Every year, I find myself wanting the same thing: a home that feels festive and cozy, with all the nostalgic charm of Christmases past (I’m talking colorful vintage-style lights, full greenery, velvet ribbons, the kind of warm, inviting vibe that makes you want to leave the Christmas tree up well into January, etc.), but without A) doing way too much, and B) spending a ridiculous amount of time making it happen. Of course, recreating that feeling in my own home as a busy mom is easier said than done.
I thought I finally cracked the code last year when I bought a new whimsical-looking Christmas tree without built-in lights so I could add a set of string lights with vintage glass bulbs. Surely, old-school lighting would create an old-school feeling without the extra work. Then I started snapping pics of my living room only to find every photograph doused in a sickly green tint. Now, I love the Grinch as much as the next millennial, but I’m no Martha May Whovier.
This time around, I’m determined to redeem our adorably funky tree and accomplish that hazy ambiance of childhood memories. I did my due diligence before hauling out the decor and turned to a recent interview with renowned designer and creative director Brady Tolbert on holiday decorating–and his biggest takeaway? You don’t have to choose between modern convenience and old-fashioned Christmas magic.
Decorating every single surface is so last year
As tempting as it is to cover every mantel, windowsill, bookshelf, and available surface in Christmas decor, a room can quickly start to feel cluttered rather than cozy. Instead, I’m narrowing my efforts—it’s about quality, not quantity, right? Designer and creative director Tolbert agrees with this approach. “I always start with a focal point… whatever the room is already giving me as far as a place for the eye to immediately go to. Then I build outward from there and repeat a few of the elements and colors so that everything feels connected.”
Naturally, the Christmas tree ends up being the most logical focal point in any home. It’s where we gather on Christmas morning, where we put presents, and where I inevitably find myself taking approximately 100 photos throughout the season.
Letting the tree be the star of the show (as it should be)
This means I was back to the drawing board with our tree lighting situation because I did not want to feel like I was living in Shrek’s swamp for a second year. Once I saw Tolbert recommend customizable tree lighting (these Govee Christmas 2-in-1 String Lights in particular), I was immediately sold. We already have a dozen different Govee lighting products around our house because of how easy they are to manage through the app, so this was a no-brainer.
They connected to the Govee app almost immediately, making the whole setup process pretty much painless. The set comes with minimal string lights and ornament-shaped bulbs that can be synced together or set to display different colors and effects. What I especially love about these lights is that I can customize the colors and effects to get the exact look I’m going for. I can lean into that rich glow of vintage Christmas bulbs rather than settling for the overly bright, sometimes harsh look of traditional LED strands.
I can also create custom effects in our preferred colors, which is especially fun when I want to surprise the kids with something a little more playful. And because I can control everything from the app, I can set a timer for the lights to turn off at night. No more crawling behind the Christmas tree, navigating a minefield of pine needles, just to unplug a strand before bed.
Lighting the tree is just the first step to a cozy space
If your living room looks festive but still doesn’t quite have that warm, inviting feeling you’re after, you might be missing one important thing: layered lighting.
It’s easy to put all of our holiday decorating energy into the Christmas tree, but lighting only one part of a room can actually make the rest of the space feel darker and less inviting. The secret to creating that cozy look is to think about lighting at different heights throughout the room. Tolbert recommends approaching holiday lighting in three distinct layers: “Light at three levels: eye level, low level, and architectural highlights. Don’t just light the tree! Frame an archway with garland and a warm backlit glow, add some accent lighting along a credenza…and finish with soft ambient light on the mantel.”
I also love the idea of using the Cone Tree Lights to add some height and dimension to an entryway or front porch. They’re a great way to extend the holiday atmosphere beyond the living room and make the whole home feel a little more festive before anyone even walks through the door. The Smart Curtain Lights Pro are another fun option we own and love. We use them as a festive backdrop on our playroom window, so they light up with holiday effects from the inside and outside of our house.
And because all of these lights can work together through Govee DreamView, I can sync my lighting throughout the space to create one cohesive look. Rather than having different strands doing their own thing, I can coordinate the colors and effects so everything feels connected.
Leaning on mood lighting during different times of the day
One of my favorite things about decorating for Christmas is that the house can feel completely different depending on the time of day. During the day, I want something cheerful and colorful that makes the kids excited to come downstairs. But once the sun sets, dinner is over, and the toys have (mostly) been put away, I’m ready for something a little more sophisticated. That’s where I think smart holiday lighting really shines. Instead of committing to one color scheme for the entire season, I can switch up the atmosphere depending on the mood I’m trying to create. I’m also excited to put them to use during our annual Noche Buena celebration when we host our whole family. I can select the music effect so the lights sync to the tune of our favorite holiday records.
Govee’s vintage-inspired lighting presets make this especially easy. Instead of spending forever trying to find the perfect combination of colors myself, I can choose a preset that gives me a completely different look with just one tap. A few of my favorites include:
- Classic Christmas: If I could bottle the feeling of watching Home Alone on a cold December afternoon, this would be it. Think traditional reds and greens that feel nostalgic, cheerful, and unmistakably Christmas.
