Season's greetings! The joy of decorating your home for the holidays lies in sharing the fruits of your labor with loved ones. I approach holiday decorating with the same excitement and creativity that I call upon when designing any interior. The tricks are the same... relax, draw inspiration from the colors and styles around you, but most of all, have fun!

Q. How can I decorate my home for the holidays and keep It traditional, but without using the typical choices?

A. My first suggestion: Skip the easy decorating answers.

I would choose cyclamen and amaryllis for holiday plants instead of poinsettias. Be sure to place these plants in terra cotta pots from your local nursery or home improvement store, rather than swath them in standard paper wrapping, and don't forget to add the terra cotta liner underneath.

Also, forgo the bow that's usually spiked in the pot. Instead, use some Spanish moss to fill the space between the pot and the liner. This look is much more finished and sophisticated and a perfect way to inexpensively dress up a Christmas plant to give as a gift.

For a fresher look over the standard evergreens, try boughs of persimmon, fruited olive and eucalyptus. Garlands of eucalyptus are especially full and rich, and I usually keep the decoration simple by using only a gold mesh-wired ribbon woven among the leaves. Simple white lights will add a beautiful twinkle in the evening as well.

When it comes to trimming your tree, look beyond the mass-produced ornaments that are stacked high on store shelves. Try using a few bunches of fresh flowers, such as roses from your local market, to adorn the branches. Insert the stems into small plastic vials of water and create bunches of two or three to decorate the whole tree opulently for your next holiday party.

Q. How can I enliven my outdoor decorating scheme?

A. Once again I suggest avoiding the easy solutions. The ubiquitous strands of icicle lights are something I would avoid as a rule. White lights are traditional, but I like all gold or amber lights instead. They are much warmer and richer in appearance and give the usual outdoor displays a stylish kick without losing that traditional Christmas appeal.

When it comes to outdoor garlands and wreaths, the trick is to oversize both! The garlands surrounding your doorway and the wreath on the door itself should be full and rich, and the smaller items adorning both decorations should be the same, or at least somehow complimentary. The way to achieve this look without custom ordering is to double and even triple the garlands and wreaths you can buy at your nursery or roadside stand. In creating such decorations for my own home, I will also add stems of different greens to both to give them texture and variation in coloring.

When making bows, always oversize the loops! The pre-made bows are most often small, flattened out and made in harsh or even garish shades of red. If you don't have the knack for making bows on your own, stop by your local florist, select some ribbon and ask to have them made. Finally, keep the tails of the bow extra long to wind down around the sides of your wreath. This helps make for the perfect yuletide finishing touch.