5 Creative Holiday Decorating Strategies

What's your holiday style? Traditional or uber-modern, there's no wrong way to decorate for the holidays - it's just fun to make a space festive and jolly.

Generally, our holiday decorating styles gibe with our everyday decorating styles - modern sticks with modern, traditional with traditional. But there's no rule saying you can't mix it up.

We've identified five holiday decorating themes that are pretty great on their own, but are also mix-and-matchable.

1. Traditional All the Way

There's a lot to be said for the traditional red and green, for loading the tree, the mantle, and every shelf around with greens and shiny balls and fake snow. Pottery Barn offers fantastic inspiration for this type of decorating. Their more-is-more seasonal approach is classic and pretty - and just short of over-the-top.

We especially like the little touches from Pottery Barn, like these engravable stocking holders: We'd add a pretty, festive throw pillow to the mix, too, like the Fan Leaf pillow (in cream, Classic Red, Light Spring Grass, and Army) at the top of the post.

2. Trendy with Color

Turquoise is the color of 2010, but it's already showing up all over the place - including on Christmas trees. This turquoise and silver tree is pretty and fun, and the silver elements tie the look back into traditional holiday style:

And wouldn't that tree look nice in a beachy room that's home to a Cottage Garden three-cylinder pendant lamp in Caribbean Sea and white? We think the lamp also strikes that great balance between vibrant and traditional:

Perfect for a beach house where the whole family gathers to celebrate the holidays.

3. Fun and Funky

You know what else would work at that beach house? Bright colors, unusual textures, and out-there objets repurposed as decoration. We love the feather wreath and trees in the photo at the left - they remind us of boas (always fun!)

We'd love these trees even more with crazy decorations, like colorful Mardi Gras masks or colorful vintage postcards.

4. Pale and Shimmery

Red and green aren't the only Christmassy colors out there. We love interiors decked out in gold, silver, and white, like this pretty fireplace crowned with blooming paperwhites:

We think this room would look even lovelier with drapes made of Mallory fabric in ginger and white:

We love the feminine pattern in gold and white - it's fresh and festive and pretty (plus, it works after the holiday season, too!).

If pale and shimmery is your style, and you're feeling extra festive, why not try to emulate the stairway from Chanel's Spring 2009 show? The oversized paper flowers aren't terribly complicated to put together (though maybe a little time consuming). And they certainly are pretty!

5. Classically Minimal

We started this list with the maximalist, Pottery Barn approach to holiday decorating, so we're closing it out with traditional's other extreme - simplicity. That's exactly what we see in this comfortable room, dressed with just a few fresh greens: Add a gorgeous lamp in holiday shades, like the Ever After pendant in white and Classic Red, and you've got a perfect, and perfectly restrained, holiday-themed room. Whatever your style, enjoy decorating - and happy holidays!

[Stocking holders from Pottery Barn. Turquoise, feather trees, fireplace, and greenery from Coastal Living. Chanel stairway from The House that Lars Built. All other photos from Alluminare.com.]