Festooning a home for the holidays conjures grand images of garlands, Christmas trees and lots of lights. These days, lights are mostly LEDs, rather than those cursed strings where one bulb inevitably flamed out, taking out an entire strand, leaving a black hole on a swath of branches. But the biggest change in the last 10 years has been the expansion of colors across an overwhelming range of decor, from ornaments to accessories that push the creative envelope out of the traditional red and green comfort zone.

There's something intriguing about less conventional palettes, some a little retro -- like pastels reminiscent of sugary miniature villages -- and others that follow suit with trending elements of home decor.

This year, for example, there's a lot of blush and rose gold, riffing off of the acceptance of millennial pink as a core color. There's a sizeable range of blues, right on cue with the dominance we've seen in furnishings markets globally.

For designer Tobi Fairley, whose newly renovated home in Little Rock, Arkansas, is featured in this month's Traditional Home, tradition and Southern-style hospitality is strong. But so is color, always a passion reflected in her interiors and furniture for CR Laine.

Touring her home is so much technicolor eye candy, from the shock of flaming red trees in pots, crimson berries and wreaths framing the front door, to a riveting pink bedecked flocked tree in a black-and-white foyer (to echo the pinks in the adjacent dining room), to shots of delicious vivid blues, purple and aqua in other rooms.

Blame it on her mom. "My mom always had fun with our Christmas trees," she says. "I remember in the '80s we had mauves and pinks. Another year we had blues mixed with rust tones. My mom was pretty confident. We didn't just have traditional ornaments. She definitely set the tone.

"I've always encouraged my clients not to 'undecorate' their homes -- by that, I mean, take away pieces and store them in the attic so they can get their Christmas decorations out. To me, (holiday decorating) should enhance what you have. I lean into a palette and design that works for me all year 'round. I want my home to still feel like it's my home."

"Red and green has been pumped into people's heads over time," says Eddie Ross, style director for The Mine, an e-tail site with curated high-end furnishings, and a columnist for House Beautiful. "It if works in your home, great. But it may be jarring against a lavender wall. I decorate to enhance the decor of my home, not make it clash. This day and age, there are so many choices in different colors."

That's no surprise to forecaster Michelle Lamb, director of The Trend Curve, a subscription-based publication for professionals that focuses on home furnishings trends. Lamb, who regularly covers a show called Christmas World in Frankfurt, Germany, calls red and green a holiday "workhorse," but she sees other colors demanding attention in decor and trims.

"There's a warming trend, informed by millennial pink, as well as brown and gold -- three big influencers on the palette," says Lamb. "But also, green is a top trend, and it's not unusual to see two or three shades together, with eucalyptus and sage being the loudest. And aqua values, pale to deep, have a large role.

And, of course, blue. "It is North America's favorite color," says Lamb. "Which one? Pick one. And it's the color for Hanukkah, plus a color story that has more to do with winter."

Blue is favored so much by designers today that it has practically become a neutral. Consider denim. It goes with everything -- dressed up or dressed down. A more formal setting with a stone fireplace mantel and paneled walls is so inviting with a trio of denim stockings hanging from brass-finished love-letter "XOX" holders. A reindeer head adds a light touch. All are part of a collection by stylists and fashion designers Emily Current and Meritt Elliott at Pottery Barn.

Eddie Ross chose more of a pale robin's egg blue for ornaments that he teamed with red on a white flocked tree. The pairing especially shows how striking color selection can be when it's repeated in the room -- in this case, a pair of French doors in the background. And in turquoise foo dogs, playfully placed with wrapped packages that pop in companion colors. Oh, and you might notice just a few blush ornaments as well -- to echo the shade of a nearby upholstered chair. "I like taking what's old and making it new and cool again," he says.

Similar brights punctuate a white taffeta tree skirt by Kim Seybert, available at Horchow. Seybert, who is known for exquisitely hand-beaded placemats and runners, scattered beads that glisten like newly fallen snow, and bordered the round skirt in raspberry, apple green, turquoise, magenta and pink beaded bands and red velvet ribbon.

That turquoise also surfaced in a new cloisonne dreidel design at Crate and Barrel, destined to become a real keepsake ornament. Just as in other areas of home design, there is an appreciation for such handcrafted goods, which often show off shiny accents.

In addition to retro, on-trend decor and handcrafted looks, 'tis the season for anything that sparkles: metallic finishes, glitter, mercury glass -- all of which seem to dance in lights, especially candlelight.

"It's amazing how modern glitter is right now," says Lamb. "It's certainly not new, but we have the whole sequin trend that has elevated glitter again, with different levels of reflection, from coarse to fine glitters."

