Decor Inspiration with Christmas Color Themes

From the original posting in 2006 to an update on Christmas decor color trends of 2015, compare the trends with  Christmas 2025. Many old favorites make an appearance, but each with an important refresh that is delightful. Come explore…

Christmas decorations are on the shelves and the color trends available are displayed on sample Christmas trees. So what have decorators presented for Christmas?

Snow-flocked evergreen and all white.

What Christmasworld calls “Airy”. This is the classic white and metallic combination, softened with fluffy textures and transparent or frosted glass. Target called this color scheme “Arctic Solstice”.

Check out “White and Silver” idea and the etsy shop @ Trash to Treasure.com to further explore some white themed looks.

Natural and Crafty

This is a traditional Christmas decorating theme that is perennally popular. I have a soft spot for this look because it has been my own personal choice each year. This year it is called the “Ralph Lauren” look, with the twist that it is a very luxe look. For this who don’t know, Ralph Lauren is a great American home and fashion designer. He known for his American culture infused style. 

For the Holiday theme borrowing his name that means plaid, high quality materials such as brass and leather. 

Another Craft Oriented Decor

Homespun, Cottagecore, Gingham, and other rustic styles have natural elements like pinecones, homemade ornaments, simple bows, and child-like toys or folk art.

Old Fashioned Craft Inspired Theme

Red and White comes with two interpretations. One is the peppermint stick look all glitzed up with glitter and sparkles, the other is an addition to the natural and crafty look; both are very traditional.

Purples and plums are still loved and seem to be most at home with a Victorian theme.Accented with pink and pink-gold, angel figures, taffeta ribbons and filigreed metal ornaments make visions of sugar plums dance in your head. A rich and detailed theme with lots of sentiment of the season sprinkled in.

This color trend is still part of the scene right now:

“Hot holiday colour trends this year are copper, burgundy, amber, rich earth-tones, soft pastels in shades of light turquoise, moss green and pretty pinks. Modern colours are in, like apple green, tangerine orange, hot pink and chocolate hues. Anything with a ’60s or ’70s influence is back, especially tinsel and anything that glitters.”

For more detailed ideas on Christmas Décor, see my Loving Christmas decorating themes page. Beach themes, Gingerbread themes,Victorian, or International theme ideas- spark your own imagination.

The Natural Look in 2015

What Christmasworld calls “Banzai East” is one interpretation of the look of nature, with colors of “Orange-gold, linden green and sky blue”. The world of the field and forest contributes another metamorphosis of the organic and simple decorating theme.

The Eastern influenced look would be simpler and more streamlined, the Western would have more woodland animal and twiggy accents. Pottery Barn has this choice sparkled up with soft old gold for shine.

Back…Back…To 2006

What was cool then?

Reportedly, the color Black was big in the UK and is expected to make a showing here in the USA. Somehow Black is  antipodal to the idea of” light in the darkness”, but some people are going for black Christmas trees. The way to decorate them is with sparkly “silver, gold, crystals”. But what else is on the palette for Christmas 2006?

Metallics of bronze and copper, with the rich shadings of burgundy and purples. The Retro look you see decorating so many websites is vogue for your Christmas decorations,too: cool retro blue, lime green, goldtone, and orange pop. So the themes of rich and opulent or bright colored and whimsical are forefront with the ever beloved elegance of white with snow crystal and silver.

Retro- It is Still The In-Crowd Choice

Source: Uploaded by user via Dee’s on Pinterest

  Some are going for the sixties flavor of hot pink,candy apple red, and white in far out stylized patterns-along with the stripes and polka dots. Some play it cool with greens and blues, and some are going deep earth golds, bronzes, browns. They pretty much are matching things with their interior decor.

Victorian Luxe

But as always, Christmas is a time you can get away with glitz, the more the merrier. Sparkle everything and bring out velvets and sequins, let  a feeling of abundance rule your abode for the short season that seems over all too quickly.

And that’s the scoop on what is fashion in holiday decor.

… but if you still like homespun and an old fashioned Christmas , check out my pages on decorating for a homey holiday. Decorating the Tree and Traditions

eBay has this to say on their helpful Guide:

The following represents the prospective trends for this holiday season:

COLORS from 2006

The Greens – Shades of lime, acid, sage, spruce and ivy.
The Reds – Bright and bold, or wine-toned.  Bold reds paired with lime and acid green in contemporary decor.
Bronze and amber – Elegant when combined with rich metallic tones.
Purples – All kinds.
White – Vintage ivory across all categories except contemporary, where white rules as the neutral of choice.
Black – Black and white for Christmas looks fresh and modern; black combined with brights; pair it with silver, beads and crystals for extra pizazz.
Metallics – This season, metallics range from bright, fun and funky to light and elegant to deep and luxurious.  Silver teamed up with ivory and white.  Brights in shades of pumpkin, lime green, purple and red.

In addition, the range of blues, browns, greens, reds, pinks and golds seen in the fashion world today are also strong in home decor fashions.  The orange of last year has evolved into a burnt orange or bronze, paired with red and fuschia.  During the 2005 holiday season in Europe, one of the most dramatic color stories to emerge was black.  This trend will continue to evolve.

Are these the same popular colors today. in 2025?

How the tones have changed:

• Greens that are sharp and acidic are now paired with candy colors in light, bright and sweet look.
• Reds are now combined so berry, wine, and traditional Christmas reds are layered tonally in plaids, berry branches and other forms.
• Purples are less saturated and often combined with pink
• White is icy and accented with pearls, black is more often combined with a dominate white theme for city sophistication.
• I do not see many brights, but metallic in vintage forms of mercury glass, etc give an on trend look.

Besides the Cottagecore and Ralph Lauren, the Snowy white look of a flocked tree, feathers, and champagne sparkled garland and ornaments create the Winter Wonderland look.

Ribbons have gone from garlanding the tree to simple single bows with long trailing tails- and they are not just on the tree. The wreaths, mantle, and stairways, among other places are often adorned with these bows.

Natural decor might be woodland or it might be old fashioned homespun with an emphasis on citrus slices, the addition of faux mushrooms and nuts, and twisty wood branch garlands.

Nostalgia is not the brights of the 60’s retro, but deeper colors and vintage finishes. Luxury touches like velvet-y bows, balls, or garland.

In all the styles and themes, there is a lot more layering for a very fully decorated appearance.