Our Best Christmas Tree Decoration Ideas For a Gorgeous Holiday

By Southern Living
December 04, 2008
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Hector Manuel Sanchez
Christmas trees are the centerpiece of the home and the holiday season. A beautifully decorated Christmas tree will evoke memories of the holidays for years to come. The first rule is to pick the best tree for your space, whether that be shorter and wider or taller and slimmer, and then the decorating fun begins. Fill it with colorful lights and ornaments, wrap in ribbon, or display a beautiful tabletop tree. No matter how big or small or how it is decorated, the tree should always reflect the personality of you and your family. Bring out the garland, wreath, and Christmas trinkets, and create a festive space with your Christmas tree as the star of your holiday decorations. Whether you’re celebrating Christmas on the coast, in a cabin, or right at home, let the decoration around the room and outside the window inspire you to create picture-perfect Christmas tree decorations. These inspiring Christmas tree decorating ideas will refresh your holiday look this year and bring new cheer into your home.
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Let These Christmas Tree Decorating Ideas Inspire You

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Natural Wonder

Hector Manuel Sanchez

A rust planter takes this gumdrop-shaped cypress to new heights. A strand of flameless candles adds an old-school effect while clove-studded oranges, dried-orange slices, and pinecones help the tree maintain an authentic look.

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Sentimental Selection

Hector Manuel Sanchez

Texans Sara and Billy Jack adorn their Christmas tree with mostly handmade and sentimental decorations. Each year, they present each of their children with a new ornament specifically chosen for them and share the backstory of why it was picked.

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Midwinter Magic

Hector Manuel Sanchez

Icy white and pale pink filler ornaments set a backdrop for statement-making metallic textured balls and geometric spindles. Modern-day steel magnolias will flip for blush-and-bashful accents like mauve plastic foam flowers. Blue floral wrapping paper completes the wintry scene.

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Blue Christmas

Hector Manuel Sanchez

Spread Christmas cheer in any room with this tabletop setup. Use a small blue spruce with battery operated light in a chinoiserie cachepot to achieve the look. Top your tree with a velvet bow that creates a garland as it cascades down the side.

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Think in Multiples

Photo: Brittany Ambridge; Styling: Buffy Hargett Miller

Instead of placing one large Christmas tree in the living room of this Baton Rouge home, designer Colleen Waguespack gathered a trio of smaller ones and accented them with flocks of white dove ornaments from her decor line, Fig & Dove

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Let Sparkles Fly

Hector Manuel Sanchez

This 12-foot Fraser fir displays ornaments made by the homeowner's children. Glittery gold, light pink, and rose gold baubles with a sumptuous 4-inch gold ribbon polish off the look while also carefully camouflaging any gaps between the branches. The train circling the tree skirt is led by the engine from The Polar Express.

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Whimsical Wonder

Hector Manuel Sanchez

Colorful paper flowers are a great addition if you are running low on ornaments. Homeowner Cristina Lynch also added light all the way around the top of this extra tall tree for added emphasis.

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Vintage Christmas

Jessica Ashley

Feeling nostalgic this season? Give your tree a retro feel with trimmings–including ornaments, ribbon, garland, décor, and more.

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Plaid Ribbon

Helen Norman

Unexpected details like antlers and bits of greenery provide contrast to the traditional plaid and red ribbon garland.

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Just Add Sunshine

Hector Manuel Sanchez

When it comes to decorating her tree, Natasha Lawler looks to her room for inspiration. Her sectional is covered in Schumacher's Citrus Garden, so she chose yellows, greens, and navy for her tree. With an abundance of decorative lemons she ordered from Amazon, sparkley sliced citrus, and a yellow ribbon topper, this tree stands out. She had a tree skirt made to match her sofa and even filled holes in the tree with styrofoam balls covered in the same fabric.

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Holiday Decorations to Match the Décor

Shades of purple and green–found in the living room's fabrics–are used to wrap gifts.

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Local Flavor

Photo: Hector Sanchez

Take inspiration from the surrounding landscape to infuse your tree with festive spirit and local flavor. The setting for this tree is Sullivan's Island, South Carolina, and that shows proudly with a profusion of palm fronds, oyster shell accents, and a palette of gold, burnt orange, and chartreuse that matches the interior. Tweak the look to suit your own home.

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Greenbrier Inspiration

Ball & Albanese

This glorious tree takes shape at The Greenbrier every December. You can easily incorporate the wide ribbon garland and sparkle to your own tree. Wrapping your Christmas tree in garland can seam intimidating, but if you take your time it will look great.

