Don’t let Christmas decorating overwhelm you!  Use these easy ideas to help choose a Christmas theme for your home this holiday season!  Tour our Christmas home and get tips for how to easily create a Christmas theme in your own home, focusing on holiday decorations you already own!

It is truly hard to believe that we are rolling into December.  Or shall I say, racing into December?!  I love everything about Christmas and getting our home feeling cozy and looking festive for the holiday season.  Admittedly, part of the fun for me is dreaming and planning my Christmas decor, which usually starts many months in advance.  Being a teacher, my brain thinks in themes.  I love getting inspiration to choose a Christmas theme for holiday decorating each year.  Do you choose a Christmas theme for holiday decorating too?

I’m going to share some simple tips and ideas with you today that you may want to keep in mind for planning out your own decor.  Maybe you’ll realize that you actually already have a Christmas theme or decided to choose a Christmas theme for holiday decorating in your own home!

Christmas Home Tour

​If you are hopping over from Simply 2 Moms today, welcome!  Wasn’t their Christmas home tour incredible?  There are definitely amazing ideas there to help you choose a Christmas theme!  As you tour our Christmas home today, I hope it gives you even more inspiration!

First of all, though, I want to say a big thank you to my sweet friend Kelly from The Tattered Pew for organizing this special Christmas home tour week.  At the end of my post, you’ll be able to tour over 25 homes, all uniquely decked for the Christmas season.  The best part is that you will undoubtedly get so much inspiration!

Tip: Be sure to save all of your favorite ideas so you can find them later!

Alright…who’s ready to chat about some Christmas decorating?!  It’s one of my favorite topics and I have so much to share today!  Honestly, I struggled with our Christmas home a little when I first got started because I had a definitive theme in mind but it took several tries and experiments to get our spaces like I wanted them.  However, it was worth sticking with it.  Our entire family is enjoying our Christmas home so much already!  Bring on December!

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Easy Ways to Choose a Christmas Theme for Holiday Decorating

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How to Choose a Christmas Theme for Your Holiday Decor

How do I choose a Christmas theme?

There are a lot of different ways that you could choose a Christmas theme for this time of year.  However, these are the elements that I focus on whenever I am planning our Christmas decor theme.

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Use Color to Choose a Christmas Theme for Holiday Decorating

What are good Christmas color themes?

One of the easiest ways to develop a Christmas theme is with color.  I am not one to keep extra seasonal decor that I don’t use.  However, I know some people have color coded Christmas storage so they can switch out their colors from year to year.  How fun is that?!

You may choose a traditional color palette with the classic red and green.  You literally cannot go wrong with the classics!  However, you may have another specific color scheme that suits your home better.  Blue and white is almost considered a traditional color palette for Christmas because it has been so popular for so many years!  At the same time, the trending colour palette of earth tones, pink, and blush are a unique style that is so beautiful!

You may also choose to focus on an accent color.  Rich colors such as gold and silver make amazing accents and fit a modern Christmas tree or a traditional tree, either one.  

Of course, those of you who know me already know that whatever Christmas theme I choose is going to have lots of white ornaments with a white color scheme.  What can I say?!  I love what I love!

​I’d still like a little credit for the pink Christmas tree I bought for my girls when they were little, though!  They had so much fun with it until they decided to change their decor several years later!

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Use Pattern to Choose a Christmas Theme for Holiday Decorating

Pattern is another great idea to consider when starting to choose a Christmas theme.  There are so many wonderful patterns available for Christmas decorations.  While some of them have a very unique look, they are so fun and I love that everyone can add their own personal touch with so many options available!  

My personal favorite for pattern are Christmas plaids.  While the inside of our home has a gold and white color scheme, our outside porch areas are festive with Christmas plaids!

Christmas time is the perfect time to have a lot of fun with your decor and you can get away with going a little (or a lot) over the top!

So, to kick off our Christmas home tour, welcome to the front porch!  We are so glad you’re here!

​Use Decor Style to Choose a Christmas Theme for Holiday Decorating

What are the different styles of Christmas decor?

An easy way to think about how to choose a Christmas theme is by thinking of it through the lens of your own personal decor style.

