This year’s dark red Christmas tree in the living room is sparking so much festive Christmas spirit in our house. Here’s a little tour of our tree and the Christmas decorations in our living room this holiday season.
I haven’t done a classic red Christmas tree in our living room in quite a number of years, and I’ve definitely heard some complaints from the peanut gallery AKA the kids. I love traditional Christmas decor done in red, but I often find that it starts to be a little much for me by the end of the season, so I’ve mostly opted for calmer, more soothing neutral color palettes over the last few years when I’ve been planning how to decorate for Christmas. When it came to decorating for Christmas in the living room this year, I did things a little differently. The kids are thrilled and the whole effect is really working for me. Come for a little tour and I’ll show you what I did.
Read next: Blue and White Livingroom Christmas Decor
The Plan for This Year’s Red Christmas Tree Decorations
My inspiration for this year’s Christmas decorations and color-scheme came from the beauty of a big red bow on a simply wrapped Christmas gift. The idea was to keep the rest of the room simple and quiet with soft whites, creams, and gold tones, then decorate the tree with lots of luxurious red velvet ribbon and beautiful red berry picks and garlands. Sort of like the tree itself is the bow on the room, if the room was a gift. Does that make sense? Just one spot of boldness in an otherwise very subdued space.
My time in my color theory class in interior design school actually taught me that lots of little hits of red in a space make people start to feel subconsciously angry, so with red, it’s actually best to concentrate it all in large statements rather than little hits. Isn’t that interesting? Anyway, I put that decoration theory that I learned 20 years ago to the test, and it seems to really hold up. It’s definitely something to keep in mind if you’d like a traditional feel, but always get the sense that all the bright reds at Christmas time can get to be a bit overwhelming in your small space.
More decoration ideas for homes with frosted and flocked Christmas trees or other artificial trees: Decorating for the Holidays with Foraged Greenery
Red Christmas Tree Decoration Ideas
I searched for the perfect dark, luxurious red velvet ribbon to act as the foundation for my red tree decorating plan. It was a little bit challenging to find high-quality ribbons in just the right color and width. I found that most of the options that I came across were a really bright red tone that seemed almost garish to me. I ended up ordering this 4″ wide ribbon and a roll of 1.5″ ribbon in the same color for the gifts under the tree to really emphasize the red theme.
I bought a new woven tree collar this year because our cat shredded the last one, and I topped it off by circling two red berry garlands around the top perimeter of the collar.
More holiday decorating inspiration: Christmas Tree Decoration Tricks for an Immediate Boost to Your Decor
Completing the Red Decor
Lots of red berry picks were added to the body of the white tree, as well as at the top around the elegant tree topper.
The rest of my Christmas balls and baubles were all my favorite simple tree ornaments from past years. I kept the ornaments in all gold and silver tones for a little extra sparkle and shine without drawing away too much attention from the beautiful red ribbon. The glass ball ornaments and sparkling mercury glass ornaments are so beautiful when all the bulbs on the tree are lit, especially without the distraction of other shiny objects in other areas of the room.
Learn how to make easy Christmas tree toppers like this one: How to Make a Bow Christmas Tree Topper
White Christmas Decor For Everything Else
I used a mix of real greenery clipped from our property and faux greenery in the rest of the room with brass, gold, white berries, and pinecone accents here and there. I mostly stick with cedar for my real greens because I find that holds up best over time, but I have some faux pine, juniper, and hemlock mixed in as well.
Gifts, stockings, Christmas lights, keepsake glitter ornament crafts – it’s a lot to manage, and Christmas can be overwhelming. Read this next if you could use some help: 5 Semi-Sneaky Secrets of People Who Are Really Good at Christmas
Christmas Coffee Table Decorations With Greenery
This year’s holiday season coffee table is subtle and subdued but still charming with fresh greens, pinecones, and a cute little velvet bow. The look is easy to pull together and perfect to enjoy all season long.
Handmade tree skirts and collars to go over your Christmas tree stand: DIY Buffalo Check Fabric Tree Collar
An Easy and Charming Centrepiece
Here’s an eye-catching holiday decor centerpiece idea that would work on a console tabletop, kitchen island, or dining table. Take a clear glass jar, add a candle, then add in a few handfuls of hazelnuts. Place the jar on a tray lined with fresh greenery and a few jingle bells, and your work is done. I like to add candles around the room that can be lit for an extra cozy night of Christmas movie-watching.
Adorn and decorate your home with trimmings made of cedar, spruce, balsam fir, and other fresh greenery: DIY Cedar Garland
A Gift Wrapping Station for Spreading Holiday Cheer
In one corner of the room, we have a cozy little station for making brown paper packages tied up with string, as well as any other gift wrapping that needs to be done. A bit of maintenance-free faux greenery makes this a fuss-free zone for getting things done.
More Christmas ideas to brighten your season: 12 Month Plan for a Stress-Free Christmas Next Year
Mini Wreaths and Bows are Always a Good Idea
A mini wreath is an easy way to dress up a door in your home that you don’t need to open and close very often, like this French door leading to our mudroom. I used a classic boxwood wreath that I’ve had for years and added a velvet ribbon to match my decor in the rest of the house. Buying a big roll of a single type of ribbon and using that in various ways throughout your Christmas decorating is an easy way to bring a sense of continuity to your decor when you’re using mismatched items that you’ve collected over the years.
More Merry Christmas decorating ideas for your holiday tree: 10 Things to Know to Make Your Real Christmas Tree a Success
Christmas Tree Decorations: Tricks for an Immediate Boost to Your Decor
With a few tricks and tactics, you can take your tree from boring and uninspired to elegant and awe-inspiring, often by reusing a lot of what you already own. You may just need to use your existing Christmas decor and tree ornaments in a different way. In this article, I’ll outline a few easy but impactful ideas to try on your tree this year.
Learn the tricks: Christmas Tree Decoration Tricks for an Immediate Boost to Your Decor
How to Make a Ribbon Bow Christmas Tree Topper
Have you ever noticed that it’s really hard to find just the right topper for your Christmas tree? I don’t think I’ve ever found one that I really love, and that works for me year after year, no matter what type of tree decor scheme I’m doing that year. I find that store-bought tree finials always seem just a little too cheesy, or a little too rustic, or a little too tacky. So, I decided to try my hand at a big, fluffy bow Christmas tree topper. It turns out that they’re pretty easy to whip up, and I’ve been making them for all of our trees for the last few years now.
Get the how-to: How to Make a Bow Christmas Tree Topper
Our Most Popular Christmas Decorating Ideas of All Time
I love so many different styles of Christmas decor, but you just can’t do everything every year! I don’t like to completely reinvent the wheel every year, but I do love to draw inspiration from what I’ve done before and then try a few new things here and there, wherever it feels right. I thought it would be fun to look back on a few of my favorite ideas from past years and share them with you here
Get the ideas: Most Popular Christmas Decorating Ideas
Courtenay Hartford is the author of creeklinehouse.com, a blog based on her adventures renovating a 120-year-old farmhouse in rural Ontario, Canada. On her blog, Courtenay shares interior design tips based on her own farmhouse and her work as founder and stylist of the interior photography firm Art & Spaces. She also writes about her farmhouse garden, plant-based recipes, family travel, and homekeeping best practices. Courtenay is the author of the book The Cleaning Ninja and has been featured in numerous magazines including Country Sampler Farmhouse Style, Better Homes and Gardens, Parents Magazine, Real Simple, and Our Homes.