It’s time to deck the halls...and the kitchen and the bedroom and the dining room too!
We like to bring the Christmas spirit into every room in the house, and even outside the house too. One of our favorite things to use is fresh greenery that screams “the holidays are here!” There are so many fresh Christmas greenery choices out there including magnolia, pine, boxwood, and cypress. We’ve gathered together plenty of ideas on how to use these fresh pieces and more in each room of your house. Let's decorate, y'all!
Window Treatment
If you have a large window in your home that doesn’t usually have treatments, go ahead and hang a simple garland here to frame your space.
Glowing Centerpiece
Scatter votives of different sizes throughout fresh greenery on the table for a simple centerpiece that doesn’t have to be watered. A small vase is also filled with loose greenery for additional interest.
Silver, Green, and a Touch of Red
Combine three traditional holiday colors for a classic mantel. A wreath of Fraser fir, pine, and cypress is complemented with matching garland. Weave silver beaded garland throughout the greenery and hang oversized, silver pinecones at the ends. Incorporate red touches with a fresh rose arrangement and a few red ribbons.
Liven Up the Entry
Don't let the living room have all the holiday fun. Make a playful statement in this welcoming area with a garland-draped, stocking-bedecked banister (D. Stevens Velvet Christmas Stockings; neimanmarcus.com). Tie the stockings directly to the balustrade, not the garland. Lastly, loop on ribbons (from Mood Fabrics and Paper Source). Secure the main garland to the banister first, and then use wire to add sprigs of another type of greenery.
Christmas Creatures
Don’t forget to decorate your statues during the holidays. These deer get wreaths around their necks and ornaments hanging from their antlers.
Natural Texture
A pair of naturally shed elk antlers are embellished with a simple Fraser fir garland with additional clippings of boxwood, magnolia, and cedar for a mantel display that is a little bit rustic, and a whole lot chic.
Go Big
Adorn your porch, front doors, and windows with extra-thick garland and wreaths. Here magnolia, cypress, and pinecones work well with the home’s facade.
Magnolia Swag
Top a decorative piece in your house with magnolia swag with pinecones. Hang a few paper ornaments from the swag for an extra touch of holiday cheer.
Over-served to Perfection
Don’t be afraid to go all out with greenery. Here you can find fresh greenery draped over the art, on the chandelier, and hung from the chairbacks.
Simple Swag Dressed Up
A traditional boxwood garland is dressed up around the doorway with trailing ribbons and silver ornaments. Cut different lengths of ribbon, string the balls, and knot the lengths together before attaching to the door frame.
Let It Shine
Create a unique garland with lemons and magnolia leaves to hang anywhere in your house. Use heavy florist wire to string the lemons and magnolia leaves together and knot the ends to secure. We draped our lemon garland around a mirror on the fireplace and adorned the mantel with traditional garland and additional lemons.
Sugar Plum Dreams
Don’t forget to decorate your kid’s room. Top their bed with a swag of fresh greenery for extra Christmas cheer.
Showstopper Stairs
Cascade boxwood garland and ribbon down the banister. When you’re ready to entertain, dress up the garland with fresh hydrangeas, succulents, and seeded eucalyptus. Use a floral foam cage with a bow and trailing ornaments and attach to the banister with coated wire.
Doubled Up
Instead of hanging one large wreath, try stacking two smaller wreaths on your door. Hang the two wreaths from fishing line. Cover the line with decorative ribbon that matches the rest of the Christmas décor.
Threes Company
A mix of seeded eucalyptus, magnolia, and spruce come together for a relaxed garland. A cluster of magnolia leaves tied with a bright blue ribbon add a little drama to this garland.
Give Me Gold
Deck out any doorway with a traditional mixed garland. Go bold with spray-painted palm fronds in the corners.
Boxwood Up the Stairs
Instead of draping your garland up the stairs, try lining the banister with a sturdy boxwood garland. Simply lay it on top the banister and secure it in place with floral wire.
Bright Front Door
Bring some color to your Christmas wreath this season with the addition of small oranges, tangerines, and kumquats. Pick up a simple evergreen wreath and add the fruit with florist picks and wire. Hang this wreath with a fun ribbon and your guests will love walking up to your house.