And the same relaxation toward mixing metals that we've seen in other areas of the home, from kitchens to living rooms, is unfolding with seasonal decor.

"Around the holidays, I think of metallics like silver and gold as neutrals, because they mix in so well with your existing decorations," says designer Alexa Hampton. "Silver and gold look great together."

So do rose gold and silver. A stunning new garland (and wreath) at Horchow pairs silver and blush gold ornaments and berries along with silvery leaves and glittery balls. Metals teamed with solids also look fresh -- like creamy matte with shiny gold ornaments at Crate and Barrel, a combination that we've seen in vases and plates.

So many of these kinds of materials now are available in crafts stores like Jo-Ann Fabrics and Michaels, if you want to weave in some glamor into pine or Frasier fir boughs, there are plenty of choices.

And for those who welcome larger DIY projects, you might take inspiration from Laura Dowling. A former chief White House florist for six years, some of her wreaths are crafted with humble, natural materials -- like potatoes. The soft red, almost pink hue, teamed with flowers, violet ribbons and variegated leaves is striking. Or she borrows from Colonial Williamsburg materials such as fruits, with a bold diamond-shaped wreath assembled with limes and crab apples, especially dramatic on a red door. Her new book, "A White House Christmas" (Stichting Kunstboek, $45) includes step-by-step floral design tutorials.

Whether you are all about nostalgia and opt for traditional decorations that have been passed down for generations, or shake it up with bright hues and new materials, one thread should be consistent. Bring an edge -- a bit of luxe or modern style -- as you create magic. That's what makes the holidays special.

Sources

-- Ballard Designs, 800-536-7551, www.ballarddesigns.com

-- Crate and Barrel, 800-967-6696, www.crateandbarrel.com

-- CB2, 800-606-6252, www.cb2.com

-- Horchow, 877-944-9888, www.horchow.com

-- The Mine, 844-843-6463, www.themine.com

-- Tobi Fairley & Associates, 501-868-9882, www.tobifairley.com

-- West Elm, 888-922-4119, www.westelm.com

SIDEBAR

Ready for Midnight!

Gather up those party hats and noisemakers and get ready to pop the champagne. As you usher in the new year, celebrate in style, with pretty champagne buckets, glasses, party plates -- and decor.

Decorate with oversized sparkly paper streamers -- they come in silver, copper and gold -- hung as garlands, or horizontally or vertically. Or hang reflective ornaments, paper pinwheels or honeycombs with glittery tops. Some of those fancy dress-up decorations are available at Crate and Barrel.

If you were to conduct a poll among those hosting a dinner during the holidays and ask about the kind of table they'd like to set, you're likely to draw similar responses. Memorable. Yes, well that would be the experience, and the savoring of all that delicious food you're going to prepare. Beautiful. Add candles and flowers or a cleverly composed seasonal centerpiece? Check!

But what makes the table fresh, festive or glamorous? It's all in the mix. And each year, as we take inventory of our own dinnerware, flatware, glasses and serve ware, some likely with sentimental value, we realize that while we are probably covered on the basics, we may want to tweak even the traditional pieces. Try out a new dish, layering it in as an accent, much like an herb or spice you've never sampled.

If you shop for pieces to supplement what you already own, you're likely to spot a few trends. While there has been an undercurrent of more casual, relaxed furnishings in home decor, there is a countertrend of more embellishment in furniture, wall and floor surfaces, as well as fabrics, which is expressed in details such as embroidery. The holiday table is the perfect spot for dressing up, even if it's just with napkins stitched with pretty pumpkins or holly.

Metallic accents always add a bit of glamor, from gleaming polished serving pieces to mercury glass votives to burnished gold chargers. Gold is still on trend, but so is mixing in other metal finishes like silver and copper. Texture also is important, as well as organic themes and natural materials like rattan, twigs, hemp and burlap.

In tabletop designs, artisanal looks, like irregular or burnished edges of plates or cups, celebrate craft. Especially compelling are images that are hand-drawn, hand-painted or watercolored. A few of these for the holidays are whimsical, with fanciful depictions, like Dasher donning a tux (at Pottery Barn), or brightly attired snowmen (Crate and Barrel) or old Saint Nick with a modern look in a series of delightful watercolors by Italian artist Alessandro Taddei for Vietri. Others are as fresh as fallen snow, with wispy evergreens asymmetrically gracing the side of a plate.

Brushes of gold, rose gold, platinum and silver are dressing up casual stoneware, sometimes in seemingly random streaks or drizzled spots that resemble raindrops. Matte finishes are striking a chord, and sometimes these are paired with glossy touches in a single plate.

