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Design 101
The Best Minimalist Christmas Decor
September 27, 2024
Christmas is that time of year when redecorating is a no-brainer. People often unload a stash of decorations once the first chill hits the air.
Christmas is known for its traditional, maximalist decor, but it's possible to scale back on the decorations in a way that better fits your personal style. A minimalist aesthetic will allow you to focus on a few particular elements that can refresh your home’s look for the winter season.
What Is Minimalist Christmas Decor?
Colored lights, intricate snowflakes, and seasonal icons, these are all wonderful Christmas design elements. Sometimes the overly gaudy decor can become a bit much year after year. That’s especially true if you've accumulated many decorations throughout the years. It can be hard to pick out the “special” ones that should be put on display while others remain in the closet, attic, or basement.
Minimalist Christmas decor isn’t necessarily about doing less. It's more about bringing together subtle design elements that represent the best parts of the season while remaining true to your personal style. It can mean going back to nature or opting for homemade decor over mass-produced. A subtle shift in decor can be festive without going over the top.
Tips for Incorporating Minimalist Christmas Decor into Your Holiday Design
One option for minimalist Christmas decor is a modern take on classic Christmas elements. Incorporate Christmas colors like shades of green into your decor, pillows, and throws. Stylish, simple candleholders and soft lighting can bring the seasonal mood into your living room.
Instead of writing out a long to-do list for the holiday season and checking off tasks year after year (bringing out the tree, hanging stockings, etc.), put some thought into the mood you’d like to create instead. Then have a look at our ideas for some key design elements for your minimalist Christmas.
The Best Minimalist Christmas Decor
Minimalist Christmas decor focuses a lot on the natural elements of the winter season: evergreen trees, dark wood, and moody blues and greens that invoke the quiet, cold feel of the season. Think trees and botanicals and other elements of the earth. Mixing and matching some of these design ideas can subtly bring the holidays into your home.
It also helps to spread out your holiday decor. Instead of placing decorations on every available surface, consider choosing one mantle or a chest to display some of your favorites. You can adopt a few key symbols, like a wreath, tree, star, or personal art and religious items.
1. Subtle wreath
An ornate wreath with a big red bow is a classic Christmas symbol. It's often the showpiece of your home’s entranceway. For a minimalist take, try stripping back the wreath to just a few branches or hang a full wreath with simple pinecones for decoration.
2. Neutral ornaments
Classic tree ornaments, such as simple white orbs or wooden garlands, can bring your tree to life without straying from the minimalist aesthetic. Carefully select the ornaments you appreciate the most and that highlight what's important to you. Family heirlooms or memorial ornaments pair nicely with wooden adornments or other stripped-down decorations.
3. Simple Christmas tree
Your Christmas tree need not reach the ceiling. Consider designating a tabletop version in a simple pot as the centerpiece of your living area. A full-sized tree can also fit with your minimalist aesthetic. A simple tree adorned with only a few pine cones can honor the tradition of the season.
4. Classic tablescapes
The table is the focal point of holiday meals, and you can bring the minimalist vibe to your dining area with a few select accessories like candlesticks, table runners, and centerpieces. A simple pattern on the runner and candlesticks in classic materials like metal and glass offer that stripped-down look.
5. Subtle textiles
Whether you go with faux fur, chenille, or plain cotton, choose subtle solid colors for your textiles. These are the throws you’ll place over chairs and couches to bring a layer of comfort to your home. Deep burgundy, cool navy, forest green, and other Christmas tones invoke the season while staying true to a minimalist objective.
6. Cheery doormat
Like the wreath, a doormat can herald the arrival of a new season and bring your Christmas decor outdoors. It’s a decor element that’s easily updated throughout the year, and you have many options that are festive but minimalist. Consider a doormat with a simple “Merry Christmas” message or one with pictures of those tried-and-true signs of the season.
7. Warm lighting & seasonal scenes
The holidays evoke a cozy and warm feeling that's easy to replicate with a minimalist lighting style. Opt for pillar candles on fat candlesticks, soft overhead lighting, or lamps that reflect just the right amount of illumination that invite you to cozy up and relax on those long dark evenings.
There's room for classic signs of the season, even with minimalist decor. Choose a few figurines and place them sparingly across the space you're decorating, such as the mantle. Figurines made of basic materials like wood, fabric, or metal are ideal.
8. Festive pillows
Piles of pillows only add to the cozy atmosphere of the Christmas season, but it may seem hard to invoke a similar feeling when sticking to a minimalist aesthetic. But you don't have to sacrifice comfort here. Instead of brighter pillows, you can choose some in a neutral color scheme with simple winter design patterns or solid colors to match your throws and textiles.
9. Silver and white winter wonderland
Glass and metal decorations in white and silver come together to create a classic winter theme that’s open to all, regardless of tradition. Small white lights and neutral colors can bring winter happiness to your home in the simplest ways.
Celebrate the Season in a Subtle but Festive Way
Minimalist Christmas decor is about getting to the heart of the mood you want to create. Often, a back-to-basics approach emphasizing evergreen trees, natural woods, and basic colors can create a classic but stripped-down celebration.
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