With Christmas around the corner, you're probably looking around your home wondering how to give it a little pick-me-up for the holidays.

Your aim is to make it warm and inviting and rich in colour but most of all you want your family and guests to walk into your home and feel Christmas.

Interior designer Sue Kemp of Creative Interiors suggests that one should start the decorating process by giving your home a lift first.

"You want it to feel more exciting to begin with, to set the scene before the actual Christmas decorations,'' Mrs. Kemp said.

"You want to feel like the room has had a face lift. The more natural and homemade, the nicer it feels. It is best to keep things simple, simple is sometimes best.

"Decorate with unusual things like different styles of candle holders. Use them in groupings and clusters and when people come, light them all and there is an instant festive feeling.'' Mrs. Kemp also said buying new furniture isn't necessarily the answer.

"To freshen up the house do something fun, like change a wall colour, do something fun and different. You can do an accent wall, when you take a colour out of the drapes or another piece of material in the room and paint one of the walls that colour.

"It gives the room a whole lift and a different feel. You can also buy an area rug to jazz up a room and buy some throw pillows which you can mix and match.

"They are little accent things but they will make a huge difference.'' Mrs. Kemp added that when making different decorations, dried leaves can do wonderful things.

"Pick up some different leaves and spray them gold and sprinkle glitter on them you can also add some ornament balls and different pines which can make a wonderful wreath. You can finish it by tying a huge big bow.

"You don't have to be artistic to make these types of things.'' She also said that Bermuda holly will add a holiday feel to your home.

"Another great thing to have around the house is that flexible ribbon. You can do wonderful things with it. You can bend it and make lovely curves, weave it through some fresh greenery and place some candles around it.

"The other thing that you can do for tables is get some glittery confetti and sprinkle it on the table top. Again it is festive and pretty.'' Mrs. Kemp also said that when decorating it is important to remember that lights are not just for the Christmas tree.

"Use white lights on your house plants as it adds a lovely sparkly festive feeling, it's a nice touch,'' she says.

Interior decorator Patti Crouch of By Design said Christmas is the one time of the year that you can "really fuss around the house, and enjoy the results over a four to five week period''.

"I feel the best way to spruce up the house for Christmas, and not make it look too store-bought or gaudy, is to bring out Christmas figurines, nativity scenes, and ornaments and place them strategically amidst natural fir boughs and twigs which will give unity to the room as a cohesive element.

"A simple bowl of fir branches nesting colourful Christmas balls or a candle burning in a hurricane globe encircled by a decorated fir wreath in an entry hall sets a tone that lets the visitor know `tis the season'.'' Mrs. Crouch also said pine cone-embedded garlands around the doorways, domed newel post bouquets, fir garlands strung around pendant lights with attractive bows, and festive poinsettia centrepieces, repotted in appropriate containers, on tables all give the home a natural Christmas feeling.

"Let's not forget that although beauty is in the eye of the beholder, it is also the sense of smell that evokes the image of Christmas in the imagination,'' she added.

"Spice balls hanging on the tree, and decorated fruit pomander arrangements can lend a tremendous aromatic atmosphere to the visual platter being offered.'' The December issue of Woman and Home magazine offers an assortment of ideas for decorating your home from using winter fruits and flowers to the use of candles and sparkling glass.

"The traditional colours of Christmas red, green and gold are given a subtle new look in our decorating scheme for 1996,'' the article says. "Instead of scarlet red, a glorious russet tone is introduced with old gold and fresh evergreen leaves as foliage. Winter fruits and flowers are used to create unexpected arrangements of colour and form, with candles and sparkling glass throwing light throughout your home.'' For a mantelpiece, the magazine suggests that you make small Christmas trees with a piece of cone-shaped floral foam wrapped in chicken wire and decorate by wiring an sticking in clusters of dried flowers, mistletoe, cinnamon sticks and dried pomegranates.

Also if you have some favourite Christmas tree balls, it is a "lovely'' idea to fill a wire urn with a variety of colourful, glittery balls so their designs can be seen.

The magazine also says it is important not to forget the kitchen when decorating.

A nice idea for something to hang on a kitchen door would be dried cranberries as they can be used to create heart or star-shaped wreaths by threading the cranberries on to a circle of florists' wire and pushing gently into the shape that best suits your Christmas theme. "Add a length of ribbon and hang in the kitchen.'' Another suggestion to be used for kitchen cupboards was lemon pomanders.

"Tangy fruit decorated with Christmas glitter and ribbon bows give a festive air to kitchen cupboards,'' the magazine said.

"Spread glue over the top of the lemon and sprinkle on some glitter. Wire together a ribbon bow and ivy leaves and push into the top of the lemon. Knot the ends of a length of gold cord together.

"Secure a knot to the top of the lemon using a hot glue gun, and sprinkle more glitter over the glue before it sets. Tie a few of the decorated lemons at different lengths over a doorknob, and top off with another ribbon bow.'' And a way to utilise fresh fruit is to place them in a clear glass vase with a candle and bows.

The magazine also recommends showing your Christmas cards as a way of holiday decorating.

Some of the suggestions include pinning them from a wash line hung above your fireplace, paper clipping or taping them to a long piece of ribbon hanging down the side of a wall with a large bow at the top, or making a card tree using a spiral wire shape.