Some Holiday Wise Buys

CEBU, Philippines - Fixing your home for the coming holidays need not be expensive.

Retailers from second-hand shops to bargain stores are now filling up their assortments and offering pre-Christmas markdowns.

You can make your home look elegant this Christmas without hurting your budget for gift-giving.

Here are five tips for dressing up your home for the holidays:

DO IT NOW: Come up with ideas long before December about how you want your home to look. Then, come up with a plan. You can browse through magazines, home decorating shows on TV, store catalogs and home design websites for good ideas. You can ask friends for assistance or copy their decorating ideas. A clear color scheme or theme will help unify what you have and what affordable items you can pick up these days.

Jodi Furman, whose blog Live FabuLess promises “upscale life without the price,” suggests a website called Pinterest.com, an online “pin board” where shoppers can collect ideas from decorating photos and comments that other users post. But for the techno challenged, there is no better way than to research, reach out (to decor savvy friends) and re-create what you have.

USE WHAT YOU HAVE: Check around the house for items like bows, ribbons, costumes and wreaths that can be re-created or dressed up for the holidays. Get to know the Christmas decors in a variety of stores and the prices of items you like.

BE CREATIVE: Collect and set aside colorful decors which can be used in wreaths or as table centerpieces. Collect branches and spray-paint them in festive colors. If you have the time, you can recreate the décor of your parents’ or grandparents’. Remember how they used soap suds to dry on branches, serving as “snowy Christmas trees”?

For decor lights, it is safe to use white, which can go with any theme all year round and easily found in most stores. Just make sure you buy energy-efficient lights. Many retailers now offer LED lights and weather-proof brands for use outdoors. Check the accompanying literature.

AIM FOR YEAR-ROUND DÉCORS: If you buy items that don’t scream Christmas (no design with Santas and reindeer, please), you can reuse your décor in different ways at different times throughout the year. An expensive glass container can become Christmasy when filled with glittery ornaments but can be reused as holder of candy or cards towards Valentine’s Day. Likewise, colorful candles can herald different seasons. AFFORD A TREE: It is always wise to buy an expensive but sturdy tree so you really can use it for years. Ask around among your wealthy friends, they may have a tree they want to sell after the children have gone abroad.

Right now and regularly thereafter, check-out second-shops and thrift stores or any sale by reliable organizers for Christmas ornaments.

Happy Holidays! (FREEMAN)