By: Julie Cohen | Update: October 16, 2024
16 Christmas Decorating Ideas For Every Home
Add touches of holiday magic to every corner of your home, no matter your style or budget! From preparing for the ultimate family Christmas in the living room, to creating ambiance with lighting, our ideas for Christmas decorations, tree trimming, centerpieces and more are here - all using products available in our Christmas Shop.
1. Make Your Living Room Christmas-Cozy
Holiday decorating most often starts in the living room. A hub of holiday celebrating, the living room is usually where you have your Christmas tree, your mantel with stockings and where much of the gathering is done during the holiday season. Whether you're planning for a rustic, cabin-style Christmas, or more of an elegant glitz and glamour celebration, choose decorations and colors that complement your existing furniture and aesthetic.
2. Deck Out Your Mantel For Christmas
One place you can get creative with your holiday decoration is the fireplace mantel. For example, if you have art or a mirror above the fireplace, you'd be surprised how great a wreath can look placed over those pieces. You can also hang garlands around them, running the length of the mantel. This is also a great mantel decor option if you have a TV on the wall above the fireplace - just fasten a garland around the frame for instant festivity. For the mantel itself, indulge your maximalist side with a collection of your favorite kinds of holiday decor: groupings of reindeer, bottlebrush trees, candles, lanterns - or create an entire holiday village scene above the fireplace. Don't forget to leave room for stockings! Looking for more mantel inspiration? Check out our Easy Mantel Decorating Ideas blog post.
3. Create Holiday Ambiance With Indoor Lighting
Another way to add festivity to your home's holiday vibe is to get creative with lighting. From candles and candle holders to LED decor, the right indoor lighting can set the mood and is a simple way to bring Christmas to every room. String lights and fairy lights can be placed almost anywhere: on the tree, up stairway handrails, inside a lantern or hurricane lamp and alongside garlands and wreaths. Use light-up decor like our laser wood cut houses and trees as nightlights in hallways and bathrooms, and as holiday dinner table centerpieces. Or, create an entire Christmas village on your console table or mantel.
4. Decorating the Christmas Tree
Nowadays, it's easy to decorate your Christmas tree in a huge variety of styles and colors. No matter your aesthetic, you'll easily find tree toppers, tree skirts or collars and unique ornaments that match your decor style and personality. Collect ornaments that are meaningful to you and your family and start a new tradition of gifting them, too! Every year, your loved ones will look forward to seeing their favorite Christmas tree decorations come out to play. For more details, be sure to read our Christmas Tree Decorating Tips!
5. Add Festive Holiday Pillows & Throws
An easy way to give your space the Christmas vibe is with a few holiday-themed pillows and cozy throw blankets. Not only do these essentials do double duty as decor and comfort, but they can also be found in a variety of styles. For a rustic look, choose plaid and solid pillows in greens, reds and whites, along with fluffy plaid blankets. If bright, non-traditional colors are more your thing, get inspiration from our whimsical collection of rainbow-hued holiday decor. Or go for the Scandinavian hygge look with soft, fluffy white pillows with touches of classic Christmas scenes and colors.
6. Create Small Christmas Centerpieces
Put together small holiday moments throughout your space. Make a festive tablescape in the dining room, a cute centerpiece on the living room coffee table or a welcoming tabletop display on a console. Not sure how to start? For a coffee or side table, start with a simple foundation like a square or round tray. Then add a candle in your favorite holiday scent, Christmas and whimsical winter figurines like bottlebrush trees, gnomes and pinecones, a vase with a seasonal stem or floral. Your kitchen counter or island is another great place to decorate. Place a festive runner across the counter, add a couple pieces of decor and a plate of cookies!
7. Make Your Front Porch Festive
Greet guests and neighbors in holiday style by decorating your front porch for Christmas! Put out holiday pillows and throws so you can cozy up on your front bench or chairs. Pop on a Christmas-themed doormat and deck the front door with wreaths and garlands! Then add plenty of lighting and other decor, like reindeer and trees. Pair elegant hurricane lights and lanterns with our safe LED pillar candles that include a timer and drape string lights across railings and above doorways.
