How to decorate a small apartment for Christmas

Choose a colorscheme: red and gold

Small space decorating ideas

When decorating for Christmas it's wise to have a color scheme and be style consistent. It's also a good idea to have a theme. I'm going for red and gold as my primary colors, because some of the stuff in my apartment is already in those colors.

The picture here shows my 'altar' of sorts (not that I worship at it). It holds incense and other scented stuff and is, as you can see, red and gold. I think it will probably be moved in the final Christmas arrangement, but for now it serves as my starting point for the colors I'll be using. That means I'll be buying decorations in red and gold too.

Not having to move this to the basement means less cleaning up and fuss.

Decorating a small space: keeping it simple...

Small apartment Christmas decoration on a budget

christmas tree no lights, red & gold decorations

I intend to make sure we have enough room to move, and for a wheelchair to move around, so I am not going to fill the space up too much.

To do this, I'll put the Christmas tree in a corner that's very much out of the way. And other than the tree, nothing will be added that takes up space purely for reasons of looks. However, I will have to seat 7 people, including one wheel chair ridden person (my grandmother). That's bound to take up space.

To the right you see my Christmas tree. I choose a small real tree and bought red Christmas balls to fit my red and gold theme. I already had gold ribbon, so I merely cut it up in 9 inch long strings and tied them into simple bows. I used simple wire hangers for both the bows and the baubles.

As a tree topper I used about 10 pieces of equally long gold ribbon, still curled from the pack, simply tied around the top of the tree. Easily done and the result looks good, I think.

The Christmas tree

for a small living space

There is no Christmas without a Christmas tree. I'm going for a live tree in a pot, without lights. Something like this. I choose one that's already dressed up in gold, fitting my red and gold theme.

24" Optic Tree (Gold)

List Price: $39.99

Alternative for a real tree...

Decor for a small space

No, I don't mean an artificial tree. I mean a picture of a tree. I mean - having a good time really is more important than having a tree, so if there is no way to have everybody in the room and also have a tree, you'll have to improvise. Like this:

Professionally Framed Snow (On Christmas Tree) Art Poster Print - 13x19 with RichAndFramous Black Wood Frame

Amazon Price: $85.00 (as of 02/15/2012)

My apartment BEFORE

As you can see, I have some cleaning up to do.

Click on each picture below to see it complete, and what I intend to change about that part of my space.

My dining area. On Christmas day I'll be moving the table and adding another smaller one, so 7 people will be able to sit and eat reasonably comfortably.

My mantle. I will have to get rid of half the pieces on there to make room for candles.

Those boxes will have to go. I don't think they hold anything of value, so I think they are probably going in the basement. An alternative would be to cover them with some cute cloth or something.

The corner where my Christmas tree will go. As you can probably tell: the chair will need to move.

My dining area. On Christmas day I'll be moving the table and adding another smaller one, so 7 people will be able to sit and eat reasonably comfortably.

A very boring closet very much in sight. A Christmassy picture would work very well to set the tone.

My hallway. It too could do with some sprucing up, though I don't think I'll make it a priority.

Merry Christmas Poster in red and gold

Having this on a wall or window will definitely add to the Christmas cheer

Letters of Red and Gold Christmas Art Print
Buy at AllPosters.com

Mantle before and after: getting rid of clutter

The effect of cleaning up and getting rid of clutter

The first thing I did after deciding on my color scheme was to get rid of everything on my mantle that did not have either red or gold in it. It turned out I had a few things there with a touch of gold, so I left those in.

Already much better, don't you think?

The mantle is the focal point of my living space, so it deserves extra attention.

Figuring out the seating arrangement for seven

This is my trial setup for tables and chairs. The numbers show where people will sit. The arrow shows the white board which had me worried for a while. Not anymore, because I can take it out. Thank you Ikea!

We will have to get some extra chairs, but that's already been arranged.

Trying out the seating arrangement is also a good moment to measure the whole thing. Do you need to buy a new table cloth? I did, but of course I forgot to measure. Adding up the lengths of the two tables afterwards tells me I need a table cloth at least 2 meters long (about 70 inch).

Red and gold table cloth

When looking for table cloth add at least 20 inches to the length and the width of your table setting to have some hanging over the table.

So in my case: my table is 35 inch wide and 70 inch long. The table cloth I buy should be at least 55 inches wide and 90 inch long. It can be as large as 75 by 120 inch.

Write your measurements down with width first: that's how the manufacturers report it. Turn it round and you'll get confused and you may end up buying the wrong tablecloth.

Below are tablecloths that all fit my table.

Decorating a boring closet

Using some gold colored ribbon and two old (also gold colored) pieces of flat Christmas decoration, I made my closet part of the Christmas decor.

Decoration does not have to take up space!

I used simple transparent adhesive tape to attach the ribbon to the top of the closet.

Red and gold ribbon

Decoration on a budget aka very cheap

For a consistent look you should only have one type of red ribbon and only one type of gold ribbon. Variety will be less annoying when it comes to the gold than with the red. Combining various shades of red seldom looks good.

Transparent adhesive tape

You probably already have this, but if you don't here's a brand I recommend.

Scotch Magic Tape, 1/2 x 450 Inches (104)

Amazon Price: $0.10 (as of 02/15/2012)

More ribbon magic

I always like decorating things with ribbons for Christmas. In the picture above you see three doors decorated with ribbons. There's a doorknob, a door key and a safety thing. All decorated with the same type of ribbon, simply tied into a bow.

I think having ribbons throughout the house adds a nice touch.

In general red ribbons work best for this as the contrast well with a light colored background. If your space is darker in tone (say brown closets or even walls), you may want to use gold ribbon to decorate things around the house. The thing to look out for is contrast. Use the color (within your color scheme) that contrasts best.

The result of lighting the candles

Notice that the candles are organized by color: three red ones on the left, then two gold ones, then two more red ones. A small space can easily look cluttered. By grouping the candles by color you get a less cluttered feel.

That now famous mantle with simple wide candles in red and gold burning.

A side table with another evergreen plant and three red candles burning.

Christmas decorations in red and gold

Baubles and Christmas Balls

Red and Gold Tree toppers

Beautiful and unique

More red and gold Christmas Decorating

I took all the pictures on this page with this camera

Of course you do need a camera for Christmas as well. One that has flash so the pictures can be taken indoors. This one serves me very well as you can see.

BTW: do turn off flash when you're taking pictures of candles.

More Christmas Cheer

Do you have experience decorating small spaces?

Please share your tips

submit

Reply

AnzE02 Dec 28, 2011 @ 4:22 am | delete

It is nice to know how can you decorate your place despite of the size. I think you can decorate your place even it is not christmas.

Reply

bernie74 Dec 13, 2011 @ 5:36 pm | delete

A wonderful Lens indeed and very helpful to all those with little space but love decorating for Christmas, thanks for sharing
Blessed by a Squid Angel

Reply

Anayansi Mar 22, 2011 @ 9:21 pm | delete

What a beautiful decoration!. I have a small apartment, and instead of using a Christmas tree, I used a palm tree that occupies less space at the foot, and leaves more space for presents. I used super-sized Christmas balls and tied them under the leaves as if they were coconuts. I wrapped lights around the trunk and voilá, a tropical Christmas.

Reply

pkmcr Jan 28, 2011 @ 12:05 pm | delete

Congratulations on the Purple Star and added to my Lensography of Purple Stars :-)

Reply

hotbrain Nov 9, 2010 @ 5:49 pm | delete

Great lens. I also have a small place to decorate. I've been going without a Christmas tree and I think your idea of improvising is a good one (although it looks like Amazon is out of stock on your suggestion).
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