And glassware is anything but static as a category or an afterthought. A rainbow of hues is enlivening hand-cut crystal to glassware. Jewel tones like sapphire, emerald, ruby and amethyst add clear sparkle with uber elegance. And a reboot of lusterware, that pretty iridescent glassware that was popular during in the early part of the 20th century, is a way to introduce subtle shades of blue or rose.

Glassware manufacturers also are coloring stems and even the barrels of glasses. Relief patterns and etchings with playful polka dots, stripes and other geometric patterns also have energized glass offerings. Adding a set of these fresh silhouettes can extend the fashionable style at the table.

At a recent tabletop show in New York, blue reinforced its stronghold as a perennially favorite color. It always translates well on a holiday table.

Deborah Shearer, a tabletop trend-spotter who heads Table and Dine, a lifestyle brand and marketing studio, set a stunning table with plates by artist Darbie Angell, showing just how to turn the tables on convention, with a striking black-and-white runner.

"The stripes are bold, but it allowed room to highlight the watercolors and Darbie's grand style," says Shearer. "Vases filled with blue-colored water and single stems of irises were kind of icing on the cake."

Rich cobalt often is a go-to hue on Hanukkah tables, and new dreidel-patterned dishes at Pottery Barn are modern in graphics and placemats on an open field. Kim Seybert, whose signature is luxe beaded table runners and placemats, designed an out-of-this-world wood placemat called Cosmos in vivid shades of blue with gold foiling in swirls. It's especially fetching with traditional china bordered in blue and gold.

Fall tables, especially those for Thanksgiving, seem to invite orange, russet and aubergine tones that are easily inspired by heirloom pumpkins in pretty shades of sage, apricot and white, gourds in golden tones, pomegranates and eggplants. Ceramic pumpkin plates, platters or tureens make wonderful seasonal accessories (as well as thoughtful hostess gifts.

Plaid hors d'oeuvre and salad plates are becoming staples in a variety of shades, including apricots and traditional reds and greens. At Sur la Table (www.surlatable.com), a traditional holly and pine collection, which features a central Christmas motif with a holly and berry border and red outlines on scalloped plates, is set on a red plaid charger, which would be equally striking with solid white.

White dinnerware, modern or traditional, of course goes with most everything. It's so easy to decorate around it in palettes of your choosing, whether traditional Thanksgiving, Hanukkah or Christmas, or something unpredictable in hue or pattern.

For those who don't like fussy decor or table settings, there's an art to the minimal as well.

"Each table is a blank canvas that provides a creative opportunity to combine colors and textures," says Sandy Chilewich, whose eponymous brand features a range of textured vinyl placemats, some dressed with metallics. "Around the holidays, creating a warm, inviting environment is as important as the good food. It sets the tone and plays a big part in bringing people together."

With so much traffic on Pinterest and Instagram, as well as blogs and table-setting tips on retail sites, we have much more access to creative solutions, even rounded out with recipes to supplement your own. In turn, this range of options really seems to feed the courage to try something new, or a catalyst to believe you can do something spectacular, even if you've never fancied yourself as artistic.

Above all, it's about creating an experience, and no matter what the holiday, giving thanks for the company of family and good friends.

Sources

-- Chilewich, 888-851-7130, www.chilewich.com

-- Crate and Barrel, 800-967-6696, www.crateandbarrel.com

-- Gump's, 800-284-8677, www.gumps.com

-- Kim Seybert, 877-564-7850, kimseybert.com

-- Mark and Graham, 888-965-6275, www.markandgraham.com

-- Neiman Marcus, 888-888-4757, www.neimanmarcus.com

-- Pier 1 Imports, 800-245-4595, www.pier1.com

-- Pottery Barn, 888-779-5176, www.potterybarn.com

-- Table and Dine, www.tableanddine.com

SIDEBAR

Serve Up With Something New

The easiest way to update a holiday table is with serving pieces. They also make fabulous gifts.

Try a metal finish, especially one that's hammered, etched, raised or mottled for dimension. Or fun hand-painted seasonal platters or cheese boards. The assortment in salad and canape plates is a fun addition as well, and one your host may love.

In design, we often look through the lens of the past to inform our present. And with mid-century modern style so dug in -- and no longer just a furnishings trend, thanks largely to millennials -- the question is, what's the next aesthetic to resonate?

Many signs are pointing to Art Deco. Modern in its heyday in the 1930s, the style crossed a swath of large and small objects for design, from buildings and furniture to everyday objects, even jewelry, with simple shapes dressed by extravagant materials and marked by craftsmanship.

The look is bold, opulent, even flamboyant. Its forms can be shapely or angular. It can be tailored or sexy, lavish and glamorous. And its scale in furnishings doesn't overpower. We've traveled through strong cycles of embracing the style, including in the late '70s and early '80s.

