Give home holiday spirit

Here are some tips to get your home into the holiday spirit.

1. Stay with one theme and style for your holiday decorating. It makes shopping for décor easier and makes your space feel professionally finished.

2. Let your nose know it's the holiday season. Place potpourri and scented candles near your entry and throughout your house. Or, better yet, bake some cookies shortly before guests arrive. (And, of course, always exercise due caution with open-flame candles.)

3. Choose two to three colors for your holiday palette and keep it consistent. More than that can be too distracting. Try silver, blue and white or red, gold and brown.

4. Create an inexpensive family tradition that involves the kids. Purchase a ready-made wreath of greens, then gather items to decorate it. Use pine cones, ribbons, crystals, feathers, beaded garland or homemade paper snowflakes.

5. Give your space a different look and feel for this special time of year. Rearrange your furniture so the focal point is the fireplace or wherever you hang stockings. If you don't have a fireplace, arrange the furniture to create the best layout for cozy conversations.

6. Colored lights can be costly if you change your color palette from year to year. Stick with white lights; they can be used with any color scheme.

7. Start investing in a collection. Make it something that can continue to grow through the years and can be passed on to the next generation. Check out online auction sites for vintage decorations.

8. Use lots of candles. Nothing makes a room feel warmer and more inviting than candlelight.

9. Bring the holiday celebration into every room. Kitchens and bathrooms are a great place to put scented candles and smaller seasonal knickknacks.

10. The holiday season is definitely one time where "less is more" does not apply. Have fun and do it up big.

Courtesy Sienna Penik and Erin Oosterhouse on hgtv.com. For thousands of other ideas visit www.hgtv.com. Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service.