suggestions more architecturally agnostic for convenience.

#1 Get out the garland

Simply adding a garland around your front door can make your house feel more festive to guests (and your many online shopping delivery drivers!). If you have columns, balconies, or fencing, you can hang pine greens there too to complete the look.

Adding lights to any of these garlands brightens the effect with some evening sparkle.

You can find DIY garland ideas on Pinterest or learn how to make your garland look fuller.

#2 Fill planters with evergreens

Fill your planter pots around the exterior of your home with fresh evergreen branches. Home decorator Holly J suggests mixing fresh and faux for more color. She puts sugar pine cones and faux red berries amidst her greenery to make the arrangements even prettier. You might also add birch logs for added texture.

#3 Get creative with accessories

Of course you can start a gallery of inflatables on your lawn and roof. Or you can simply add small touches to accessorize your exterior and add a personalized touch. For instance, you might:

• Tie festive bows around the neck of galvanized metal cans
• Put velvet bows or ribbon swags on your doors and windows
• Fill a festive wooden box with birch logs
• Thread lights through a vintage wooden sled
• Put out festive pillows on your porch
• Hang skates out with sprigs of cedar, pine, or holly sprigs in the boot

#4 Let there be light

Instead of strands of lights you might go with lanterns and luminarias for more traditional appeal. We like Better Homes & Gardens inexpensive cranberry luminarias. Fill vases halfway with faux snow tucked around a pillar candle. Then add real cranberries to the top of the snow to light your walkways in a pretty way. You can put greenery around the vases for another color contrast.

Indoor decor for the holidays

You may have already applied some of our recent suggestions on how to embrace Hygge and give your interior spaces a cozy feel. But, there’s still room for seasonal touches that add to the festive fun for you and your family and any guests you may welcome over the holidays.

#1 Bring the outdoors in

Nature-inspired decor is predicted to be a top trend for 2023’s holiday season. Old World Christmas calls for “woodland whimsy.” They suggest you use pinecones, rustic wooden ornaments, and garlands made of twigs and berries. You might also use faux fur tree skirts and animal-themed ornaments.

Adding garland to your banisters and using it to bookend shelves and (ahem) spruce up your bar cart can also have a warm and welcoming holiday impact.

Another idea is to make a centerpiece of pomegranates, red berries, pinecones, and birch logs for your holiday table or front entryway. Southern Living suggests adding ornaments scattered at the base of your centerpiece to complete the effect.

#2 Set the table

Why wait for the big night of your holiday feast to enjoy the beauty of a decorated table? Before Thanksgiving, Christmas, Hanukkah, or Kwanzaa you can add stunning accents to your dining table: Consider these options:

• Go with gold or brass for a warm feel
• Make a statement with a bold pop of color
• Play with patterns and color
• Arrange your flowers on the messy side
• Combine outdoorsy elements with your fine china
• Make it sparkle with crystal candlesticks (try a thrift store if you don’t have any) and fruit or gourds painted metallic or other shiny ornaments

#3 Fire up your fireplace

Even if it isn’t cold out, a crackling fire is always warm and welcoming (even if it’s fake). Dressing up your hearth to suit the holiday you’re celebrating can create a focal point in the room. Bows, garlands, wreaths, string lights, mantel mirrors, frames, ribbons, menorahs, candles…the options are endless for creating a mantel that makes an impression.

#4 Have fun with flowers

Some people will go every year to poinsettias or, here in the south, Magnolia leaves. But you can also get creative with flowers for other holidays too. Go for a bouquet of blue and white flowers for your Hanukkah celebration. You might have a hard time finding blue at the florists, but you can bet you’ll find some faux stems at a craft store. Or put together a black, red, and green arrangement for Kwanzaa.

Whether you live in or around Charlotte, NC, Myrtle Beach, SC, or Charleston, SC, Saussy Burbank hopes these holiday decor ideas are just a small part of a wonderful winter season for you and yours.