And in late '90s, "Titanic" launched a new wave of love, even though the decor aboard the iconic ship preceded the official birth of Art Deco by more than a dozen years. Yet the opulence of such "floating palaces" in a more romantic era struck a chord.

But there's no doubt about its current presence, as characteristic design elements have been sneaking in with patterned stylized and geometric motifs, channeling and fluting.

At the spring High Point, North Carolina, furniture market, a major 45-piece collection was launched at French Heritage, with another significant one at Fine Furniture Design. There's lighting, wallcovering, tile, rugs, textiles, dinnerware, glassware and serve ware.

A recent exhibit at the Cooper Hewitt Museum in New York celebrated a broad spectrum of the design with The Jazz Age: American Style in the 1920s. More than 400 works, including furniture, textiles, tableware, fashion, jewelry, paintings, posters, wallcovering and architecture were displayed. Craftsmanship starred in Bakelite radios and exquisite precious jewels from fashion houses like Van Cleef & Arpels and Cartier. Touching on the artistry of transplanted European designers, primarily from Austria and Germany, American architecture became an inspirational backdrop, particularly the powerful image of the skyscraper in centerpieces, like the famous Chrysler Building in New York City.

In home furnishings, "Art Deco is interesting," says trend forecaster Michelle Lamb, publisher of The Trend Curve. "It can be decorative, but a lot of it has to do with adding nuance to shape." During its heyday, "nothing was too small to have design applied, brought down to the scale of a perfume bottle" or a makeup compact, a pair of earrings or a bracelet.

The key, according to Lamb, is to revamp the inspiring elements of tradition in ways that make them approachable.

"Millennials may want something more interesting -- newer, fresher -- but it will have to be informed by clean lines. And it can't get too big -- not much bigger (in scale) than pieces were in the '40s, '50s and '60s."

Los Angeles designer Michael Berman, who designed a wallcovering collection for Fromental with some Art Deco inspiration, says that its decorative graphic element is especially suited for mid-century modernism "because the furniture is so simple, with linear silhouettes and clean lines. That allows people to get a little more adventurous with some pattern on the wall, on the floors."

When French Heritage rolled out its Facet collection, it represents an exciting direction for company president Henessy Wayser, who collaborated with designer Michelle Workman for more than 18 months to produce it. Zebrawood, rosewood and oak burl veneers, as well as faux shagreen and fashionable lacquers emphasize the clean lines of the design, and accents of solid brass, copper, brass inlay, nickel and mirror define and add a dressy flourish. Upholstery by Kravet includes velvet, satin and woven jacquard in a palette of midnight blue, fuchsia, winter green, gypsy rose and shades of light and deep purple.

Workman, who grew up in Los Angeles ("which has a ton of AD architecture," she notes), always has been fond of Deco style. But she wasn't at all interested in replicating line for line, just riffing off of it, "flavoring with an Art Deco sensibility rather than a straight reproduction. And, of course, a little glam."

"Deco is a really wonderful transitional style," says Workman. "It's still rooted in history, yet completely modern. For millennials, it's a style they're not familiar with. To me it's about the clean lines, geometries. And the materials -- exotic woods, beautiful burls, skins, shagreen and parchment."

Workman had a little fun naming some of the pieces, which range from $500 to $10,000, for cocktails. A small book depicting pieces from the collection includes recipes and brief history of the drinks. One of her favorites: the channel-backed Hanky Panky Chair: "That leg. So thin, but cast in metal. Love its elegance."

When designer Patrick Aubriot designed a Deco collection for Fine Furniture Design, he looked to his roots for a historical connection. His interpretation is subtle, distilled to the essence of pieces in clean, classically inspired, contemporary silhouettes. It features figured anigre veneers in rich, dark Cafe Noir finish, black granite with chiseled coin edges and silver-leaf accents in a bronze patina gilt finish.

Shapes -- curves or linear and angular -- add to the look, and can be especially accentuated in accessories, such as decanters and soup tureens, and by lighting. Aerin Lauder was inspired by stylized flower forms with the design of a ceiling-mounted pendant light, available in silver or gold. Another elongated AERIN sconce called Eaton for Circa Lighting sparkles; a 14-inch tall, 7 1/2-inch wide jewel-like column style with spiral glasswork accented in gold, and can add a luxurious Deco accent to a wall in a bedroom, living or dining room.

Here's the thing: Many of the newest Deco style pieces are ideally suited for small spaces. Case goods, like bars, are not towering, most topping out at 6 feet tall. Some chairs almost look petite, but sit well, and are comfortable for larger frames.

