Tis The Season: 5 Holiday Themes To Get You In The Holiday Spirit

I have curated holiday lists for everything you may need to survive the shopping overwhelm of the season — prepping, organizing, hosting, gifting, and of of course… decorating! Because for some people, the idea of decorating can seem overwhelming — where to start, what to buy — I’m sharing 5 themes & color stories to get your inspired with just enough time to spare to get your decor up while enjoying your Thanksgiving leftovers… because round these parts, we decorate AFTER Thanksgiving, and never before.

Here are five holiday themes that you can shop from — mixing & matching is encouraged by the way — to get your in the holiday spirit this year.

Shopping, DesignAlbie KnowsNovember 13, 2023holiday season, christmas, decor styling, shopping, amazon

How To Hygge For The Holidays?

Attributed to the Danish, Hygge is finding happiness in the little things and finding moments throughout our day to embrace & create bliss. I grew increasingly fascinated with the concept & principles of Hygge, and the deeper I dove, the more I wanted to learn.

What Hygge represents runs parallel with what the winter holiday season represents — warmth, happiness, coziness, and gratitude.

Last Minute Holiday Gift Ideas (Shopping Guides)

There are two types of holiday shoppers —

the shopper who’s been planning since Labor Day and actually purchasing gifts since Halloween, so on Black Friday, they’re doing “last-minute” shopping
the shopper who only started thinking about holiday shopping after Thanksgiving & isn’t above giving holiday gifts in the new year

I am definitely the latter and I’m willing to bet you are too!

While everyone had their gift guides up and running since November, I decided to put together these last-minute holiday shopping gift guides for us last-minute holiday shoppers.

So what do you get people when you’re shopping at the 11th hour? Yeah, you could start handing out gift cards like they’re candy on Halloween, but I’ve got some better last-minute gift ideas!

ShoppingAlbie KnowsDecember 15, 2021holiday season, gift guides, christmas, shopping

Guest Bedroom Essentials For The Holidays

The holidays certainly aren't the only time of year that any of us may have overnight guests, but during the holiday season — the season of merriment & counting one's blessings — we all want to go the extra mile for our guests.

I've put together a list of essentials that every guest bedroom/suite should have, but this isn't any ol' essentials list — no ma'am (or sir). Each of these items was hand-picked by yours truly to make the holiday guest experience comforting, special, and memorable. But before we start shopping, let's talk about some practical steps to pulling your guests' home away from home together.

Tablescaping for the Winter Holiday Season

While I love to shop — duh! — I don’t believe I always have to buy everything all new every time I want a new look, because no one has that kind of money or storage! When I decided to set the dining room tablescape, this year I pulled out my fav tablescaping pieces from last year — because that’s when almost everything was purchased — and started to plan out place settings with what I had on hand.

How To Create A Tablescape: Easy Tablescaping Tips & Ideas

Tablescaping isn't exclusive to dining tables, although this time of year, it's often assumed that it is. Any time you're decorating a tabletop surface and/or creating a sort of flat surface vignette -- dining table, coffee table, fireplace mantle, console table, sideboard, bar cart, bookshelf — YOU'RE TABLESCAPING!

Shop With Me: Black, White, and Gold Christmas Round Up

It's so funny because I seem to have a habit of moving RIGHT before the holidays — nearly every major move in my has been in the Fall — so I always find myself pressed for time to get myself together to decorate and celebrate. Of course 2020 wouldn't be any different. I'm geeked because, duh, new house; but nervous because decisions have to be made & I don't know that I have the time or bandwidth to make em.

Remember when I talked about saying no to project pressure over on Emily Henderson's blog? Yeah... this is one of those projects I'll likely have to say no to because the alternative would be rushing & doing a half-assed job at what I had in mind, or going balls to the wall & spending an exorbitant amount of money less than 90 days into our home ownership journey.

BUT... that has NOT stopped me from window shopping and oogling everything that I would get, in a perfect world.

ShoppingAlbie KnowsNovember 19, 2020holiday season, christmas, decor styling, shopping

Beverage Bar Basics: Holiday Edition

Tis' the season for cozy nights & warm beverages -- tis' the Hygge way! And nothing is more Hygge for the holiday season than a warm beverage -- whether you're a hot cocoa drinker, coffee lover, or tea enthusiast.

As I finally pulled together my very first holiday-inspired "coffee corner" I decided to share with you some of my tried & true tips for creating your very own at home cafe.

Putting Together Our Dining Room: Part 1

Even before we officially decided to move, I would fantasize about designing wherever we would end up -- floor planning, coordinating color schemes, wish listing -- doing all the things I would do for a client.

Fast forward, to when we started doing apartment tours and then to when ultimately chose a place, I was super excited about having a space to really flex my design muscle (not for lack of trying in our NYC studio).

Easy Dining Room Measurements

Wherever you are in your design journey, there are some key basics that you need to know to get your dining situation situated, especially when it comes to measurements so that you get the appropriate pieces that fit the space as much as they fit your lifestyle.

2017 Holiday Shopping Guide For The Home

We are just about halfway through November & I thought it high time I stop denying that the holidays are here. Ready or not, they're coming!

For the next 2 weeks-ish, I'll be walking you through all kinds of holiday prep from #pinterestgoals tablescaping to creating a cozy, comfy guest ready abode. You'd be surprised how much decor styling & interior design goes into the holidays -- and most of us don't even realize it!! So to help you out, I'm kicking the fun off with my curated Holiday Shopping Guide -- for the home, of course -- featuring some of my fav finds for the holiday season.

Albie KnowsNovember 13, 2017christmas, thanksgiving, favorites, decor styling, holiday season, my home, h&m home, shopping