Christmas decorating trends: the styles and colours inspiring us

Reimagined traditions, a cosy Nordic atmosphere or decorations filled with colour: Christmas trends offer many ways to transform the home for the festive season. Colour, textiles, candles, ornaments and tableware can create a cohesive setting without requiring every detail to be replaced. Discover the key ideas inspiring this year’s Christmas decorations.

Traditional Christmas style plays with red, green and tartan

Deep red and fir green remain closely connected to the familiar imagery of Christmas. This traditional palette takes on a more contemporary character through carefully chosen details, from tartan cushions and ribbons to baubles with matt or glossy finishes and touches of gold.

In the living room, a few textile accents can be enough to establish the mood. A checked cushion, a blanket or a Christmas stocking can repeat the colours of the tree without transforming the entire room.

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Cosy Nordic style favours softer shades

In contrast to more colourful arrangements, Nordic-inspired Christmas styling favours white, beige, pale grey and natural wood tones. Shapes remain simple, while leaving more space between individual ornaments creates a quieter composition.

Combine these colours with soft textiles, paper decorations and gentle points of light to introduce warmth. Small touches of black can also bring definition to an otherwise pale palette.

Retro Christmas style brings back colour and nostalgic forms

Retro styling gives Christmas decorations a more distinctive character. Rust orange, blush pink, red, mustard yellow and deep green can appear across baubles, textiles and smaller decorative objects.

Glossy and matt finishes can sit together, as can familiar shapes and more unexpected ornaments. A few gold or metallic details help connect this expressive direction with the wider festive setting.

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A colourful, candy-inspired Christmas embraces maximalism

Candy canes, gingerbread figures, cakes and other sweet treats become decorative motifs in their own right. Red and white create a recognisable foundation, with pink, green or touches of gold adding further colour.

This direction works particularly well with figurative ornaments, playfully shaped candle holders and textiles featuring Christmas motifs. Rather than aiming for restraint, the composition celebrates abundance, detail and surprise.

Candles become part of the decoration

Taper candles, decorative candles and candle holders can create smaller focal points on a dining table, console or sideboard.

For a more traditional or nostalgic setting, gold-toned finishes and silhouettes inspired by classic candlesticks bring familiar character. Marble, glass and cleaner lines can instead introduce a more contemporary contrast.

Repeating colours already present on the tree or dining table helps connect these decorative moments throughout the room.

A Christmas table balancing simplicity and festive detail

The table can continue the palette used elsewhere in the home or establish a character of its own. A white or pale foundation gains definition from black plates, while small gold-toned details across cutlery, candle holders or accessories introduce a festive accent.

Alternatively, a traditional table can echo the red, green and tartan used in the living room. Limiting the principal palette gives the tableware, glassware and decorations enough visual space within the arrangement.

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For even more inspiration, discover our guide to the most beautiful Christmas table settings.

For the tree: minimalist or maximalist?

The Christmas tree offers an opportunity to express the style chosen for the wider home.

For a more minimalist arrangement, begin with a limited palette and leave space between the ornaments. White, beige, silver or black can be combined with paper and glass decorations or simple silhouettes.

For a more expressive tree, combine different colours, sizes and shapes. Sweets, houses, animals, ribbons and figurative ornaments create a composition filled with detail and personality.

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To help define your preferred direction, explore our guide to the most beautiful decorated Christmas trees.

Christmas colour palettes to remember

A few considered combinations can give your Christmas decorations an immediate sense of direction:

• Deep red and fir green
  
  • For a familiar, traditional Christmas mood.
    
• White, beige and wood tones
  
  • For a cosy Nordic atmosphere.
    
• Pink, red, orange and yellow
  
  • For a more colourful, retro-inspired setting.
    
• Red, white and pink
  
  • For a playful, candy-inspired Christmas.
    
• Black, white and gold
  
  • For a more graphic composition.
    
• Gold, silver, bronze or copper
  
  • For introducing metallic reflections.
    

To complete the festive setting, explore our selection of Christmas gift ideas to place beneath the tree.