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

Tracy and her husband David will be celebrating their first New Year in their farm house. For the past year, they have been spending weekends at the Melbourne coast to escape the hustle and bustle. During one of these trips, the couple decided to switch from noisy New Year's parties in Sydney to a quiet family dinner at their new home.

Currently, the single-story house is adjacent to 15-hectare agricultural land. A dairy farm nearby is awaiting renovation. There’s 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—instead, it was cut down in their own garden.

Although there is 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: light color palette and minimalism.

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

I wrap gifts in the simplest paper left over from last year’s New Year and tie them with ribbons made from 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 evergreen wreaths to the interior. Despite the lack of garlands, the living room looks cozy: cushions on the windowsills, a furry blanket for the rocking chair, and lots of natural daylight.

Tracy follows minimalism in the bedroom design. At first glance, it seems easy to create such an interior—but it’s not quite that simple. Tracy painted the walls of one bedroom five times to achieve just the right shade of gray.

Christmas atmosphere is added with small evergreen branches and cinnamon-scented candles.

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

In the hallway, Tracy always leaves a basket with evergreen branches and hides orange and mandarin peels inside to spread the scent throughout the house.

For the veranda decoration, the couple also stuck to their principle—less is more. The festive atmosphere here is created with firewood prepared for the fireplace, evergreen wreaths with seasonal flowers, and wooden benches. Simple and tasteful.