Brighten up any space in your home for the holidays

Two of the most popular home decorating trends of late are minimalist and simple and modern and funky, and that can go not only for everyday decor, but also when it comes to Christmas trees and decorations. Some might like to stick to a simple theme of silver and white throughout the home. Others might want to go all out with colours, decor, and lighting galore. Whatever your decision, there are plenty of options when it comes to to help brighten your space.

Since this is decor that will be temporary, you don’t want to do anything drastic like repaint. But you can swap paintings and framed photos on the wall for holiday-themed decor, like wreaths and stockings. You can also shift furniture around to fit a Christmas tree, and even play with the smart lighting to create fun, holiday colour effects.

Need some ideas to brighten up rooms in your own home for the holiday season? Here are a few ways you can accomplish just that.

Brighten up your living room

The central focal point of most living rooms these days is, let’s be honest, a television. That’s certainly the case in my home, which is why I love having a flat panel OLED TV that looks just as gorgeous mounted to an entertainment unit when it’s turned off as it does when it’s displaying my favourite TV shows. And while a television is technically not furniture, it does contribute to the overall look of a room. TVs like Samsung’s The Frame, for example, can display works of art when it’s turned off, effectively disguising itself as a wall painting or photograph. Use a TV like this one to display holiday-themed artwork, images, or even a scrolling slideshow of Christmases past with the family. It’ll make a great backdrop for a holiday party and get everyone in the mood for the season when they see these wonderful memories any time the TV is off.

Another way to accomplish this is with a device like the Amazon Fire TV Stick 4K Max (2023) media streamer. Why? It’s the first to feature the brand’s Ambient Experience, found in some of its Fire TV models as well. With this, you can display from 2,000 pieces of museum-quality art and photography on the TV screen to which it’s plugged into when you’re not watching. This creates a lovely sense of ambiance in the room and adds some much needed colour and brightness.

Beyond the television, add a pop of colour with plenty of indoor holiday decor items. Swap your usual living room throw pillows for holiday themed ones. Remove the ornaments on your shelves, side tables, and on the walls and replace them with holiday themed ones. Holiday candles bring a nice, warm feeling and can literally brighten up the room.

Brighten up outside and in with lights

Outside of the home is where you can really shine for the holiday season. Every year, we put up tons of lights along with a variety of inflatables, all of which brighten up the home, literally and figuratively. Alongside the many string lights around the porch and front of the house, don’t forget a lovely holiday themed welcome mat. It adds a pop of colour before people even walk inside and gives off a warm, welcoming vibe.

Then, of course, there’s smart lighting, which is great for both outside and inside. The best part about smart lighting that offers multiple colour options is that you can adjust for any holiday. Maybe you just recently used a bright orange or ominous red colour for Halloween, for example. Now, you can swap among reds and greens and bright whites and blues for Christmas. With smart lights, you can easily adjust the colour from an app on your phone, or even by voice. Set schedules, especially for outdoor lights, so they go on and off at the appropriate times.

There are even smart lights from brands like Twinkly, a favourite in my home as well, that you can set to display custom light shows, colours, and even sync to music. Control them from a smartphone app or your voice and adjust everything on the fly, including intensity, speed, and brightness to enjoy a really unique light and audio show.

Add panache to your kitchen and dining area

Along with smart lighting in the kitchen as well, you can brighten up this room in other ways. You’ll be spending a lot of time there cooking holiday meals and baking holiday treats so you’ll want it to be as festive as possible.

Start simple with a small decor piece, like an advent calendar ornament that counts down to Christmas. Make sure to swap all your hand towels, oven mitts, and aprons for holiday themed ones. Such small changes can really make a difference in how you feel and how festive the room looks.

Block decor or wood signs are simple ways to brighten up the kitchen during the holiday season. Look for anywhere you might have everyday decor pieces and swap them out for these ones.

One of my absolutely favourite décor items in my dining room is an oversized wall mirror that fits horizontally on the back wall. The mirror, which measures about 5.5 feet wide and 3.5 feet tall, really opens up the relatively small room so it looks much bigger than it really is. And it also brightens the room with the reflections from the sun coming in from an adjacent window. During the holidays, we can see a reflection of the Christmas tree by the window in the living room.

Illuminate the bathroom

Speaking of lighting, illuminated mirrors in the bathroom are a perfect way to brighten up that room of the home. They also help make shaving, applying make-up, and doing your hair much easier. When you’re feeling groggy right out of bed but need to get ready to start a long day at work, some literal light can not only brighten up the room, but your mood, too. With smart lighting, you can adjust the colours of these lights during the holiday season for a really fun effect.

Create soothing ambiance in the bedroom

The bedroom is your own personal space, but it’s also where you first wake up every morning and the last place you see at night. It’s where you get dressed for the day (or night out) and where you enjoy rest and relaxation. So, it’s important that this room is bright and welcoming, too; and that it gets you into the holiday spirit from the moment you wake up.

Naturally, bedding is an important to complement the furniture, so look for eye-catching, bright, and bold patterns. It’s amazing how a new duvet or bed sheet set can instantly brighten up a bedroom. Along with more festive throw pillows, consider swapping your regular bedsheets for holiday-themed ones. At the very least, have a holiday throw blanket to brighten up the colour schemes.

Liven up your entertainment space

Furniture for the games room, whether that’s your basement, den, or an actual dedicated room in the home, is arguably the category you can have the most fun with. The most obvious choice of furniture is a super-cool gaming chair that not only looks amazing but also serves a purpose in providing comfort during those extra-long gaming sessions. They come in a wide range of colours, styles, and designs to suit the size of the room and even the types of games you play. Pop a festive throw pillow onto it and it instantly becomes holiday themed.

Your home theatre or games room is where lighting can really play into the overall look and, not surprisingly, contribute to brightening up the room in more ways than one. Look at smart entertainment lighting here once again, and consider systems like the Nanoleaf light panels that can be arranged in a variety of configurations, light strips from brands like Philips, or GE Sync that you can place under and around furniture or on walls to add to the gaming experience. Choose holiday themed colours and you instantly have festive ambiance.

Brighten the home office

If you have a home office, chances are you spend quite a bit of time there. An office chair is important because you sit it in for hours every day, which means it needs to be ergonomic and comfortable. It also contributes significantly to the look of the office. A simple chair in a colour beyond boring black can make all the difference in brightening up a room. The right lighting, a nearby window for natural light, and a comfortable and neat set-up can make all the difference. It will keep you in the festive mood even when you’re working hard at your daily 9-5.

Bottom line

There are lots of ways you can use furniture to liven up every room of your home for the holiday season, from the living room to the bathroom, and the entertainment room. It’s amazing what a difference a single piece of furniture or décor item can make. Use your holiday bins to pack up the regular decor items and store them away for the season, then switch back once you enter the new year.

See lots of furniture and décor items you can use to brighten up every room of your home for the holidays at Best Buy Online.