A new Deco collection from Diesel Living with Moroso, introduced at Salone del Mobile in the spring, features small-scale clean-lined upholstery, sitting on faceted mirrored faceted bases. Patrizia Moroso says that the collection represents two different, yet coexisting aspects of certain contemporary trends -- "one darker in tone ... with a more aggressive and enigmatic aesthetic, and the other inspired by nature and a visual radiance, with soft and welcoming shapes."

Another turn was taken by Timothy Oulton, whose signature has come to be brown leathers with hides in a more rustic aesthetic. His Rex console plays on the romanticism and glamor of the 1920s, with its hand-cut crystal prisms that dazzle.

The spirited geometrics and stylized patterns can be complex in a range of colors, and especially powerful in black and white, as in the repetitive fan shapes and diamonds of a new wallcovering called Majestic Gold from the bathware company Devon & Devon. Or a bold fabric pattern in black embroidered on natural linen from Boussac. Or a take on an op-art vibe, in an intricate inlay of bone on the face of a console by Bernhardt.

Geometric patterns, especially in a larger scale and in multiple hues are almost mesmerizing. And in textiles or rugs, they can anchor a space, providing a number of options for pulling together companion colors for accents and art in a room. A good example is a series of wool rugs designed by Zaven for CC Tapis. They recall the colorful artistry of Ukranian-born French painter Sonia Delaunay, whose art and textiles were exhibited in a Paris retrospective at the Museum of Modern Art in 2015.

"A lot of the motifs take on Aztec and Egyptian forms," says Michelle Workman. The discovery of King Tutankhaman's tomb in 1922 ignited an interest that led to stylized panthers, gazelles, garlands and maidens, which have been expressed from the kitschy to the sublime.

The price range for authentic Art Deco actually waxes and wanes, according to demand at auctions, and you can fetch something decorative for hundreds of dollars. At the high end, originals have hit the $1 million mark. A square extension table in rosewood by French master Emile-Jacques Ruhlmann recently was posted for $100,000 on www.1stdibs.com.

A new piece by Lalique Maison actually features a crystal inlay originally designed by Rene Lalique in 1928 for the Orient Express. It retails for just under $35,000. The ivory ash and crystal Joueur de Pipeau bar speaks fluently in the opulent lexicon of the original movement.

One way to integrate a bit of Deco styling is with tabletop or accessories. The Portuguese porcelain company Vista Alegre introduced a handsome range of Art Deco-inspired designs in porcelain and lead crystal. A tabletop collection called Emerald teams beautiful shades of light and dark greens, richly decorated with matte gold. The company actually used original pieces of the brand to recreate the exhuberance of the period.

Vista Alegre's Jazz cups are all about shape and attitude. Their handle is a triangle, and the bold coral and white with black borders adds to the graphic. The company also features whiskey decanters in a number of shapes and Deco-inspired designs.

Also keep an eye out for characteristic Deco motifs in textiles, such as bedding and even kitchen towels and pillows.

Between the choice of Deco style patterns and modern furniture designs, there's an appeal to consumers of all ages, especially because pieces can play off mid-century modern, traditional and other contemporary styles.

Lamb says that as millennials seek more mature styles and as more dressed up furnishings, in general, gain momentum, Art Deco style will benefit. She expects it to stay at the high end through mid-2018, and emerge at more moderate price points for 2019.

"In a sea of plains, pieced woods, the richness of multiple patterns enhances choices," says Lamb. "'Eclectic' now is a dated term, and it's not so much about mixing styles and stripes and values, as it is creating an environment that is unique to you."

Sources

-- AERIN, 866-647-3330, www.aerin.com

-- Bernhardt, 828-758-9811, www.bernhardt.com

-- Boussac, through Pierre Frey, 212-421-0534, www.pierrefrey.com

-- CC Tapis. Company is in Milan, Italy: email info@cc-tapis.com, www.cc-tapis.com

-- Devon & Devon, 718-649-5882, www.devon-devon.com

-- Diesel Living, Diesel Collection at Moroso, available at New York's DDC, 212-685-0800, www.moroso.it

-- Fine Furniture Design, 336-883-9918, www.ffdm.com

-- French Heritage, 800-245-0899, www.frenchheritage.com

-- Fromental, 347-625-1838, www.fromental.co.uk

-- Lalique, 888-488-2580, www.lalique.com

-- Timothy Oulton, at HD Buttercup, Los Angeles, 310-945-5423, www.timothyoulton.com

-- Vista Alegre, 888-506-0526, www.vistaalegre.com

-- Walker Zanger, 732-697-7700, www.walkerzanger.com