Adding Magic to Existing Décor

As decorators or owners of a property, you don’t have to invest in all new pieces or even a full program in order to breathe new life and magic into existing elements. As Dekra-Lite enters its 32^nd holiday season of making magic, our team decided to share some of the best tips and tricks of the trade in order to create extra MAGIC! These small details help spread the holiday cheer, keep things festive and bright as well as adding extra touches of sparkle!

Trees, wreaths, garlands and sprays can easily get an updated look by adding in layers or elements you wouldn’t normal think of. Picks of carefully selected fillers, berries and flowers as well as specialty ornamentation like an overlay of acrylic snowflakes or icicles enhance and upgrade the thinnest garland. You can also consider another layer of lighting – maybe using warm and cool white lighting together or adding a strand of color to an otherwise traditional wreath. On our signature line of Sequoia Trees, we commonly use giant LED Ropelight Snowflakes for contrast and excitement!

When our designers plan for a tree or décor element that people can get up close and personal to, we’ll almost always use some kind of base to ground everything. For a simple graphic wall that would be placed inside, we might use a patch of bright holiday red carpet to ground the photo op. If budget allows we’ll add a small tree or perhaps gift boxes to stage the area and set the scene. For a large exterior display, for something like a 10’ Illuminated Ring, we’d create a platform to raise everything up and make sure the platform space is staged with ornaments and garlands. The platform also allows us to hide all of the electrical cords so the display stays looking neat and professional. Even smaller trees, inside or out, we like adding height to by using risers. It makes the tree taller, appearing more grand and putting more magic directly in the line of sight of the people enjoying it!

We love adding ornaments to everything! Even that 10’ Illuminated Ring we mentioned above can get ornaments attached to the outside or placed within it’s structure for daytime appeal and also for pops of color! A lot of our elements are hung in the air and we frequently hang ornaments from the décor creating our very own custom Christmas chandeliers!  

Understanding that Christmas décor is an asset and can be expensive, we are all for refurbishing, repurposing, reusing and rehanging! If you have multiple properties, moving elements around between them will ensure patrons are always looking at something fresh and new. When some of the most pricey elements like giant trees and giant wreaths start to look thin, the aluminum and metal framing is often in great shape and we can rebranch trees and replace garland on wreaths. Our designers are great with consultations and providing recommendations on what to do with used décor as well. Perhaps you have LED Ropelight Snowflakes that were on a tree but the tree was moved to another property and you’re left with the snowflakes. We can hang them in a pattern overhead creating a unique skyline or can weld them to landscaping stakes and they become ground décor – the possibilities are endless – just use your imagination!

One of the best tips in Commercial Christmas decorating is the use of garland to hide hanging electrical cords and light bars. We’ll use decorated and lit garland, natural garland as well as flittered ropes to hang inflatables and illuminated décor from. For light curtains that often line interior corridors we use the same garland along the top of the light bar, hiding all of the connections for a clean and finished look but also for more décor, lighting and color! With Santa Sets and backdrops, we’ll often use garland to hide installation seams as well.

Think of that same 10’ Illuminated Ring we placed on a platform earlier. The platform is staged with gifts and the Ring has ornaments attached and placed inside – we couldn’t possibly add more magic could we? Yes we could! Dekra-Lite has a full in-house print department and we frequently print bows, gift tags and signage that can be customized for our properties using their logo or holiday hashtag. This way, every photo posted online helps with organic marketing – a win-win for all stakeholders!

People love Christmas lights – no matter the form they take! If you already have tree lined streets lit up for the season, consider adding more elements to the canopy of the trees or making a round about tree a focal point with Light Spheres or Protostars hung above. Besides trees, small walkways are perfect for creating light canopies – people love walking under lights! Think you have great coverage and everything has lights – perhaps you need our net lighting that can be easily draped on shrubs and bushes for more sparkle and shine!

Dekra-Lite designers know how to enhance elements but we also offer some décor that was meant to enhance. If you have parking lot pole with holiday banners you can consider using lit banner enhances for light and design. You can also add decorated garland or vinyl garland to the pole to hide the banner hardware and again for … more magic!

Trying just one of the above insider tips will yield the cheer and smiles you’re looking for! Group a couple together and you’ll have what feels like a new program – complete with more magic and sparkle. Don’t forget that paying attention to the details makes all the difference. Be purposeful and enjoy the planning and decorating – we do!