Modern, farmhouse, boho, coastal, shabby chic,  vintage…there is a way to make Christmas in your home feel just right by designing it in a way that fits the existing style of your home.

Since our home is full of vintage elements, the French Country cottage theme works perfectly for a Christmas theme!

Of course, every party needs some sparkle and I love making our home feel like a Christmas celebration by mixing the old and new, chippy and sparkly together with simple design.

Use a Favorite Christmas Story or Object(s) to Choose a Christmas Theme

A really fun way to come up with a Christmas theme for your holiday decor is to think about a favorite Christmas story or representative object.  I love the story of The Nutcracker.

In fact, I directed a children’s theater version of it with my children’s choirs two different years when I taught music!  It’s such a sweet story full of imagination.

However, in keeping with my decor style and color scheme, I had to think through how I could make our Christmas decor represent the theme of the Nutcracker story.

Tip: Keep it subtle.  

You don’t have to go all out with any specific theme.  Simple accents and fun details go a long way to set the tone for your Christmas theme.  At the same time, you don’t have to buy all new decor either.

Invest in timeless basics that you love and can enjoy, no matter the themes or trends.  Then, you can simply add fun accessories here and there to help set the theme you’ve chosen.

Use Collections to Choose a Christmas Theme for Holiday Decorating

Many people have Christmas collections that they enjoy taking out each holiday season.  There are so many kinds of things to collect for Christmas!  Whether it is favorite mugs, dishes, antiques, ornaments, cards, or any other number of things, make them a special part of your decor!

Collections can take center stage in your Christmas decor theme.  I love that some of our collections have become favorite traditions.  For example, we collect ornaments when we travel as a family.  Hanging these on our main Christmas tree together is a favorite Christmas tradition!  Collections are a great way to add a personal touch to your seasonal decorations!

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Use Collections for Different Christmas Theme Ideas

Several years ago, I started collecting brass French horns for my Christmas decorating.  It took a couple years of collecting but I finally gathered enough from thrift stores, flea markets, and even yard sales to create a gallery wall focal point I had been envisioning in our living room.

Creative ideas sometimes take time and patience!  

I hung the thrifted French horns again this year because they are the perfect place to add a subtle nod to my Nutcracker theme for the year.

Even though nutcrackers are a traditional idea for the holiday season, it was fun to think outside the box of the best way to bring in the subtle elements to help carry the theme through.

At the same time, if I wanted to choose another theme one year, there are many different options of how I could incorporate the vintage French horns into most any traditional Christmas theme.

In fact, one of these years, I want to create a themed Christmas tree with music elements and the smaller French horns would be perfect to hang on the tree.  So, stay tuned!

See?  Christmas planning is always in the works around here!  Haha!

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​Choose a Christmas Theme for Holiday Decorating with a Favorite Story

As I mentioned earlier, I love the story of The Nutcracker.  The music is just wonderful and the story is such a whimsical and magical tale!  Even though I don’t technically collect them, I have quite a few nutcrackers in my Christmas decorations.

I felt inspired this year to try and sprinkle threads of the story throughout our home.  Since most of the details are really subtle, it may not be obvious to most people.  However, I decorate our home for Christmas for my own family and we are enjoying it!

In each main space throughout our living areas, you’ll find a nutcracker tucked in here and there.  Some are large and some are tiny.  Each one helps tell the story and carry the theme through our home.

Tip: Choose a Christmas theme for holiday decorating that you can add throughout your connected spaces for a cohesive decor style.

Use the decor you have to help choose a Christmas theme!

To bring in the sparkle of the Sugar Plum Fairies, I added vintage ornaments and mercury glass that sparkles in the cozy candlelight.  At the same time, the “Fa-la-la-la-la” banner nods to decking the halls, as Clara and Fritz’s family did to prepare holiday cheer for the big day!

A vintage wooden horse reminds us of the toys that Drosselmeier brings to the children.  The beautiful hobby horse becomes a struggle between Clara and Fritz in the first scene.

I’m sure no parents reading this can relate to any struggles between children.  Right?!  Haha!!!

