Festive holiday decor doesn’t have to be limited to the traditional red-and-green motif. In fact, the latest trends trade in the traditional holiday accents for more subtle decor that blends into a home’s existing style. Here are a few trending holiday looks this year:
1. Metallics with blue. Metallics continue to be a huge holiday decorating trend. Silver and gold are popular colors for shiny ornaments and accessories. Gold-on-silver can add warmth and depth to a space and is easily paired with nontraditional holiday colors, such as light blues and navy.
2. Textured layers of white. Farmhouse-style interiors adorned with white holiday decorations are trending: Online searches for “farmhouse Christmas ideas” have surged 400% over the last five years, according to Google Trends. Soft whites paired with textured whites, along with burlap, natural wood tones, and black accents, are helping to create a festive farmhouse feel.
3. Nostalgic displays. Neon signs are trending in home design—including holiday decorating. Searches for custom or personalized neon signs have jumped 228% this year, according to design site Etsy. One of the most popular neon signs reads “Merry Christmas” in a retro-inspired script, according to
PureWow.com, a lifestyles digital media company. Vintage 1950s-style glass ornaments, often in bright pastels like blue and pink, are also gaining traction along with tabletop ceramic Christmas trees. These decorating comebacks have happened in recent years as more homeowners reach for nostalgic holiday displays from previous generations.
4. Giant outdoor ornaments. Lawn ornaments are another hot trend this holiday season. These ornaments may be black-and-white striped or in colors like reds, greens, or even golds. They can add a decorative touch to the front stoop, day or night.
5. Decorated greens. House plants, which homeowners have gravitated toward since the start of the pandemic, can become festive decor, too. Drape them in thin wire lights or garland to dress them up for the holidays. Also, greenery in its simplest form—just a row of it—is being draped over the fireplace mantle for a modern holiday style.
6. Elegant outdoor displays. A trend that never goes out of style: a home wrapped in the warm glow of white lights. Kelly Fitzsimmons, owner of Chicago-based Light Up Your Holidays, a design firm, factors a home’s architecture into her designs to show the property in its best light—literally. She recommends focusing on decorating only one area of the exterior. For example, decorate all your bushes and put a wreath in one window above the bushes, she suggests. You also can decorate your entire porch and consider creating a vignette and a cohesive display. Your efforts will have a bigger impact than simply throwing decorations on a tree.
