Xmas Decoration Guide
Perhaps you’re a student who just came to live abroad; it’s your first year away from home and your first Christmas on your own. You might start to miss home, family, friends, so you decide to decorate your room to get into the Christmas spirit. But, wait…. You don’t have money to blow nor that much storage space. Plus, every Christmas decoration item you buy now will just become 'stuff' taking up space when the holiday season is done.
For that reason, here are 6 fun decoration ideas to get in that Christmas spirit. Luckily, all items can be used year-round!


1. XMAS LIGHTS. I know I said things you can use year-round and then I go and put Xmas lights as the first thing. But what you may fail to understand is that Xmas lights CAN be used year-round. During Christmas, of course, they can be put in the Christmas tree. During the rest of the year, however, they can be a nice addition for a birthday party or hung around a closet to give some atmosphere. If you really want to be creative, you can wrap them around your bathroom mirror and create your own vanity mirror, or to decorate your bedroom/studio. Just because they're called 'Christmas lights,' doesn’t mean they can only be used during the Christmas season.
2. BED COVERS.

Most interior designers will tell you; color is everything when putting a room together. If you really want to put your room in the holiday spirit, red and green is the way to go. Seeing how it’s pretty cold this time of year for most people, you need to get out the trusted duvet. What better way to bring some red and green into your room by getting a green duvet cover, some red pillow casings and/or vice versa? Of course, during the season they scream Christmas but during the year you can always combine them with other color schemes and use them as normal bed covers to change up your room a little.
3. PILLOWS.

Now, if you found the duvet and pillow cover idea a bit much, you can always scale it back and get some red and green ornamental pillows instead [or do all three!]. There are few things as cheery and atmospheric than pillows. You can put them on the sofa and/or you can put some on the bed. For Christmas, you can even add in some dash of an extra color combo by putting gold and silver colored pillows in your room. Just like the duvet and pillow cover idea, you can rearrange the pillows during the year, so it doesn’t stay as Christmassy. There will come a time when you eventually will want to put the pillows away in the closet and bring an in a different ornamental pillow, but pillows are always a welcome addition in your room.
4. WHITE/CHALK BOARD.

Having a whiteboard or a chalkboard in your room is always handy. You can write reminders, your to-do list and, basically, they are a helpful addition to your room. During Christmas, however, they can be a perfect canvas for you to display some Christmas spirit. You can write, draw, and be as creative as you want to be when bringing your idea of Christmas cheer to life. Use those Xmas lights I suggested in my first point and wrap some around it to make it pop!
5. CANDLES.

Either alone or in combination with the Christmas lights, candles can always create an atmosphere. Scented candles are even better because it has been proven that people’s sense of smell relates to the memory centers in the brain, giving us some nostalgia with certain smells. So why not place some scented red and green candles here and there in your room. Of course, at night when the candles are lit, they give a romantic and holiday vibe with their warm yellow glow illuminating the otherwise dark and cold room.
6. FRIDGE MAGNETS.

I know that, maybe, fridge magnets might not be everyone’s thing, but you can always use the alphabet magnates to leave a holiday message. But if you don’t want to go the alphabet route, you can always rearrange the dot magnets in the shape of a Xmas tree. Or, I guess you can always go the easy way and print out something 'Christmassy' and pin it to your fridge with the magnets. Either way, magnets on your fridge are useful for many reasons.
Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this blogpost are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official views of Phryme Magazine.