Decorating your home is an activity that captures the holiday spirit and reflects personal style and family traditions.

Choosing two or three main colors and building your holiday décor around them is a great way to create maximum impact. Try the following festive color combinations to help you design a beautiful, holiday welcome for your family and guests.

Daring and Dramatic

Create a luxurious, elegant space using the stately combination of black and white accents. This contrast works in contemporary and traditional spaces and can be complemented by bold color. Chocolate and ivory provide a softer alternative. Add candles to enhance the warmth of a room that will invite guests to come inside and make themselves at home.

Timeless Elegance

Combine gilded mirrors, florals and fabrics with luster to create a festive home. Touches of tartan give the floral elements an often-overlooked masculine look. Consider using a metal cardholder to elegantly and neatly display your holiday cards. For extra flair, add dark-toned feathers to the décor mix.

Handcrafted Christmas

Classic holiday colors like red, green and muted gold mixed with vintage style characters and natural elements create a homemade, personal theme. Start with berry sprigs or garlands for the table, and vintage snowmen and other holiday toys and treasures throughout the house. Hand-knit oversized stockings add merriment and fun to your holiday theme. This is a great decorating trend for families with children.

Winter Wonderland

Turn your home into a winter wonderland using white and silver. Add pink accents, such as flowers and butterflies, mercury ornaments and feathered decorations, which help create a whimsical look. Flocked and glittered elements keep the theme light and bright with an unexpected flair.

Ice Fantasy

Create a contemporary, unique look using a non-traditional accent color. Use cool blue and silver to bring the magic of the holiday into your home, and add violet accents to complete the look. Create your own holiday table by using mirrored charger plates and placing a variety of silver and purple-hued holiday decorations in a clear bowl or apothecary jar as your table centerpiece.

Holiday Hearth

Dress the fireplace mantle just as you would your tree. Garlands, boughs, lights and candles create the perfect flicker to enjoy a cozy fireside cocoa or festive Champagne toast! Artwork that typically hangs above a mantle can be the new nesting spot to display holiday cards and warm wishes collected throughout the season.

Outdoor Fun

Don’t forget to create a fun and magical outdoor space. This is the introduction of the fun to come on the inside of your home. Set the tone with lights, wreaths, topiaries and wrapped boxes on your front porch. White lights convey the spirit of the season outside with a warm glow. A pre-lit topiary tree or cashmere pine tree in a sturdy gold pot adds elegance to your home and greets your friends and family with an immediate welcoming feel. At the bare minimum, share the tradition my mom has created in our family: hang fresh wreaths on the front windows of your home. The look is simple yet impactful. Wreaths have been a symbol of the season for hundreds of years and have existed in various forms since the time of ancient Romans.

Whatever your tradition may be, old or new, let it represent your unique holiday signature and style.

Local resident Kerrie Kelly is the current Chair of the American Society of Interior Designers, author of ‘Home Décor: A Sunset Design Guide,’ instructor, and multi-media consultant.