Designers share their top tips for maximum merriment.
With Thanksgiving now behind us, it's the perfect time to deck the halls with your favorite Christmas decorations. Whether you plan to unbox bin after bin of cherished garlands, heirloom ornaments, and that faux tree from the basement or you’re celebrating your first holiday in a new home with freshly curated festive decor, your style can beautifully reflect that cozy Christmas aesthetic.
Your space can feel warm and inviting without being overwhelmed by the classic red and green. Achieving a cozy Christmas aesthetic is about choosing the right decorations and creatively styling them. For those who lean towards a minimalist and metallic look, layering various textures and playing with lighting can transform your space into an inviting haven. Whether you love the nostalgic charm of your grandma's antique decorations or the sleek modernity of contemporary design, you can craft a cozy Christmas aesthetic with these clever tips and tricks. Discover 21 designer ideas below that capture this delightful holiday vibe, ensuring a merry atmosphere all season long.
Additional copy by Medgina Saint-Elien and Hadley Mendelsohn.
The beautiful and warm Ralph Lauren drapery surrounding this canopy bed is a perfect example of a cozy Christmas aesthetic that will still look good once the holidays pass. The designer of this room, Jane Hawkins Hoke, also chose to decorate the throw pillows and headboard in this iconic tartan.
What better way to create a cozy Christmas aesthetic than decorating the most warming feature of your home? In this space, designer Catherine Olasky drew attention to the fireplace by hanging the stockings there, accessorizing with garland, and lining up a few candleholders fitted with red candles. Even though this living room has a lighter aesthetic normally, Olasky was able to create warmth with these pieces.
Fill up the space and amp up the cozy factor of your Christmas decor by choosing a towering tree for the focal point. Designer Catherine Olasky created an inviting atmosphere in her living room with this large Fraser fir and matching wreath layered over the artwork above the couch. Though you can still create a cozy Christmas aesthetic with a small tree, getting one that takes up a lot of space both in height and width definitely helps.
Christmas lights inevitably burn out, so when replacing a strand, ensure the bulbs match the existing temperature to maintain your cozy Christmas aesthetic. In a living room crafted by Alfredo Paredes, he transformed this summer home into a festive paradise. The beautifully decorated Christmas tree, adorned with warm lights, contributed to the inviting ambiance, along with the glow from wall sconces and candlelight. This harmonious blend of lighting elements creates a warm and welcoming holiday atmosphere.
Decorate your living room to have a cozy Christmas aesthetic by bringing in nontraditional hues in your decorations. The garland on this mantel by designer and homeowner Charlotte Moss is perfectly in season, but the brown leaves combined with the green don't give off a traditional holiday look. However, it sure does make the space feel warm.
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Bring a touch of glamour into your cozy Christmas decorations by mixing in a few metallics here and there. In her Upper East Side home, Charlotte Moss added silver accents to her green and red garland on this mantel, giving it a chic and cozy feel and ensuring it fits better with the existing light-colored decor.
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Designer Charlotte Moss could've kept it simple and solely hung up the green garland, but she chose to layer two holiday accents by adding the thick red ribbon on top. This not only creates a more intentional look, but it fills up more space, giving it a cozy Christmas feel.
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A key to creating a cozy Christmas aesthetic in your home for the holiday season is to add decorations wherever you can. Designer Cathy Chapman wrapped a beautiful green garland around her staircase railing, and we adore the verdant look.
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The outside of your home can also capture a cozy Christmas aesthetic with the proper decor. Designer Lisa Hilderbrand used real greenery to create her holiday wreaths and garland, topping them off with bright red bows. It's a classic look and gives the home a warm and cozy feel, mainly due to the nostalgia factor.
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Make sure your family and friends feel welcome the moment they approach your front door! The generous magnolia leaf garland adorning the door of Josh Hildreth's 1891 farmhouse (which he renovated with Hugh Newell Jacobsen) makes it look like the set of a Hallmark movie waiting to happen.
Even if your style leans more toward the minimalist side, you can spread the holiday cheer by choosing zones to play up the cozy Christmas aesthetic. Try adding a reindeer with a scarf surrounded by a garland or add plush throw pillows to the nook in your living room like Emily Henderson did here. It's the little, charming things that make a difference.
Set the scene for your stockings with a chic mantle that makes sitting by the fire look and feel good. Personal collectibles, like antiques, books, and wall decor, combine with magnolia greenery and pinecones for an eclectic, one-of-a-kind holiday look by designer Jenny Wolf.
We love a classic evergreen garland as much as the next person, but we're especially fond of those that ooze abundance. This one that's studded with stone fruit and berries woven throughout is especially lavish. We love how the pops of sky blue in this living room decked out for the holidays by Matthew Bees modernize the traditional Christmas decor without clashing.
If you don't have the bandwidth to hang up Christmas decor in every single nook and cranny, lean on the winter-centric accents you already have. This nondenominational living room designed by Liliane Hart features a repeating snowflake motif and lots of plush materials. In other words, it's giving hygge.
If you love a polished but cozy Christmas aesthetic, choose gift wrapping and ornaments that complement your living room's color scheme, as Rachel Barrett did in her Birmingham home. You'll get a holiday mood that doesn't clash with your design style.
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Texture layering is the key to a cozy Christmas aesthetic. In this living room designed by Cathy Chapman, the rough stone wall provides a rustic, historical backdrop, while the thick pile rug warms it up. The sheepskin rug under the tree channels fresh snowfall, and the timeless ornaments flatter the space's neutral colors and rustic bones.
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Gather some pine cones from the yard and place them in a bowl on the coffee table or dining room table for a simple seasonal centerpiece. Take it one step further like designer Elizabeth Pash and add a big vase of fresh green branches so you don't even need a garland.
In this contemporary mountain chalet, designer Kylee Shintaffer optimized every single room for winter coziness, including the home office. A simple sheepskin draped over the chair does the winter wonderland trick.
Loving attention to detail makes everything feel cozier. "The planter in our entryway changes with the seasons. In the winter, I incorporate moss, princess pine, and berries—I want my guests to feel like they've been transported elsewhere," interior designer Charlotte Moss says of her holiday entryway setup.
There's no rom-com like a holiday rom-com, and there's no holiday rom-com without mistletoe. Hang some mistletoe over a doorway (or several) to bring cheer to every room. Designer and homeowner Alfredo Paredes matched the red ribbon with the stairway garland and the peonies on the console table.
Meghan Shouse is House Beautiful's Digital Editor, and she's been with the team since September 2023. On top of being the magazine's go-to Waco expert, Meghan also touches on quite a few other verticals in the digital space, like hot news content featuring your favorite HGTV stars, home design inspiration, and the latest interior TikTok trends. However, her favorite pieces are the ones that start conversations, such as stories about resale value and whether or not the Solo cup is chic. Before becoming a home writer, Meghan worked in the fashion industry for two years, writing for Harper's Bazaar after graduating from Iowa State University with a bachelor's degree in apparel merchandising. When she's not interviewing interior designers about home trends, you can find Meghan reading a fictional thriller with her cat in her lap, planning themed parties, or strolling through flea markets searching for chunky candle holders and vintage bookends.
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