Our Merriest Holiday House Tours of All Time Are Brimming with Decorating Secrets

The holiday season has an electrifying effect on favorite spaces, from living rooms and porches to entry halls and mantels. As if cast under a spell of over-the-top enchantment, spaces both formal and casual transform beneath twinkling lights and fragrant garlands of pine and spruce to dazzling effect. Festive figurines greet guests on stylish drinks tables, heirloom crystal and showstopping place settings festoon dining rooms, and treasured ornaments dress Christmas trees to the nines (and then some).

In so many ways, “joy” encapsulates the feeling that runs through the halls of a well-decorated home—not just because of the visual holiday glee but the memories made while putting it all together. Time spent hanging those tricky magnolia-leaf wreaths and lighting tapered candles pays dividends in the delight it brings to family and guests as they arrive with their own yuletide greetings.

Here, a handful of inspired examples stretch cheer from San Miguel de Allende, Mexico, to Vermont, each providing invaluable lessons on timeless decorating and the art of welcoming guests for the season.

Inside a California Home That Feels Like a Stroll Through a Swedish Christmas Market

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Brilliant Color Turns Christmas Eve Dinner Into a Riotous Affair at This Normandy Château

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A Cotswolds Inn Is Decked for Christmas, with Family and Rural Splendor at Its Heart

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How Charleston’s Top Hoteliers Spend Thanksgiving—Ending with a Black Friday Champagne Cruise

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Alex Papachristidis’s #1 Tip for Creating Holiday Magic? Moving Your Dining Room to the Den

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You’re Invited to Designer Joy Moyler’s Soulful Holiday Get-Together

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Step Inside a North Carolina Inn That Resembles a Life-Size Gingerbread House

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Zebras, Gators, and Giraffes Star in This Designer’s Palm Beach Christmas

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How Top Floral Designer Lewis Miller Decorates for the Holidays

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This San Miguel Wonderland Is Steeped in Beauty and Holiday Traditions

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This Maximalist Manhattan Penthouse Channels the Opulence of a Venetian Palazzo

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This Greenwich Home Feels as Though You’ve Stepped Foot into an Enchanted Forest

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Designer Andrew Howard Brings Refined, Classic Style to This Lowcountry Hunting Lodge

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Elegance Goes Untamed with Spirited Color and Playful Pattern in a Connecticut Estate

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Inside Veere Grenney’s London Townhouse—a Blend of Chic City Living and Natural Beauty

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This Historic, Art-Filled Apartment in New York City Is a Theater Lover’s Dream

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Designer Alessandra Branca Sets Her Historic Chicago Townhouse Aglow for Christmas Eve Dinner

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Decorator Darryl Carter Proves Simple Is Best At His Artfully Decorated Washington, D.C Home

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Southern-Born Designer Richard Keith Langham Ushers in the Holiday Season Like No One Else

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How Suzanne Rheinstein Brings Southern Charm to Her California Holiday Table

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A San Francisco Home Where Christmas Decorations Are Gilded And Grand

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Inside a Hudson Valley Holiday Retreat Where Rustic Charm Meets European Elegance

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This Holiday-Ready Hunting Lodge Raises the Bar on Rural Refinement

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Christopher Spitzmiller Decks the Halls at His Clove Brook Farm In Cheerful Fashion

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This Gil Schafer-Designed Vermont Barn Is a Storybook Setting for Holiday Parties

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How Bunny Williams Transforms Her Connecticut Barn Into a Bonafide Winter Wonderland

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A Manhattan Stationer Makes the Case for Sit-Down Dinner Parties

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This New Year’s Day Brunch Is Like Stepping Inside a Slim Aarons Photograph

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