Whether you're having a quiet celebration with a few close friend or going all out this year with a lavish party, how you decorate your home for New Year's Eve is as important as the food and drinks you serve.
You'll probably already have your house decked out for the holidays, but there's a different feel to Christmas decorations and New Year. Christmas is cozy and warm and for New Year you want a bit more glitz and glamor, so there are small tweaks you can make around your home to give it a real party feel.
To help get you inspired we've rounded up an array of decorating ideas from beautiful table settings to fabulous entryway styling.
How to decorate your home for New Year
It can be tricky planning New Year decor ideas during the busy period of Christmas. The first thing to do is to establish the formality of the event. Are you having a sit-down dinner, a themed New Year's Eve party, or simply a relaxed family meal on New Year's Day? This will help determine your decor scheme.
If you're planning a sit-down meal it's an opportunity to go to town on beautiful table decor ideas. Alternatively, if you are hosting a New Year's Eve drink or cocktail party then why not go for the wow factor?
1. Elevate your hosting with a home bar
For those who love to entertain a home bar is well worth investing in, alternatively, consider a portable bar cart or create a small home bar or cocktail station by styling up a console table.
'Gather together champagne glasses, balloon glasses, whisky tumblers, martini glasses, tongues, a measuring cup, cocktail sticks,' says Simon Temprell, interior design Manager at Neptune. 'You'll also need premium spirits and mixers, a large ice bucket, small bowls of sliced lemon, orange and grapefruit, olives, napkins, and fresh rosemary.'
'You can prop a mirror against the wall to create reflection which helps the bar looks impressively stocked,' Simon adds. To make it look fit for a celebration dot about plenty of candles and style up the tabletop with bowls of baubles, potted cyclamen or bulbs, and bunches of fresh eucalyptus.
2. Always decorate your entryway
When it comes to decorating for New Year, pay a lot of attention to your entryway. It's the first space your guests will see and really sets the occasion. Of course, greenery is an easy way to decorate a staircase, so if your Christmas garlands are still looking fresh, then give them a New Year makeover and switch out any ornaments few new, more glittery options. Tie in gold and silver bows as a really easy update.
Or for something even easier but really impactful, go for a display of paper wheel decorations to bring a bold decorative touch to a staircase wall. There are loads of colorways available to suit whatever vibe you're wanting to create.
Tasteful and understated, these paper decorations from Anthropologie are just the right amount of glitz for a New Year celebration.
If you can't go bold and colorful for a New Year's Eve party than when can you? You get so much in this set and if you put it all away carefully enough you can bring it out for birthdays too.
These scream New Year's Eve party! Order a few sets and tie them all the way up your staircase for a really impressive display.
3. Refresh your flowers and foliage
New Year is a time to look forward to the year ahead and there's nothing like fresh fragrant greenery to breathe new life into the home and help put a spring in your step.
If you have time, create new floral arrangements with less Christmassy colors that feel fresher with pale hues and more delicate greenery.
'Soon spring will be in the air, and there’s nothing like seeing the first flowers of the season after a long, cold winter. When I think of New Year's celebrations, glittering gold decorations come to mind. Amid sparkling confetti and gold accessories, add a bouquet of flowers to your entryway and other tabletops around your house for an elegant, organic touch that grounds the scheme,' says florist Ronny Colbie.
'For your New Year's bouquet, consider a collection of mink roses and fragrant tuberose, with touches of pampas grass and burnt beech foliage or even simpler – a full bunch of white hydrangeas in a gold vase.’
4. Move away from the red and green theme
For a beautiful New Year table decor idea that's distinct from traditional Christmas decor why not pair pretty pastels with metallics? It's decidedly different than all the reds an greens of Christmas but still feels festive, especially as you could be very on-trend and bring in just a few deep red accents into the scheme for just a touch of the holiday feels.
Build the scheme by mixing and matching napkins, linen, and glassware in amber and soft pin,k and introduce gold touches in ceramics and tableware to add extra luster.
5. Or keep your tablescape fresh and simple
After the frenzy of Christmas, we often crave calm at New Year. For a beautiful New year table, there's no need to go all out says Ottalie Stride, creative director of interior design studio Albion Nord.
'The use of simple, white or off-white linens on the table contrasted with a festive bouquet, deep greens from the garden, and brass or silver accents in candlesticks and cutlery is all you need,' Ottalie advises. 'Refrain from man-made and new, bright colors where possible.'
Rustic, yet still sophisticated this footed bowl would really elevate a dish (even just bread rolls or fruits) and could be used as a centerpiece on your New Year's table.
The perfect fresh and neutral base, you can't go wrong with a white table cloth. Linen gives a nice soft, slightly textured base.
And to add just a pop of color to your table, these coupes will do the trick. With a retro shape and color scheme, they will give your New Year's parties a 1920's vibe.
6. Soft lighting is a must
Whether you're planning a glitzy 1920s-style dinner or embracing hygge with a relaxed Nordic celebration, soft lighting and plenty of candles are a must for making it magical.
'New Year is a very twinkly time falling as it does between Christmas and Epiphany, so keep the festive magic going with lots of cream/white tea lights in clear glass holders clustered at the center of your table,' says Sarah Davies-Bennion, senior designer at Kate Guinness. 'The secret is a mix of different shapes and sizes and plentifulness. This will give a feeling of abundance and warmth appropriate for New year but will also be an antidote to the riot of color that is Christmas.'
'Candles are not only a useful investment in view of possible power cuts, but they are also a great way to bring in atmosphere and ambiance with ease,' agrees Interior designer Emma Deterding of Kelling Designs.
'The key is to combine both real wax candles and the battery-powered LED ones – they blend perfectly and you can hardly tell the ones which are not real. You can affordably pick up LED and real wax candles, and again they can be used time and time again. Whether you place them in votives and old jam jars or intersperse them into your table or mantel decor, they'll add that finishing touch.'
A New Year's Eve party is not really the time for lots of open flames, so as Sarah suggests, mix real candles with LEDs. These work particularly well on a dining table so you don't have to worry about guests reaching over a flame.
A taper candle is the most elegant way to do a candle and there are plenty of colors to choose from at Crate & Barrel. Midnight blue feels very New Year's Eve-appropriate.
Scented candles seem almost redundant over Christmas as your home is usually filled with so many other enticing smells. But New Year's not so food-focused and a delicious, luxury scent running through your home is a must.
There is a decidedly different feel between Christmas and New Year decor. Although your holiday decorations might still be up by the time New Year's Eve comes, you want less of the cozy and comfortable feeling (although of course you want your guests to all feel both those things) and more a feeling of celebrations and excitement.
