Holiday Decorating Ideas: A Room-by-Room Lookbook for the Season
La-Z-Boy Southeast | October 29, 2026
The best holiday decorating ideas start with how you’ll actually use each room, not with the ornaments. Think about the moments that fill your season, like Christmas morning, movie night, a big dinner and houseguests. Then arrange furniture, color and comfort around those moments, and the decorations simply finish the look.
To show what that looks like, our designers styled seven real holiday rooms. Each one comes with a practical tip you can borrow, whether you’re refreshing one corner or hosting the whole family.
Christmas Morning
Christmas morning is the most lived-in moment of the year, with pajamas, coffee, the dog and a pile of wrapping paper. Reclining seats with a console keep mugs off the floor, and a nearby accent chair gives grandparents a supportive seat that’s easy to get out of.
The Cozy Living Room
Cream upholstery is the quiet hero of a holiday room. It lets the tree, the textures and the color do the talking, then carries you straight into January once the decorations come down. Here, sage walls, a velvet ottoman and plaid pillows layer warmth without clutter.
Movie Night
Holiday movie marathons need deep seats, plenty of room to stretch out and somewhere to set the cocoa. A sectional seats the whole family, and an oversized ottoman works as a footrest, a coffee table or extra seating as the night goes on.
Hosting the Holiday Dinner
The dining room does the heavy lifting when you host. A solid trestle table seats a crowd, upholstered chairs keep people comfortable through dessert, and a sideboard turns into a buffet that frees up the table.
Room for Company
No guest room? A sleeper sectional seats everyone for the movie, then opens into a real bed when the lights go out. Today’s sleepers have come a long way from the thin mattresses and metal bars many of us remember.
Merry & Messy
Pie, cocoa, cookies for Santa: the holidays are delicious and a little messy. La-Z-Boy’s iClean fabrics are designed to help repel liquids, giving you time to blot a spill before it sets in.
The Quiet Night After
After the guests go home, every house needs one perfect chair: a seat by the fire, a warm mug and the tree still glowing. A swivel chair lets you turn toward the fireplace or back toward the room.
Want help styling your holiday room?
Every La-Z-Boy Southeast showroom has degreed interior designers who offer free design help. Bring a photo and measurements of your space.
All upholstery is made to order and customizable in your choice of fabrics and leathers. Photos courtesy of La-Z-Boy.
Plan for Christmas morning first
Christmas morning puts more people in your living room than almost any other day. As a result, seating and walkways matter more than décor. Leave roughly three feet between the tree and your sofa or recliners, so kids and pets can move around freely. A reclining loveseat with a console is especially handy. Its cup holders keep coffee mugs off the floor and away from the wrapping paper.
Let neutral upholstery do the heavy lifting
Cream, oatmeal and soft gray upholstery may sound plain for the holidays. However, neutrals give your tree, pillows and throws room to shine, and they carry you straight into January. For example, the sage living room in our lookbook pairs cream sofas with a green velvet ottoman and plaid pillows. Repeating one accent color three times around the room makes the space feel intentional rather than busy.
Build a better movie night
Holiday movie marathons call for deep seats and somewhere to set the cocoa. A sectional seats the whole family, while an oversized ottoman works as a footrest, a coffee table or extra seating. If you choose a storage ottoman, you can tuck away throws, remotes and board games, too. Add a sturdy tray on top, and it becomes a snack table in seconds.
Set the table for a crowd
When you host, the dining room does most of the work. Plan on about 24 inches of table length per guest, so nobody is bumping elbows through dinner. Meanwhile, upholstered dining chairs keep people comfortable long after dessert. A sideboard is worth its footprint, too, since it turns into a buffet and frees up the table. Shopping for dining furniture? Our look at the Kafe dining collection by Kincaid explains what to look for in solid wood.
Make room for overnight guests
Not every home has a guest room, and that’s where a sleeper sofa or sleeper sectional earns its keep. It seats everyone during the day, then opens into a real bed at night. Before you buy, measure the sleeper’s open depth and add about two feet of walking room in front of it. That said, comfort is personal, so test the mattress in a showroom before you commit.
Expect a few spills
Pumpkin pie, hot cocoa and cookies for Santa make the holidays delicious and a little messy. Performance fabrics can help, because they’re designed to resist liquids and give you time to blot. La-Z-Boy’s iClean fabrics are one example, and our guide to how iClean fabric works covers the science behind it. Either way, keep a white microfiber cloth handy, and blot spills instead of rubbing them. La-Z-Boy also publishes iClean cleaning instructions worth bookmarking.
Save one seat for yourself
After the guests go home, every house needs one perfect chair. A swivel chair near the fireplace lets you turn toward the flames or back toward the room. In addition, a single metallic pillow can tie a neutral chair to brass candlesticks or gold ornaments nearby. It’s a small detail, yet it keeps a quiet corner from feeling flat.
Get help pulling it together
Holiday decorating feels easier when the furniture underneath already works for your family. If you’d like a second opinion, every La-Z-Boy Southeast showroom has degreed interior designers who offer free design help. Bring a photo of your room, and they’ll help you plan the layout, fabrics and finishing touches. Our Black Friday sale also runs through December 7, which gives you time to shop before company arrives.
