How to Decorate for Christmas with Simple & Elegant Decorations

Are you still trying to decide how to decorate for Christmas? I usually just pull out what I had up last year and add a few things. Every now and then I might try a new themed tree. But this year my daughter and her family made a major move and had to get rid of most of their Christmas decorations. So she started over with a simple and elegant natural modern farmhouse theme.

That’s a long title for a really rather simple style that includes natural greenery and a neutral color scheme. Although you’ll see below there is some traditional red and green still in the mix.

So keep scrolling to see a mini Christmas home decor theme in her modern farmhouse along with Christmas decorating tips and seven simple steps to decorate your home for Christmas!

This post contains affiliate links. You won’t pay any more when you use these but I will earn a small commission on any purchases you make after clicking on them and I greatly appreciate it. Nearly Naturals supplied the Christmas tree, wreath, centerpiece, and garland for our Christmas home tour this year. But the ideas and opinions are our own.

Sign up for my weekly newsletter & have all our future projects sent straight to your inbox!

Christmas Decorating Tips

There are a few simple tips to follow when you’re trying to achieve a simple and elegant look in your home.

Choose one theme or color scheme throughout your home to keep your decorations from looking too busy.
A monochromatic color scheme will look modern and clean. Use white as a base color with accents in metallic and light wood. Stick with just one metal – gold, brass, rose gold, silver, etc.
Use greenery with natural accents such as berries or pine cones.
There’s no wrong way to decorate for Christmas! If you like it… use it!

7 Steps to Decorate for Christmas

There are a few essential Christmas decorations. We broke them down below into 7 areas.

One: Put Up a Christmas Tree

The Christmas tree is probably the most important piece of Christmas decor in any situation. Even if you aren’t able to do any other decorating, if you have a tree, you’re set. It can be any size, depending on your location.

real or artificial Christmas tree — This is the tree in the photo below: 7.5’ Green Scotch Pine Artificial Christmas Tree with 550 Clear LED Lights
string lights (if the artificial tree isn’t prelit)
Christmas ornaments
tree topper — Stars and angels are the traditional Christmas tree toppers.
tree skirt — But as you can see, the tree below doesn’t even have a tree skirt. We might come back and add one. But you could also use an old quilt, blanket, or even a crocheted throw.

Lauren put her new tree up in the corner of their living room/library. I love how it looks in front of her wall of books and next to the brass floor lamp we found in an antique shop in Waxahachie. This is a perfect corner for curling up with a mug of hot cocoa and watching Christmas movies!

Review of our NEW Scotch Pine Artificial Christmas Tree

This tree was super simple to put up. At first, it threw us off that there weren’t any stems in the center but once we set it up and fluffed it out you can’t tell at all. Plus it allows much more room for ornaments and makes the tree lighter.

You can see in these close-ups how beautiful the pine needles are! And the best part is these needles won’t dry up and fall off like a real tree. Much less to clean up at the end of the season.

Two: Put a Christmas Wreath on the Front Door

Lauren also added pine greenery to the front door with this Christmas wreath. This simple wire hoop wreath was the perfect addition. Simple and beautiful… and it’s flat enough to allow the storm door to close completely. If we change the red hanger this could stay up after Christmas too.

Here’s the wreath in the photo below: 28” Christmas Pine, Eucalyptus, and Berries Metal Circlet Artificial Wreath

Hint: Pay attention to measurements when you order a wreath online. This one turned out a little bigger than I expected but we still love it for the front door!

Three: Add a Garland to the Mantel or Entertainment Center

I’m a little picky about garland. Yes, you can get cheap garland at the dollar store or big box store… but it LOOKS cheap, too. I like a garland with lots of bendable pine stems for a more natural look. Here’s the one we ordered: 9’ Mixed Pine Artificial Christmas Garland with 50 Clear LED Lights, Berries, and Pinecones

PHOTO COMING SOON

Four: Put a Centerpiece on the Dining Table or Kitchen Island

Lauren’s new house has a huge kitchen island so she put the mini tree centerpiece right in the middle. It looks great without any decorations and it can be seen from the dining room and the living room. It’s sitting on her marble lazy Susan cheese board that we got her in Canton as a housewarming gift.

Here’s the tree she used: 2’ Providence Pine Artificial Christmas Tree in Decorative Planter with 35 Warm White Lights and 51 Bendable Branches

You could also use smaller trees. Just line up 3 or 5 mini Christmas trees down a long dining table or island.

Five: Add Christmas Pillows and Throw Blankets on the Sofa

If you’ve followed me for a while you’ve heard me spout on about how much I love pillow covers. They’re a simple and inexpensive way to update your home for any holiday. And they don’t take up much storage space.

I like to have a mix of solids, patterns, words, and pictures on my Christmas pillow covers. And of course, we have several Christmas throw blankets so we can snuggle up in front of the fire while we watch our Christmas movies.

Six: Light a Scented Candle or Wax Melt

Look for candle scents labeled fir, pine, cedar, cinnamon, cloves, fig, sugar cookie, vanilla, apple, or orange. Buy a single votive first if you want to try a new scent. Then stock up during the Black Friday or after Christmas sales on your favorite scents.

We always have a candle burning in the kitchen and a wax warmer in my office. I also like having a small votive in the bathroom.

Seven: Put Outdoor Christmas Lights on the House

We’re going to talk about outdoor Christmas lights more in another blog post. We’ll do an outdoor lighting tour too. But meanwhile, here are a few places you could add Christmas lights.

Indoors:

on the Christmas tree
in a garland
around windows
on the mantle
on the stair banister
fairy lights in mason jars

Outdoors:

on the front door wreath
outlining the house and roof
outlining doors and windows
around the porch
down the walkway
around the fenceline
wrap trees
wrap around upside-down tomato cages to make mini trees
on barns and other outbuildings
If you’re in the country, on your gate

Other Christmas Decorating Ideas

If you have time and a bigger budget here are a few more items you could use to decorate your home:

stockings
rugs
Christmas village, figurines, or other decorative accents
dinnerware and table decor
sheets or other bedding
bathroom decor: hand towels, shower curtains, bathmat
Advent calendars

When Should You Decorate for Christmas?

When you should decorate for Christmas is always a heated discussion!

Once, I was in the “No-Christmas-Before-Thanksgiving” camp. Then, when I started selling my handmade items I would have to start making Christmas ornaments WAY before Thanksgiving. I even wrote an article a few years back about when I would make an exception to my “No-Christmas-Before-Thanksgiving” rule.

But since the unprecedented events of 2020… I think if decorating for Christmas makes you happy, you just go ahead and decorate any time you want!

What camp are you in?

How to Decorate for Christmas on a Budget

Decorating for Christmas on a budget does not mean “cheap”. You could use your budget to buy a lot of cheap decorations or you could use your budget to buy fewer quality decorations that will last longer and look better in your home.

The main idea is to know what you can spend, spend it wisely, and don’t spend what you don’t have.

Make a long-term plan. Maybe spend most of your budget on a nice artificial tree this year and make your own ornaments. Next year buy some nice garland and reuse the tree that you already have. Then the next year, reuse the tree and garland and buy a wreath or new lights.

Since we love to craft and DIY, I like to spend my Christmas budget on items that I can’t make.

New Products Used in our 2021 Christmas Home Tour

More Christmas Decorating Ideas

If you enjoyed this post, you might also like these:

Thanks for reading our blog. We hope that this information helps and inspires you to decorate your own house for Christmas.

Merry Christmas!

Ann @ Duct Tape and Denim