I’m starting to think about decorating for the holidays and adding a bunch of neutral Christmas decor to my shopping cart! After having so much fun doing some neutral fall decor this past season, I’m excited to start decorating our new home for the holiday season.
For autumn, I really leaned into the neutral decor because I just really, really dislike the color orange. And I loved how that style turned out! You can check out my front door fall decor post here.
So while I don’t mind green and red, I thought I’d go for some neutral Christmas decor this year, because I just think it makes for a really chic Christmas! I’m thinking lots of white, gold, and natural/cream colors. Maybe some wood for a warm, rustic feel.
Especially this year, when our holidays might look a little different than usual and we might be missing some of our traditions, I think it’s so important to add some simple joys to the holiday season, and Christmas decorating is one of the ways I plan on doing that.
Last Christmas was my first holiday season where I was blogging full time, and Q4 is obviously huge for retailers. I felt this major pressure to start shooting for my brand partners very early in Q4—I even had one request for holiday content in mid-October! So I put up my fake tree in our apartment on November 1st, played some Christmas music, wrapped some fake presents, and started shooting holiday content. But what ended up happening was that by the time actual Christmas rolled around (over a month and a half later) I was pretty sick of Christmas. Not to mention the fact that I looked like the crazy over-eager person who put their tree up on November 1st.
So this year, I’m going to try my best to wait to put Christmas home decor up until December 1st. And if I do have to shoot some holiday brand content in November (which is more than likely), I’ll try to do a small Christmas tree set up in my office. So that way I can hopefully really enjoy and savor our holiday decor, rather than get sick of it.
Decorating for Christmas can be such a fun activity to do with your partner or family. While Omied doesn’t love decorating, we’ll open a bottle of wine and he’ll help me put ornaments on the tree which is a fun tradition. If you’re wanting to create holiday traditions for your family, consider decorating as a tradition or start doing a December 1st box.
In case you’re looking for holiday decor ideas too, I’m sharing some of my favorite finds!
Neutral Christmas Decor
Christmas Tree and Decor
First and foremost, let’s talk about Christmas tree decor! This is our first year having a formal living room, where our Christmas tree will go. I romanticized the idea of getting a real tree for the first time in our new house—the smell, the look, the feel. That was until a friend told me about how her home became infested with fleas after they brought home a real tree. Uhh, going to stick with faux, thanks!
For a neutral Christmas style, I love a pre-lit, flocked tree. You’ll have some of the green showing through but plenty of white, and it just looks so chic. We upgraded to a 9-foot tree for this year since we’re in a bigger space now with taller ceilings, and I can’t wait to set up our Christmas tree and see how it looks in our home!
Shop neutral Christmas trees below:
And of course, your tree needs some ornaments and decorations to style it, like a tree skirt, tree topper, and a garland. I’m obsessed with this pack of champagne-colored ornaments and just bought these for our tree. We used to have a green tree skirt, but to go with the neutral theme I think I’m going to swap it out for a cream one. Prayer beads have been a huge home decor trend this year, and these garlands play on that trend.
Also, this might sound silly, but I like to wrap some fake presents to put under the tree. Especially when the tree first pops up on December 1st, it just looks a bit bare without anything underneath it! Plus, that way I can wrap the faux gifts in a neutral wrapping paper like butcher paper, and it just adds to the aesthetic.
Shop neutral Christmas tree decorations below:
Neutral Christmas Mantel
We’ve also never had a fireplace before, so I can’t wait to decorate our mantel (or is it mantle?) for Christmas! Planning on getting a couple of white or cream-colored Christmas stockings to hang, and I’m in love with this gold leaf garland. So pretty and adds some sparkle! Finish it off with some candleholders (Cost Plus always has great ones!) and candles and you have a warm and cozy Christmas mantel. I’m going to keep it pretty simple which is perfect if you’re interested in having a minimalist Christmas this year.
Shop neutral Christmas Mantel decor below:
Christmas Dining Room Decor
Ok, I know I sound like a broken record, but we’ve also never had a proper dining room before, so I’m loving the idea of doing some Christmas dining room decor. Nothing too over the top, but I’m thinking a natural garland with some tabletop trees (these ones are what farmhouse Christmas dreams are made of) would be really pretty. Maybe some little reindeer if I’m feeling super festive. 😉
Shop neutral Christmas dining room decor below:
Outdoor Christmas Decor
Lastly, we need some outdoor Christmas decor! We’ll probably do some simple Christmas lights on the house and a neutral Christmas wreath. Also thinking it’d be fun to hang some outdoor ornaments on our olive tree out front and to do a mix of light up ones and oversized shatterproof ornaments.
I also really want to do a set of reindeer, lol. I just think they’re so cute, and it also makes me laugh because when I was a teenager my friends and I would go reindeer humping. Now it’s time to return the favor and put out some reindeer figurines for the neighborhood kids to place in a humping position for a laugh. 😆
Shop neutral outdoor Christmas decor below:
That’s all the neutral Christmas decor I’m getting for this holiday season! Am I missing anything? I’ll be sure to do a Christmas home tour once everything is set up, but hopefully that won’t be until December 1st! Looking forward to all the warm, cozy Christmas vibes!
Looking for more home decor inspiration? You’ll find it here!
Elise Armitage is an entrepreneur and founder of What The Fab, a travel + lifestyle blog based in California. At the beginning of 2019, Elise left her corporate job at Google to chase her dreams: being an entrepreneur and helping women find fabulous in the everyday. Since then, she’s launched her SEO course Six-Figure SEO, where she teaches bloggers how to create a passive revenue stream from their website using SEO. Featured in publications like Forbes, Elle, HerMoney, and Real Simple, Elise is a firm believer that you can be of both substance and style.