"These days, you can find holiday decor in all sorts of colors and styles, but there’s something about the traditional touches of red and green that just feels extra cozy and comforting. For The Everygirl’s CEO Alaina Kaczmarski, the holidays are all about leaning into that nostalgia. Alaina’s decorating style leans traditional year-round, but during the holidays, she fully embraces all the trimmings of a classic Christmas. Her holiday decorating philosophy revolves around a traditional palette of red and green, plaid patterns, keepsake ornaments collected over many years, and greenery in every room. Keep scrolling for a peek inside Alaina’s holiday decorating process and her favorite ways to make this season feel magical.
If it isn’t going to make me feel like I’m wrapped up in a warm hug, I’m not wearing it.
Alaina Kaczmarski’s Chicago Holiday Home Tour
The details:
Name: Alaina Kaczmarski
Location: Chicago, Illinois suburbs
Square footage: 3,300 square feet
Rent/own: Own
When do you start decorating for the holidays?
We usually start decorating the second or third week of November mainly for work purposes—I have to shoot content with Christmas backdrops. But since it’s so much work to put it up and decorate, I’d rather enjoy it for longer.
What does your holiday decorating process typically look like?
We usually start with the tree! We have an amazing fake, pre-lit tree from Treetime Christmas in Barrington, Illinois. It takes a few minutes to set up, and we decorate it as a family with the boys. Then I’ll get the accessories out: garland for the mantel and the dining room, wreaths hung in different places, and my Santa collection, which is a mix of Santas my mom has passed down and some I’ve purchased. It usually takes me a few days to get through all of it with hanging greenery being the most time-consuming part.
You have such a beautiful collection of ornaments on your tree. How long have you been collecting them, and what are your favorite sources for unique ornaments?
Thank you! Technically, the ornaments on this tree date back my entire life and even before that (we have a few from the collections of our grandmothers, great aunts, and moms). We also have some handmade and photo ornaments from our own childhoods. I’ve personally been collecting since my mid-twenties.
I will buy a new Christopher Radko ornament almost every year (although our collection is getting quite large now, so I might stop for a bit), and I plan on giving those to my boys one day. Then there are the ornaments I get my two boys every year that represent their year in some way, whether it’s a sport they play, a favorite food, or something from a trip we took as a family. I also have the kids’ silhouettes, our first home, my dogs’ paw prints, and an ornament with a painting of my childhood home on it. It’s a tree that in many ways tells our story.
Of all your ornaments, do you have a favorite?
Impossible. They almost all have meaning and are special.
The hidden hooks and adhesive hangers are the unsung heroes of holiday decorating. What are some of your go-to secret weapons that help you make the magic happen?
They really are! Command strips are the best. I’d also call out zip ties as well as our kid-safe stocking hangers. But I think the real star is our pre-lit tree that looks so real and goes up in just a couple of minutes.
What are your non-negotiables for making your home feel cozy and festive this time of year?
Mood lighting, always. Candles, twinkle lights on greenery, lamps on dimmers, and a fire in the fireplace.
How would you describe your holiday decorating style?
I love classic, traditional holiday style. I hope our home at Christmas exudes a very collected feel, not overly curated aside from sticking with a classic red and green palette. I want our Christmas decor to feel cozy and nostalgic—items and ornaments that spark joy and make you want to look closer.
Will you be hosting this holiday season, and if so, what are your best hacks for a stress-free holiday gathering?
We will be hosting Christmas Eve with my side of the family, and I just love doing it. How do I make it less stressful? Wine.
But also, I recommend asking people to help with the meal–whether that means bringing an appetizer, salad, side, dessert, or wine. As long as it’s one less thing to worry about. Then I also always set the dining table a few days in advance so it’s ready to go. Wrap gifts in advance and hide them. Have the dishwasher completely cleared and ready to load.
I love all the little holiday touches you’ve sprinkled throughout the different rooms. What are your best tips for making each room feel festive without going over the top?
I love bringing greenery into as many rooms as possible around the holidays. We have mini Christmas trees in the boys’ bedrooms, and I used to put a full-size tree in my own room but now I just stick with little trees on my nightstand. I love adding wreaths in windows and stringing garland around doorways and mirrors. Then it’s easy to add little decorative items like Santas, trees, and cars sprinkled on tables around the home. I even hung a mini wreath on our powder room mirror.
What holiday traditions are you most looking forward to this year?
All of them! Putting up the tree, baking cookies, our town Christmas walk, driving around to look at lights, hot chocolate and Christmas movies, advent calendars, Christmas music morning noon and night (my husband doesn’t love that quite as much), gift shopping, and wrapping. I love Christmas so much.
Jessica Friedhoff, Senior Lifestyle Editor
Jessica Friedhoff is the Senior Lifestyle Editor at The Everygirl, where she oversees the Home & Living category of the site. She writes and edits stories across a broad range of topics including decorating, food, entertaining, travel, and more. With a pulse on the latest trends, she uses her eye for detail and design to create timely, inspiring content for our readers.