How to Decorate a Home for New Year on a Budget: Designer's Experience

Tracy and her husband David will be celebrating their first New Year in their farmhouse. For the past year, they have been driving to the Melbourne coast every weekend to escape the hustle and bustle. During one of these trips, the couple decided firmly to replace noisy New Year's parties in Sydney with a quiet family dinner in their new home.

Currently, the single-story house is adjacent to 15-hectare agricultural land. Nearby is a dairy farm awaiting renovation. There is even a small pen with two sheep—Patch and his friend Gerty. Due to the abundance of trees and shrubs around, Tracy decided to use branches, leaves, and berries for home decoration. Even the Christmas tree was not bought—she cut one down in her own garden.

Despite having plenty of greenery around the house, I still dream of planting a fruit orchard and an olive grove.

The interior of the house was designed in Scandinavian style: a light color palette and minimalism.

The Christmas tree at the dining table was also decorated with toys in a light color palette. Tracy believes that the tree is the main element, and ornaments on it are secondary.

I wrap gifts in the simplest paper that remained from last year's New Year, and tie them with ribbons made of fabric—old tablecloths or curtains. It looks stylish and budget-friendly.

To keep more space in the living room for relaxation, the couple added a few handmade spruce wreaths to the interior. Despite no garlands, the living room looks cozy: cushions on windowsills, a fuzzy blanket for the rocking chair, and lots of natural daylight.

Tracy keeps the bedroom minimalist in design. At first glance, it seems easy to create such an interior—but it’s not quite so. Tracy painted the walls of one bedroom five times to achieve exactly this shade of grey.

Christmas atmosphere is added by small spruce branches and candles with cinnamon scent.

The bathroom is the only place in the house where Tracy and David did not change furniture. They even restored the bathtub and left it as is—just the legs alone are worth something!

In the hallway, Tracy always leaves a basket with spruce branches and hides orange and mandarin peels in it so that the scent spreads throughout the house.

In the decoration of the veranda, the couple also stuck to their principle—less is more. The New Year atmosphere here is created by firewood prepared for the fireplace, spruce wreaths with seasonal flowers, and wooden benches. Simple yet tasteful.