Laura’s holiday decorating: welcoming in the festive energy of the season
I love decorating and preparing my home for the holidays, this festive time of year is my Superbowl! Prepping for the holidays is family tradition. Growing up, the weeks leading up to Christmas were packed with festive events. I would help my mom, the queen of holiday decorating: making boughs, tying ribbons, and wrapping the front door like a present! My Italian my grandmother and great aunt would be busy cooking and baking (let’s face it they were always cooking and baking). My mother, great aunt, and grandmother may not have known what feng shui was, but they followed their own traditions for creating uplifting and nurturing energy in their homes.
Now, as a feng shui teacher and practitioner, I see how many of my favorite holiday decorating traditions align with feng shui principles: lifting the qi and creating a supportive environment for my family. Here is what I do to prepare my home and to welcome in the festive energy of the season:
Bring in nature and the wood element
One of my favorite ways to decorate is to bring in fresh greenery. I love the smell, and it’s such a great way to bring nature inside. Fresh greens are related to the wood element in feng shui, which is connected to vitality, family, and new beginnings. Wood energy is also about compassion and flexibility, which we could all use more of this holiday season. I make my own wreaths and boughs from the greens, branches, and berries I harvest and gather from the wild.
Making boughs, wreaths and planters with greens and sumac
The center of attention: the tree
I always get a local, fresh cut Christmas tree, and put it in the center of my home. From a feng shui perspective, the center of the home is the tai qi, which affects all other areas of the feng shui bagua map that surround it.
My fav type of fresh tree is a fraser fir. Decorated this year with my vintage 1950’s decorations.
I decided to use multi-coloured flights for the first time ever! Reminds me of
Christmas trees growing with the huge glass coloured tree lights.
Gathering red dogwood and sumac
I like to bring in red dogwood and sumac berries, both because they’re festive and because red is a powerful colour in feng shui. Red is an auspicious and protective, it’s also associated with fire energy. If you don’t already have red at your entryway (or front door), the holiday season is a great time to add it.
My haul: gathered red dogwood, spruce, pine, sumac and cedar
The finished door: hand-made wreaths and pots. Plus a fun festive welcome mat (why the broom? I am always sweeping away stale energy and inviting in new qi)
Lights and then more lights
A well-lit house with well-placed sparkly lights is really inviting, and welcomes in people and energy. Like red, lights are connected to the fire element, which is especially important to create balance during colder, darker times of the year. Plus, they are super pretty and make me happy.
Griswold-style amount of lights this year!
Gather around the hearth
The entire family, including our three pets, always gravitate to the family room when the fire is burning. Fireplaces are connected to the fire element (pretty obvious I guess), and it makes sense that many of us tend to gather there around the light and warmth when it’s cold and dark out. The fireplace is our gathering place, it is a focal point in our home (fun fact: the word hearth in latin is focus).
I love these little orange guys.
It’s clemmie time!
Oranges are another decoration I love for this time of year. I always have a bowl of clementines out and my family is constantly eating them. They have a lot of yang energy, which is great to have on your dining room table. It can also help to clear the air if there is difficulty - a little space clearing tool right on the counter!
Do you have any favorite holiday decorating traditions? Share them with us on Instagram!