A little clock tucked into a coffee table vignette is a sweet reminder of when the big grandfather clock strikes midnight and Clara is transported into a magical, imaginary world!  Isn’t that part of the fun of Christmas after all?!

A simple hot chocolate bar in our kitchen carried through the subtle theme of when the sumptuous Spanish hot chocolate leads in a spicy fandango when the Sugar Plum Fairy leads Clara to the Land of Sweets!

Small Christmas trees and twinkling lights throughout our living spaces make me think of the toy soldiers in the forest!

Of course, our large family tree is the best Christmas tradition, just as Clara’s family enjoyed a large tree in their front hall.  Thankfully, though, our tree isn’t full of mice!  Yikes!!!

Almost all of the decor that I used were things that I already had and really can be used for many other themes.  

However, by arranging them in such a way that carries some of the story elements throughout the main room, I had fun creating a theme for this most wonderful time of the year!

You can even have a secondary theme!

​Was the nutcracker theme too much of a stretch?!  I get it!  As I said, my favorite way to carry a theme or story line through my home decor is with very subtle details.

However, if anyone walks into our home this Christmas season and doesn’t know the story of the nutcracker or maybe doesn’t pick up on those details (totally understandable), they would hopefully get the feeling of a very cozy and festive cottage!

My “secondary theme”, if you will, is French Country cottage.  Over on THIS post, I share a lot of tips and ideas for designing your Christmas home with a French Country cottage feeling and lots of natural elements.

All of our vintage decor, neutral colors, gold accents, natural materials, different textures, and cozy touches are trademark elements of the French Country style.  

Since I enjoy this style year round in our home, it is fun to take that same decor style and transition it into a festive traditional Christmas decorations.

Tip: To make your Christmas theme easier, start with the decor style that best fits your home.  You can mix and match decor and add in traditional colors and Christmas decorations to transition to the holiday season.

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Other Fun Christmas Theme Ideas

What is a good Christmas theme?

• Santa and the North Pole
• Gingerbread house
• Candy canes and classic red
• Winter wonderland: white Christmas tree, polar bears, Frosty the Snowman
• Animal themes: woodland creature ornaments, animal ornaments, natural world, pine cones
• Different colors: blue and white, classic red, silver theme, gold ornaments

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Take a Walk Through Our Christmas Home

Thank you for taking time to drop by and visit today!  I hope you’ve found some inspiration for your Christmas decorating during this holiday season.  Most of all, I hope you’ve found inspiration for a joyful and festive holiday!

To continue the fun, hop on over to Amy Sadler Homes to tour her Christmas home!  Then, stay tuned each day to take all of the amazing Christmas tours happening this week!

Bloggers’ Best Holiday Home Tours

This week I am joining some of my blogging friends for the Bloggers’ Best 2023 Holiday Home Tours. Thirty talented and creative women will be opening their homes up for you to tour all week long. You can visit each home tour by clicking the links below. Enjoy!

Monday’s Tours

The Tattered Pew // StoneGable // Worthing Court Blog

Southern Home and Hospitality // Our Crafty Mom // My Thrift Store Addiction

Tuesday’s Tours

A Life Unfolding // Living Large In a Small House // Cottage On Bunker Hill

Bricks ‘n Blooms // Cottage In the Mitten

Wednesday’s Tours

WM Design House // The Ponds Farmhouse // Shiplap and Shells

Simply 2 Moms // Robyn’s French Nest // Amy Sadler Designs

Thursday’s Tours

Midwest Life and Style // White Arrows Home // White Lilac Farmhouse

DIY Beautify // A Stroll Thru Life // Thistle Key Lane

Friday’s Tours

She Gave It a Go // Pasha Is Home // This Is Simplicite

Decor to Adore // Le Cultivateur // Peacock Ridge Farm

You may also enjoy these posts:

• 13 Best Ideas for Decorating a Sparse Christmas Tree
• How to Use Christmas Ornaments for Quick and Easy Holiday Decorating
• Easy Ideas for a Simple DIY Advent Wreath for Christmas
• 5 Easy DIY Christmas Napkin Rings and Festive Table Ideas
• Simple & Natural French Country Christmas Decor Ideas
• Easy Ways to Decorate Kitchen Cabinets for Christmas

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