Holiday Decor With Black and White 2014 Ideas

Mix things up this holiday season by introducing black and white into your Christmas color palette.

Design Star season 7 contestant Britany Simon and designer Brian Patrick Flynn worked together to add an updated, graphic look to an Atlanta home's traditional holiday decor by including strong, contrasting elements of black and white.

From the over scale fabric poinsettias on the Christmas tree to the mix of black-and-white wrapping paper prints, the color combination makes its way around the living room in both a strong and subtle manner.

Designers often add both graphic appeal and colorful updates to hardback books by covering the books with coordinating fabrics. To incorporate black, white and red into the living room, each book was covered with stripes and gingham. By keeping the palette holiday centric, but using patterns meant for year-round use, this ensures the books can remain out once the holidays have passed.

To add holiday flair to the living room's year-round sofa, pillows and throws are layered on and the end tables are decorated with ornaments for a festive, seasonal touch.

Throw pillows are an instant way to add holiday flair to your furniture. As the holiday season rolls in, this living room's sofa is given a quick and easy Christmas makeover with large metallic silk pillows paired with smaller ones featuring a wintry red, white and black plaid pattern.

Fillable clear glass lamps offer the opportunity to change up the look of your task lighting seasonally. In order to bring black, white, red and metallic flair to this living room's pair of lamps, an off white drum shade with a thin band of black detailing was added. The glass body was filled with a combination of red, gold and silver ornaments. Once the holidays pass, the lamps can instantly take on everyday appeal by switching the ornaments out for something different.

Tree skirts offer another opportunity to play with black and white through pattern. During the weeks leading up to Christmas, it's likely the tree skirt will remain bare and you'll be able to see it more clearly. Once covered up with gifts, the skirt will lose its presence. Consider using black mixed with another holiday accent color, then bringing in accents of white through wrapped gifts. This will ensure that your skirt will still remain part of the overall design.

When updating your holiday palette with black and white, it's not necessary to stick with black and white prints specific to the holidays. To dress up this wingback chair, a red and white check pillow was paired with a graphic black and white throw blanket. This look also works for everyday use.

This fireside gift wrapping area continues the black and white theme from the floor to the fireplace and into the Christmas tree thanks to a graphic rug, handmade stockings and a tree decorated mostly with black and natural-toned ornaments.

When it comes to choosing a holiday tree skirt that's a bit less expected than those featuring reindeer or snowflakes, consider plaid or tartan. Not only do plaids and tartans evoke a wintry feeling, but they also bring in a masculine touch which can keep your overall holiday decor as appealing to men as it is to women.

Since the gift wrapping area was designed to be heavy on black and light on white, the tree is dressed mostly with black and natural toned ornaments. This results in a more subtle aesthetic. The played down approach allows the room's main feature, a lighting installation piece over the mantel, to remain the focal point of the space.

For strong, graphic impact, Britany created a lighting installation from three cardboard letters and industrial globe string lights. Once illuminated, the trio of letters instantly becomes the room's main focal point. To balance the intensity of the bright white, black was used heavily in other areas to keep the color scheme balanced.

A little bit of black and white goes a long way. Britany had four custom stockings made for Mom, Dad, daughter and son each featuring a subtle or strong use of black and white.

In order to add pops of color and black and white on the fireside gift wrapping area's mantel, Britany filled three clear glass apothecary jars with tiny gifts using wrapping paper in shades of red, black and white.

Dress up your fireplace this season with small cypress or juniper trees in bold colored pots. If choosing a black or white pot, consider adding a few metallic or red ornaments to the tree. Use a red or green pot for a big punch of color, and use ornaments in black or white to keep the color scheme flowing throughout the tree.

Coastal Inspired Holiday Decorating Ideas for Christmas 2013

Designer Casey Noble shares these ways to bring a cool, casual and coastal vibe to your home during the holidays with seaside-inspired decor.

Seashells are ideal for dressing up a simple tabletop. For a casual, coastal look, create small seashell Christmas trees using cone-shaped floral foam. Pick up floral foam forms in three different sizes, then hot-glue seashells of various colors, textures and shapes all over the surfaces.

To put a coastal spin on a classic manzanita branch, dress it up like a tabletop Christmas tree. Use rope-strung shells, sand dollars and starfish as makeshift ornaments to adorn each branch.

Make It: Add casual, coastal flair to your door with a rope-and-burlap wreath. Buy a 24-inch foam wreath form, one spool of white nylon rope, one spool of blue nylon rope, white acrylic paint, one detail brush and one half-yard of red burlap. Use a hot glue gun to secure every third or fourth strand of white nylon rope along the back of the wreath form. Next, add contrasting bands of blue nylon rope to the four corner quadrants of the wreath, creating a two-toned, layered effect. To create the banner, trace the shape of a pennant onto the red burlap, and then cut it out with fabric scissors. Free-hand a seasonal message using a detail brush. Attach the banner to the left and right sides of the wreath using white nylon rope, then hang on the door with an over-the-door stocking hanger.

