As we slip into the holiday decorating season, one my wonder what's "in" to suggest to your clients when refreshing their seasonal collections?

Personalize It - Monograms! Add a font or two to textiles, containers, glass pieces, ornaments or door wreaths to give their seasonal wares a signature look. Don't forget to take that same theme right into their entertaining items too. (Ornament from: http://www.themonogramdivas.com/ )

Individuality - Make it Your Own. Introduce a new accent color to your traditional color scheme of green and red. Try metallic lime green, hot magenta, a plumy purple or burnt oranges to infuse a bit of unique into your holiday decor repertoire. (Wreath from: http://www.overstock.com/ )

Au Naturale - With Eco-Green still running strong, advise your clients to go natural with forced bulbs such as amaryllis or paperwhites as centerpieces. Rather than using silks, incorporate real greens, branches, pods and berries into their decor. Consider natural fibers as a juxtaposition to all the satins and velvets.

A new client had built a lovely custom home, but had struggled choosing paint colors, so had stared at "Contractor White" walls for 4 years.

Here's what a new color palette can do -

1.) Create mood within a space.

2.) Emphasizes key architectual focal points.

3.) Enriches the furniture and/or elements of the room.