8. Bring the Magic to the Bathroom
Make guests feel welcome with a few small and budget-friendly bathroom updates. Offer holiday-themed hand towels, soaps and candles in seasonal scents like pine, balsam forest and holiday spice. Add a couple of statement-making decor pieces on a shelf, such as a light-up house and trees. For overnight guests, add thoughtful surprises to the bathroom like beauty products, cozy holiday socks and a Christmas treat.
9. Merry Up Your Entryway
Make a festive first impression by adorning your home's entryway for the holidays! You can easily add Christmas trimmings here without disrupting your existing furniture and decor. Add a wreath or garlands to your entry mirror or art with elegant ribbon or Command strips. Create small centerpieces with nutcrackers, bottlebrush trees and a fun advent calendar. Finally, welcome your guests by placing a few holiday home scents and candles in the entry.
10. Drape Garlands Throughout the House
Garlands add must-have greenery and a festive look to every room. Don't be afraid to put them everywhere: stairway banisters, mantels, the front porch door frame, in entryways - even on your bar cart! Get creative: Double or even triple up on garlands for a lush-looking mantel or mix and match to layer different types of greenery. Have extra Christmas ornaments and decor? Decorate your garlands along with your tree! We also love asymmetry: Border the side of a mirror or drape a garland down one side of your mantel for an elegant look.
11. Decorate with Tabletop Christmas Trees
Don't have room for a full-sized tree? Or want a tree in every room? Decorate one of our tabletop Christmas trees! For the retro vibe, our mini tinsel trees are perfect choices and look great decorated with a variety of ornament styles. We also offer modern tabletop trees with hooks that hold ornaments, mini disco trees that glitter and wooden trees that are perfect for small spaces and rooms.
12. Coordinate Your Gift Wrap to Your Decor
Wrapped presents double as decorations. Pick out the wrapping paper, gift bags, tissue, ribbon and bows in a color scheme that matches your Christmas decor. You can add ornaments or other small gifts as present toppers to add more holiday cheer to your wrapping. Also, think about how you want to display the holiday cards you receive. One creative way is to clip them to a garland for everyone to see. Either a leafy garland or a non-traditional banner-style one will work!
13. Listen to Angels Sing
Brighten up your home with angel chimes, which are traditional Swedish Christmas decor favorites. These candleabras bring a special kind of holiday magic to the home. Heat from the candles causes the angel or snowflake figures to spin and the bells to ring. Angel chimes are lovely as a mantel centerpiece, on a coffee table or anywhere you need a little extra festivity. They make wonderful gifts, too!
14. Start a Li Bien Ornament Collection
Start a new tradition or simply mark each year with something beautiful! Li Bien ornaments are made using a more than 200 year-old Chinese tradition. Meaning "inside painting", Li Bien ornaments are made of glass and reverse-painted by artisans who insert a small, L-shaped brush inside. These ornaments usually have the year painted on them, making each a one-of-a-kind collectible.
15. Create Festive Floral Arrangements
Get creative with your Christmas decorating and arrange seasonal stems, florals and plants in gorgeous vases. Greenery gives your space a touch of nature and a floral arrangement is perfect on coffee tables, consoles and as centerpieces at the dining table. Mix faux pine stems and berries with red velvet faux eucalyptus for a gorgeous holiday look. Experiment with faux holly, winter flowers and our beautiful vases and make your floral arrangements truly unique!
16. Have Fun with Holiday Tablescapes
Nothing makes a meal an event like a thoughtfully set table. Create a Christmas wonderland in the dining room with holiday-themed dinnerware, glassware and linens. If you’re a minimalist, you can use your favorite tableware and create simple centerpieces with greenery, or a couple of Christmas houses. You can go full kitsch with pastel mini trees, disco-style decor and cute deer figurines, along with matching Santa dishes. Give every place setting a Christmas cracker as a fun pre-dinner icebreaker!
Julie Cohen, Home, Food & Lifestyle Expert
As Copy Chief for World Market, Julie does much of our site, marketing and ad writing while researching everything from furniture care to cocktail recipes. She’s into angsty midcentury fiction, everyone’s pets, beachcombing and vintage fashion and decor. Julie’s current obsessions are niche fragrances, collecting art and perfecting her cacio e pepe technique.