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Red and White

Hector Manuel Sanchez; Styling: Lindsey Ellis Beatty

When decorating a smaller tree, keep things simple with only a few colors. We chose bright red and classic white for this Christmas tree.

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Vintage Charm

Hector Manuel Sanchez

If you come across a stash of vintage christmas oranments, a tabletop tree is the perfect way to use them. Stick with a pretty palette of teal and pink to really enhance the pastel hues.

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Wrapped in Magnolia

Laurey W. Glenn

If you have magnolia leaves on hand, create a garland and wrap your tree with it. Keep the rest of your decorations simple with silver or gold.

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Branch Out When Hanging Lights on the Tree

Laurey W. Glenn

Birmingham designer Iris Thorpe has tried all manner of light-stringing techniques and has determined that nothing compares to wrapping individual branches from trunk to tip. "It's time-consuming," she says, "but when I've taken shortcuts and used nets, someone in the family is inevitably disappointed with the way it looks."

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The Midas Touch

Helen Norman

The classic red-and-green holiday palette gets a fresh update with a heavy dose of gold. These gleaming accents–in the form of ornaments, gift wrap, and a do-it-yourself garland–help make everything old seem new again this season.

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Whimsical Snow White Tree

Photo: Laurey W. Glenn

"Once, I painted my living room pink to match my pink-and-red tree," says Lindsey. "This year, I let the white walls direct my motif. I found a tree that looks like it's been dusted with fresh snow." To coordinate with the peachy pink curtains (Island Ikat by China Seas; quadrillefabrics.com), she used candy-colored ornaments and garlands that look like jewelry. In lieu of a traditional skirt or stand, the tree is placed in a sculptural garden urn. Get this look.

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Brighten up the Holidays

Emily J Followill

If you love the glitz and glamour of the holidays, this look is for you. Pile on the shimmer with a palette of silver and green, including all shades from chartreuse to moss. Well-placed pops of red add energy to this punchy, can't-miss-it-scheme.

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Simple Christmas Tree

Ngoc Minh Ngo

This simple Christmas tree complements the casual and chic decor of the living room in a beautiful way.

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Blue Christmas

Photo: Laurey W. Glenn

Many of us love to decorate with blue, so why not incorporate it into a holiday palette? "The gorgeous shade of this wallpaper (Jute Grasscloth in Dungaree by Twenty2; twenty2.net) inspired this shimmery tree," says Lindsey. "To offset the rich colors with plenty of sparkle, I piled on the silver—glass ornaments, disco ball-esque garlands, and a quirky topper." Get this look.

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Magnolia Garland

Photo: Hector Sanchez

Wrap your tree in a garland formed from magnolia leaves stapled together with their backs facing out.

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Tinsel Town

Photo: Hector Manuel Sanchez; Styling: Lindsey Ellis Beatty

If you're not afraid of a little sparkle, go for a super fun tinsel tree and some shiny pink and silver ornaments. Throw in a few mini pineapples for an extra splash of joy.

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Colorful & Coastal

Photo: Helen Norman

Shades of aqua, turquoise, and white create a crisp, festive holiday vibe. Glass pinecone ornaments reflect the area's indigenous conifers and bring a traditional holiday motif to the tree. The unconventional color scheme extends to the giftwrap papers, none of which are Christmas patterns but were chosen to reflect the cottage's fresh palette. See all of this Coastal Holiday Home.

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Neutral Territory

Jean Allsopp

If a red-and-green palette isn't your style, here's an alternative. We designed a holiday collection for Dillard's (available at dillards.com) full of subtle shades of silver, white, and gold that lend a sophisticated look to any interior.

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Bring Nature Inside

Photo: Laurey W. Glenn; Styling: Elly Poston Cooper

When it came to decorate a tree for this formal living room, interior designer Charlotte Lucas, chose tree colors in rich jewel tones that complimented the room. With turquoise, lime green, and a hint of coral, Lucas was able to achieve a sophisticated tree. She added whimsy with her ornament choices, including feathered birds and paper butterflies to adorn the tree. Instead of a traditional star, Lucas found two gold starbursts that she wired together.

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Cotton and Copper Mesh Ribbon

Hector Manuel Sanchez

This rustic tree is chockfull of natural decorations like pinecones, feathers, dried pods, silk magnolia blooms, and branches. A stunning trail of fluffy white cotton garland winds its way through the tree. Copper mesh ribbon brings a pop of color and allows the lights to really shine.

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