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www.insideHALTON.com | OAKVILLE BEAVER | Friday, December 5, 2014 | 22 holiday Décor Decorating your new home Whether you've recently relocated from one home to another or you're a first-time homeowner, you want to make the first Christmas spent under your new roof a memorable one. The pressure of getting everything ready to host your family and loved ones in your new space can feel overwhelming but it doesn't need to be. Here are some simple tips and tricks for making your new house feel like home without breaking the bank this holiday season. Mix old with new If this is your first home, chances are you haven't accumulated a lot of holiday décor items yet. Look for staple items in neutral colours that can be your base year-afteryear. Once you have these, mix in accent pieces for fun and fresh pops of colour to update the look. This year, the `it' colour of the holiday season is apple green, which pairs really well with white, silver or gold tones that can be used as your neutral base. Canadian Tire's new CANVAS collection is a great place to look for accent décor. To update your home's look this Christmas, mix and match your favourite decorations with a few accessories in apple green. Get the kids involved If you've just moved into a new home and have young children, setting up for Christmas is a fun activity that the whole family can be a part of. It's a perfect opportunity to express your own style throughout your holiday décor and get everyone excited about the new space. DIY projects are a great way to refresh your home's holiday look while also helping you stay on budget. Instead of buying all new décor items each year, refurbish your old pieces by adding personal style touches. Spray paint can go a long way when decorating for the holidays. Choose a focal point Decorating can be both exciting and intimidating, and sometimes less is more. Don't get overwhelmed trying to deck out your entire home head-to-toe with Christmas decorations; select a focal point or two instead. One of my favourite areas to decorate is the fireplace mantel. If you don't have a mantel another great focal point is the staircase handle. For each area, start with a simple garland and add in ornaments that will provide bursts of colour. Lights can also be added in for an extra twinkle and special effect. Christine Dovey is a published stylist, decorator and artist. Learn more about Christine and read her blog, Bijou & Boheme, at christinedovey.com. Lights made easy With the elfLight, you can get the help you need to light up your home in glorious colours and save time and money to boot. The elfLight, the latest innovation in holiday lighting, projects thousands of shimmering lights onto your home and gardens, covering up to 625 square feet per light. Compared to traditional lighting, which can take up to a day to install and send your energy bill through the roof, the elfLight can be installed in minutes, you'll never break into a sweat setting it up, and it only consumes five watts of power - just pennies of electricity per season. Not only that, but the elfLight has a remote control, a timer, and a selection of multiple lighting effects including individual colour control with display choice of red only, green only or both red and green. "The elfLight will dramatically transform how Canadians light up their homes for the holiday season in terms of time and energy saved. It means no ladders, no tangled wires and no high energy bills. You just stake it, position it, plug it in and you're done," says Daren A. Brandman, vice-president, sales and marketing for RP Toys. "And another great thing about the elfLight is that it allows you to decorate like never before. You can light up the whole face of your house, not just the eaves, as well as tall trees previously unreachable by ladders." This holiday season, think like Santa and get your own little helper: the elfLight available at Canadian Tire Home Hardware, Home Outfitters, Loblaw, London Drugs, Lowes, Save-on-Foods and other major retail outlets, with a suggested list price of $199.99.