Farmhouse Christmas Decor: Simple Greenery, Wood and Warm Light

Holiday decorating has a way of arriving all at once and covering everything. If the rest of your house is calm, neutral and full of natural texture, a sudden layer of red, glitter and novelty can make it feel like a different home for a month.

Farmhouse Christmas decor works best as a restrained layer over what is already there: real or faux greenery, plain natural ornaments, a few seasonal textiles and warm white light. It needs a short list of materials and four places to put them.

Set a narrow palette before you unpack anything

Green, cream and one accent is enough. The green comes from the greenery itself, the cream from textiles and paper, and the accent is your choice: deep red, rust, navy, or simply more natural wood.

Deciding this first makes every later choice easier. Anything in the decoration box that falls outside the palette can stay in the box this year.

Start with greenery

Greenery does most of the work, and three forms of it cover nearly every spot in the house.

• Garlands: draped along a shelf, a console or a stair rail, slightly loose and uneven. Real or faux both suit the look; mixing two types of faux foliage in one garland makes it look fuller.
• A simple wreath: plain evergreen with little or nothing added, on the front door, over a mirror or on a wall. The DIY farmhouse wreath tutorial gives you a base that takes winter greenery well.
• Clipped branches in jugs: a few evergreen or bare branches in a stoneware jug or white pitcher, with a little water for fresh ones. This is the quickest holiday touch for a kitchen table, nightstand or bathroom shelf.

Fresh greenery dries out indoors over the weeks, so check it and replace or remove it once it turns brittle.

Choose natural and neutral ornaments

Ornaments in this style are quiet in color and interesting in texture. Pick two or three types and repeat them, instead of using a little of everything.

• Wood: plain turned shapes, slices, small stars and wooden bead garlands looped across the tree or along a shelf.
• Paper: folded stars, simple snowflakes and paper chains in white, cream or brown kraft.
• Dried orange slices: strung on twine or tucked into a garland for a warm, translucent spot of color. They are for display only.
• Plain glass: clear or softly tinted baubles that catch the light without adding pattern.

Add a few seasonal textiles

Swap in a cream knitted throw, one or two cushion covers in a plaid or a simple stripe, and a linen runner or napkins for the table. Keep to one pattern family, either plaid or stripe, within a room, and keep its colors inside your palette.

Knitted stockings in cream and green fit the same thinking: plain, textured and matching the room more than the season.

Where to concentrate it

Four zones are enough for most homes. Decorate these fully and leave the surfaces in between almost bare, so each one has room to stand out.

The entry

A wreath on the door, a jug of branches on the console and a basket for scarves and gloves. If there is a bench, a single plaid cushion finishes it.

The mantel or a console

Lay a garland along the full length, letting one end trail a little lower than the other. Add two or three flameless LED candles in glass jars and stop there, or tuck in a few paper stars. Stockings can go on small hooks below a shelf or along a peg rail. For the layering order through the year, see the guide to farmhouse mantel decor.

The table

A linen runner, a low line of greenery down the center, and a few wooden or glass ornaments laid among the leaves. Keep it low enough to see across, and narrow enough that plates still fit on both sides.

One corner

A small tree standing in a woven basket suits a farmhouse room better than a tree that fills it. Wrap it with warm white lights, a wooden bead garland and paper stars, and set it beside an armchair with the cream throw.

Keep the light warm and simple

Choose warm white for every light source so the glow matches your lamps. Cool white and multicolor strings look harsh against cream and wood.

• Light strings: plug-in or battery sets on the tree, through a garland or inside a large glass jar. Use and place them according to the manufacturer instructions, including whether a set is meant for indoor or outdoor use, and switch them off when you leave the house or go to bed.
• Flameless LED candles: the default for lanterns, jars, the table and anywhere near greenery. Many have timers, which makes the evening routine easier.
• Real candles: if you use them, keep them on a bare, steady surface, well clear of greenery, paper, dried slices and textiles, and never leave them unattended.
• Lamps: turn on table lamps and leave the overhead light off in the evening. The whole room softens.

Hanging wreaths, stockings and garlands

Most of this look sits or drapes, but a few pieces hang. For each one, choose a hanger, hook or fixing to suit the door type or wall type and the weight of what it will carry, and follow the manufacturer instructions. A filled stocking is much heavier than an empty one, so treat stockings on hooks as decoration and put the gifts elsewhere.

Adhesive hooks are popular for seasonal pieces, but paint finishes and surfaces vary. Test one in a hidden spot first and follow the manufacturer instructions for applying and removing it.

Taking it down gently

Discard fresh greenery once it dries, pack the ornaments by type, and wash the textiles following their care labels before storing them.

The knitted throw, the lamps and the jugs can stay through the rest of winter. When the light begins to change, the same jugs take budding branches, which is where the guide to spring farmhouse decor begins.