Every year the glossy pages of Christmas magazines brim with new ideas, as well as variations of the classics. Retail stores are keeping pace, buoyed by the National Retail Federation’s prediction that holiday retail sales will increase by 2.3 percent this year. This is a dramatic increase over 2009, when sales rose a paltry 0.4 percent, and is just shy of the 10-year average of a 2.5 percent increase.
With consumers becoming more confident in their spending, retailers are adopting a cautiously optimistic mindset. And the media, including holiday magazines, reflect this by focusing on this year’s top Christmas decorating trends: small luxuries combined with a sense of modern naturalness.
Indeed, the final report from the Christmasworld exhibition occurring in Frankfurt, Germany, earlier this year and attended by more than 30,000 trade visitors, reports that opulent embellishments on Christmas decorations are in vogue for 2010. With consumers continuing to seek security in the familiar, Christmas trees remain popular, especially when decorated with large balls or imaginatively designed ornaments of good quality. The report goes on to recommend either live cut or artificial Christmas trees which, when made of high-quality polyethylene, are indistinguishable from real ones.
Elements of luxury
Interior designers featured in House and Home, a popular home design magazine published in Louisiana, demonstrate luxury by focusing on small touches. A decorator can create a luxurious look at low cost by varying the textures of different fabrics and the luster of metals, and combining them with jewel-toned hues. For instance, velvet is a winter classic that, with its heavy nap, offers a sumptuous touch and soft feel. Velvet-covered pillows, a velvet table runner or a bolt of the fabric casually thrown over an accent chair create an intimate and inviting atmosphere. To balance the heavy look, lace can be added, creating a contrast of strength and delicacy.
As with fabrics, metals have different qualities, and each type adds its own unique and luxurious touch. Mercury balls instantly create an Old World Christmas, especially when enhanced by silver items such as candlesticks and serving pieces. To keep costs down, a homeowner may select small Christmas tree ornaments made of silver, pewter, glass, mercury and crystal. Since many of these ornaments can be heavy, causing tree boughs to bend, the decorator may want to purchase an artificial Christmas tree, which is strong and durable, while still looking natural.
Adding textures and sheen to holiday decor creates a luxurious look that can be relatively inexpensive, leaving the homeowners with money in their pockets.
An au naturel Christmas
Creating a natural look for Christmas can be one of the most inexpensive and easiest ways to go. Magazines such as Christmas Cottage offer an abundance of decorative choices inspired by nature’s bounty. Materials such as wood, burlap, tin, berries and pine boughs offer various options. When combined with a foundation of greenery, items made of these media evoke the natural world. For instance, placing pine boughs on the fireplace mantle or wrapping them around banisters adds a large dose of color and a fragrance that is distinctly Christmas.
The most outstanding of greenery options is always the Christmas tree. Because real trees often require continual maintenance, an artificial one might make more sense. High-quality artificial Christmas trees are well-constructed, and sought after for their life-like appearance. In fact, many who choose a natural look for their Christmas decor prefer artificial trees because their needles maintain their color and the full, lush tips of the species they represent. There is no yellowing or change of appearance over time.
The accent to the foundation is like icing on a cake. On the Christmas tree, ornaments made of tin and wood add a crafty touch, popular this holiday season. According to the Christmasworld report, the look of hand-craftedness is another trend for home decorating in 2010. Nestling poinsettias into the branches of a tree can add a burst of color while lessening the time it takes to decorate it. And, Christmas Cottage offers a new way to use the classic dried cranberries: Combine them with other seasonal fruits to create an element of class and surprise. Kumquats and almonds present a perfect colorful balance for the richly colored berry. Decorators can even place a fruit mixture in clear vases, using them to safely anchor a candle, creating another new spin on a Christmas classic.
Christmas trends for 2010 reflect the evolving mindset of the American consumer, and manufacturers of seasonal decor agree that this year’s consumers are selecting products of high value while paying close attention to quality and individuality. They continue to demonstrate a desire for items which evoke tradition, beauty, and the comforts associated with Christmas.