As one of the most cherished holidays around the world, Christmas is often celebrated by family having large festivals, parties, and extravagant gift giving exchanges. Of course, many North American households also take the holiday as a chance to put up beautiful decorations both inside and outside of their homes. Wreathes adorn doors, understated nativity scenes and lawn ornaments dot lawns, and beautiful trees and light displays bring warmth to the otherwise cold winter months. With so many options, it can be overwhelming to decorate your home for Christmas, but following several easy tips can make your home beautiful for the holidays.

One of the first steps to decorating your home for Christmas is to decide on a color palate for your light or flower displays. Many traditional Christmas lights come in bright shades of red, blue and green, which while colorful and bright, can also be garish and distasteful. A better option is to stick with one or two tone color schemes, such as the always pretty white lights, or the more subdued soft blue and green lights. The nice thing about most Christmas lights is that they are easy to test before buying. Simply bring a brick or color swatch of your home, and then hold it up against a display case to see what it will look like when hung in your home.

For wreaths and flower displays, nothing is more inviting than rich green pine needles, which also smell amazing, and mahogany red flowers or fallen leaves. These traditional holiday colors are warm and make people feel right at home, even if they are just carolers standing outside in the cold.

Other options for home Christmas decorations are candles, nativity scenes and the ubiquitous Christmas tree. For candles, consider going for electric energy saving models, which are safe and reliable. Again, simple colors work well like light white and deep red.

It may be tempting to “out-Christmas” your neighbors with a huge and highly detailed nativity scene, but that can also be disconcerting for visitors. It is better to have a smaller, more intimate nativity scene, which can also be more impressively detailed if made right, that welcomes your religious beliefs into your home.

Lastly, every family wants to have a beautiful Christmas tree top open presents under, but not every family gets the right tree. For a tall, healthy tree, look for fir or Canadian pine trees. The needles should be a deep green at the tip, and should have buds on the inner branches as well. These are signs of a healthy tree. If you have the means to support a live tree, get one, as they hold ornaments better, smell better and are simply the best way to decorate your home for Christmas this year.