Whether you live in an apartment, house or dorm, one of the best parts of the winter holidays is being able to decorate your home accordingly. There’s no better way to get in the holiday spirit than to “Deck the Halls!”

Here are some suggestions for easy ways to make your place scream Christmas.

Dorms

If you live in a dorm, you probably have visitors often. To really “wow” your guests and friends, there are a few simple ways to Christmas-ize your room. Before you get too excited, make sure your roommate is okay with spreading the Christmas cheer in your close living quarters.

One way to add holiday cheer in your dorm is to add Christmas lights. Line your windows with the colorful lights so people can pinpoint your room from the outside.

If you have lofts, hang lights from your beds. You can wrap lights around the legs of your loft or the frame part as well. Add some icicle lights for a cool hanging effect from your loft.

Every dorm has some mirrors. An easy way to add Christmas cheer is to buy window stickers. You can find winter and holiday window stickers for as inexpensive as $1 at places like the Dollar Tree. They also sell gel-like window clings. Line your mirror with fun window stickers for a small touch that really adds a lot to your decor.

You won’t have room for a Christmas tree, and most dorms don’t allow trees because of a fire hazard. You can put in a mini tree — such as a fiberoptic tree or mini artificial tree. Otherwise, cut out a tree from green felt and add felt ornaments for a dorm-friendly tree.

Lastly, don’t forget your door. It’s not uncommon for people in the dorms to decorate their doors for their friends to easily find their rooms.

Change up your everyday decoration for the holiday months.

One way to decorate your door is to make it look like a giant present. Buy your favorite wrapping paper and cover the outside of your door completely. Use masking tape to attach the paper (it comes off the door very easily).

Add a colored ribbon or a giant gift bow in the middle to really make it look like a Christmas gift.

Last, don’t forget your name tags. You can use actual gift name tags or create your own from construction paper if you want it to be larger and proportional to your giant present.

House or Apartment

With a house or apartment, you have much more room to let your creativity flow. If you have a house, you can add plenty of Christmas lights in your front yard and on your house itself. Many apartments have balconies and it’s easy to add some Christmas lights on your balcony ledge. This way, even random passersby can notice your Christmas cheer.

Inside your house or apartment, you can add Christmas lights too. Like in the dorms, you can line your windows with lights.

Don’t forget to throw a wreath on your door.

Another fun and creative way to decorate your apartment is with stockings. If you don’t have a fireplace, just hang your stockings from hooks or tacks any place on your wall.

If you really want to get creative with your stockings, buy four stockings that don’t match. Something my roommates and I did was buy stockings that “matched our personalities.”

They have an extremely large variety of fun and unique stockings at Hobby Lobby. You can find anything from full sequined stockings, Disney Princesses, your favorite superhero, fun sayings and even cowboy-boot-shaped stockings.

Each roommate can find a stocking that “fits them.” When you have guests over, have them try to figure out whose stocking is whose.

Additionally, garland makes a fun and easy way to add a lot of decoration to your home. Garland is cheap and easy to use. You can tape garland around your doorways, along counter tops and cabinets and basically anywhere else you want to add a touch of Christmas.

If you want to add a little cheer around your window, a simple way to do this is with fishing line and ornaments. Attach fishing line across the window and then space your ornaments equally apart. This will create a floating ornament effect.

Last, but definitely not least, a Christmas tree is the final touch to any apartment or house. If you don’t have one, you can buy an artificial tree for relatively cheap at Wal-Mart. Decorate your tree and put it somewhere where everyone can see.

Whether you live in an apartment, house or dorm, be sure to decorate your place for the holidays. Decorating can add a homey touch and will be the perfect setting for any holiday party. Wherever you live, don’t forget the mistletoe.