- Maximalism: For anyone who loves a more traditional, Ralph Lauren-inspired holiday aesthetic, this is the one. Rich, layered heritage tones create a moodier, more sophisticated look that feels like decorating a grand estate for the holidays.
- Hot Pink: A little unexpected, a little retro, and a lot of fun. This playful pink-and-white combination is perfect for adding a Barbie-inspired pop of color to an otherwise traditional holiday setup.
Tolbert loves the flexibility of having these looks ready to go, too. “They get you a complete look with one tap, which I love… These are just starting points, and they can all be tweaked to fit your home and your own style.”
And I couldn’t agree more. I love being able to start with a preset and then make little adjustments until it feels right for our home. It’s essentially like changing the outfit of your living room without moving a single piece of furniture. Being able to do that without digging through a box of extra bulbs or rearranging my entire decorating scheme feels like a pretty sweet upgrade.
Making sure my decor is also giving vintage
Here’s something I didn’t fully appreciate until I started paying more attention to holiday lighting: The way a room looks has just as much to do with how light interacts with its decor as it does with the decor itself.
If I’m going for the nostalgic Christmas aesthetic, I want more than just red and green lights–I want the whole room to feel warm, collected, and a little bit lived-in. Think velvet ribbons, aged brass candlesticks, antique-inspired ornaments, mercury glass, and the kind of heirloom decorations that look like they’ve been passed down for generations.
According to Tolbert, lighting can actually make these textures and finishes stand out even more. “Light is a designer’s best friend. Warm light on velvet gets absorbed and looks deep and cozy, and on polished brass or cut glass it bounces around and creates little reflections across the room.”
When I’m styling our home, I tend to gravitate toward warmer lighting rather than cool white bulbs. I want that candlelit, golden-hour feeling, especially in the evenings, so I look for color temperatures in the warm white range (around 2200K–2700K). With Govee, I can adjust the warmth and colors directly in the app, which makes it easier to find a setting that complements the rest of our decorations rather than overpowering them. I’m also having fun experimenting with Govee’s more advanced effects. One of the coolest features is the ability to upload an image and use it as inspiration for a custom lighting effect. For example, I can upload a photo of the velvet ribbon I’m using throughout the house and let it help create a complementary color palette for the lights–it does all that work for me.
Combining old-school nostalgia with modern convenience
As much as I love the nostalgia of traditional Christmas decorating, I don’t necessarily miss every part of the experience. There’s something undeniably charming about old-fashioned Christmas lights, but there’s nothing charming about crawling underneath a tree, wrestling with an extension cord, or discovering a burnt-out bulb after you’ve already finished decorating. And as a mom, I’ve realized that the best holiday traditions are the ones that leave me with more time to actually be present for the season.
That’s probably my favorite thing about bringing Govee smart lighting into our holiday routine. I get to enjoy all the nostalgic colors and cozy atmosphere I love, but with the convenience of being able to control everything from my phone. I’ve even started thinking about our lighting in terms of a daily routine. In the morning, I can have a gentle, warm glow ready for when the kids come downstairs. Around dinner time, I can switch to a more colorful, festive display that makes the house feel extra magical. Once the kids are in bed, I can change everything to a softer, flickering amber glow that makes the living room feel like my own little holiday retreat. Here’s what that might look like in our home:
- 7:00 AM: A gentle, warm morning glow that makes coming downstairs feel a little more magical (even if the first order of business is finding everyone’s missing shoes).
- 4:30 PM: A classic Christmas palette that brings some extra cheer to dinner prep and makes the house feel festive as the sun goes down.
- 8:30 PM: A soft, flickering amber glow for when the kids are in bed, the dishes are (hopefully) done, and it’s finally time to enjoy a quiet evening.
The best part? I don’t have to manually turn everything on and off or remember which plug controls which strand. I can schedule everything in advance and adjust the atmosphere whenever I want.
At the end of the day, that’s what I want my holiday home to feel like: nostalgic, warm, and full of little moments that make the season special. I still want the colorful lights, the sentimental ornaments, and the Christmas-movie-worthy glow. I just don’t need the tangled cords, burnt-out bulbs, or nightly game of unplugging everything behind the tree to go along with them. And it turns out, you really can have an old-fashioned Christmas without doing things the old-fashioned way with a few decorating tips and lights like Govee.
Steph Alleva Cornell, Senior Branded Content Editor
Since becoming a young mama in 2020, Steph finds joy in creating beautiful yet relatable stories surrounding the raw realities of motherhood. She uses her real-life experiences and eight years of marketing expertise to produce authentic branded content that aligns with our reader’s interests.
McKenna Pringle, Assistant Editor of Branded Content
As the Assistant Editor of Branded Content, McKenna collaborates with our sales team by creating both written and social media content, collecting and analyzing performance data to report back to our partners, and assisting our editors with their everyday tasks to ensure a smooth and productive process.
This post is sponsored by the Govee, but all of the opinions within are those of The Everymom editorial board. We only feature brands we genuinely love.