Sand-dollar sugar cookies add a surprising seaside twist to Christmas sweets. After making classic sugar cookies, use a knife to cut five small slits approximately one half-inch from the edge of each cookie. Press a flat almond slice into each slit to complete the look.

Model sailboats offer a more masculine approach to nautical style. Intended for year-round use, these classics instantly take on a holiday look when surrounded by seasonal colors and textures. To keep a model sailboat from appearing out of place, work in nautical or coastal accents such as rope, weathered woods or aged metals.

Make It: Gather gently used beach towels, dividing them by like color palettes, textures and patterns. Next, print out this stocking template, then cut the towels to size using fabric scissors. Hand-sew or machine-stitch the pieces together, turning the stocking right-side out once finished. Complete the stockings by hot-gluing sections of nylon rope around the top, tying a knot on each end.

Similar to snow globes, glass beach scene ornaments are perfect elements for invigorating seasonal decor. Buy clear glass ornaments and add a layer of sand. Drop small seashells through the ornament opening until they're layered along the sand in a balanced manner.

For a more textural approach to nautical holiday decor, update a green pine-needle wreath with organic embellishments like capiz shells and starfish.

Make It: Pick up driftwood or weathered barn wood planks, then cut to 10-inch-by-12-inch rectangles using a handsaw. Choose your holiday greeting, and then customize each plank with individual letters, shaping the O's as captain's wheels, the S's as ropes and the J's as anchors. Next, free-hand or stencil letters onto each piece of wood using latex paint. For a more casual look, consider simply leaning the letters against the wall. To properly hang the letters, add picture hooks to the back.

Make It: Pick up twine and gather sand dollars, small shells and starfish. Use a small screwdriver and a rubber mallet and create one small hole near the edge of a single arm of each starfish. Unfurl the twine and thread it through the holes in the starfish and sand dollars, tying it into small knots, leaving gaps between each one. Lastly, add a final layer of nautical flourish by securing small shells to each knot using a hot glue gun.

Holiday Projects for easy Christmas decorating ideas

Add something new to your standby Christmas decor. Alongside your sentimental ornaments and favorite pieces, introduce an updated centerpiece or a fresh take on stairway decor, and you might find a new decorating tradition!

Holiday Headboard

With a neutral base, it's easy to add a bit of temporary holiday flair to a bedroom. Drape hand towels or tea towels over a headboard, and pin together covers for throw pillows using striped napkins and place mats. Drape an unfinished length of burlap over a side table and add a potted dwarf evergreen. For the final touch, hang a few pine branches on the wall over the bed to accent the headboard.

Holiday Accent Pillow

The best holiday decorations make use of what you already own, allowing you to transform them with the changing seasons. Add festive touches to a neutral pillow in no time at all. Cut a holiday shape a tree, a star, an ornament from felt or burlap, and use thick yarn or twine to secure the shape to the pillow.

Beautiful Buffet Table

Adorn this buffet table with several traditional and unique holiday decorations. Filled with apples and cherries, these lanterns light up the table without a candlestick in sight. Cut from inexpensive burlap that's fringed at the edges, a table scarf adds a colorful pop underneath, while a trio of trees are actually branches set in wet florist's foam in clay pots. A sliver-size window displays a holiday message spelled using adhesive letters.

Greenery Gift Garnish

Surprising accents make present wrapping and giving  that much more enjoyable. Instead of ribbon, tie bits of twine around each wrapped gift and add miniature sprigs or ornaments.

Votive Candle Accents

Votive candles with the right touches are the perfect holiday accent to any room, so consider polishing off your candle presentation with this smart idea. Fill a larger vase part way with fresh cranberries or small beads and insert a smaller glass votive holder. Mix and match sizes of vases or keep them all the same for a more consistent pattern.

Favorite Christmas Cards Display

A new crop of holiday cards is a great way to display lots of color and pattern throughout your house. Use an old window shutter and tie lengths of ribbon from top to bottom, and attach a cards with double-stick tape.

Fresh Herbs Chair Back Decoration 

The produce aisle often has more decorating possibilities than you might think. Bundle fresh herbs together with twine and tie them together with a length of ribbon to make festive bouquets. For fragrance and color, try an arrangement of thyme, rosemary, marjoram, and a bay leaf. 
Editor's Tip:
The bouquets can be made several days in advance
refrigerate them until you're ready to use them.

Colorful Glass Candy Jar

What would the holidays be without a few sweet treats? Luckily, bright ribbonlike varieties are pretty enough to display on their own. Fill a few lidded glass containers with various colors and sizes and loop a bright green cord through a pretty paper label.

Pretty Paper Accents

Twisted into a cone, a square of decorative paper bedecks everything from a chair back to a doorknob. Secure the cone with glue and trim the top, then punch holes to insert a ribbon hanger and line with a pretty handkerchief or towel. Fill the easy-to-make decoration with a little gift or a sachet for a pretty take-home present.

Natural Holiday Basket

Some of the most elegant focal pieces are crafted from simple materials and can be assembled without a fuss. Fill a wicker basket with repeating rows of moss, smooth stones, pinecones, and a cheery row of green apples, or use items from around the house and yard, such as acorns, nuts, sticks, herbs, flowers, and oranges.