Bountiful Bowl
If you have loose magnolia leaves on hand, create a simple arrangement for your table. Fill a bowl with loose leaves and a few mercury glass ornaments and you’re all set.
Let Go of Symmetry
Don’t be afraid to create a mantle display that favors one side of your mantel. Sprigs of seeded eucalyptus and magnolia are inserted into a bay laurel-and-cedar garland for an extra zip to traditional Christmas décor.
Go Vertical
Don’t just swag your garland along the railing. Create vertical interest and frame your door by wrapping the posts of your porch with garland as well. We also love the use of three wreaths on each door.
Go High
Instead of just draping your garland across the mantel, hang it all the way to the ceiling to draw the eye up. Here, a magnolia garland is hung with bright red ribbon. Finish the mantel off with some mini evergreen trees, a bushel of apples, and more red ribbon.
Grand Outdoors
Bring holiday cheer outdoors and hang garland over arches in your outdoor living space.
Romantic Garland
This freeform, romantic garland comes together with thoughtful placement of artificial garland, fresh eucalyptus, and dusty miller. With the addition of vases of varying heights, you can easily replace the fresh flowers throughout the season. Silver brunia, white ranunculus, star of Bethlehem, ‘Sahara’ roses, eucalyptus pods, succulents, and snowberries fill out the vases and the mantel here.
Kitchen Joy
Spread Christmas cheer in your kitchen without cluttering your countertops by placing garland on top of your cabinets.
Embellish with Citrus
Drape a single Leyland cypress garland across the room's focal point (here, it's the hood). Accentuate it with dried orange slices that are suspended from colorful ribbon streamers, and hang wreaths in the windows. Top counters with potted orchids and a bowl of oranges.
Chairback Clusters
Hang fresh greenery bunches on the back of your dining room chairs for a festive touch. A ribbon and ornament adds a little sparkle.
Christmas Greetings
Relive the joys of Christmas past and present by displaying them on your garland. Simply punch a hole in the top of each card and tie them to the garland with string.
Boxwood and Gold on the Mantel
A simple boxwood garland draped over the mantel is complimented by gold votives, candle sticks, and a few deer. The stockings are hung with small nails instead of distracting holders.
Dress Up the Dining Room
A fully set table signals that the party is about to begin. Get your dining room ready to host company with this elegant, enlightening idea. In the base of the chandelier, slip in clippings of two or three types of greenery, such as Leyland cypress, Southern red cedar, and cider gum eucalyptus. (Safety note: Don't place the greenery close to the bulbs, and mist the foliage often with water, carefully avoiding the light sockets.) Hang wreaths accented with simple blue and white ribbons throughout the rest of the room.
Glitzy Garland
Add some shine to your natural garland with a variety of oversized plastic ornaments in various colors. A few glittery birds are added to each side for extra flair.
Red Accents
Fill your urns by your front door with fresh greenery clippings. Add festive color by spray-painting thin branches in red and group them in the center of the urns.
Birch Tree
Create a different tree this Christmas with a few birch logs bundled together with fishing wire. Drape this with garland and a ribbon to match your décor.
Coastal Christmas
Seeded eucalyptus, palmetto fronds, and turquoise ornaments come together for a festive and beachy look for the holidays.
Bedroom Bundle
Create a festive bundle to hang on guest beds by tying a small bunch of magnolia with a ribbon.
Decorative Display
Incorporate your display wall into your Christmas décor by embellishing with fresh greenery and ornaments. Don’t forget your console either. Simply lay loose greenery along the table and place ornaments in the vacant spaces.
Welcoming Trees
Welcome your guests with mini trees when they walk up to your door. Fill 5-gallon buckets, or pots you have on hand, with dwarf trees. Place an abundance of magnolia leaves into the bucket to give these trees extra dimension.
Personalized Wreath
Create a wreath that means something to your family by making your own shape. Plastic foam was cut out in the shape of a horseshoe and filled with bay leaves.
Manicured Mantel
Swag a boxwood garland wrapped in ribbon around the mantel letting the ends trail to the floor. Fill the garland out with dried hydrangeas, faux crabapples, and silver brunia berries. When guests are headed over, add fresh roses, lilies, and hydrangeas in florist picks along the center. Put out a few fresh pears on the mantel to accompany the beautiful garland.
Festive Sprigs
You don’t have to go all out for a holiday centerpiece. A few boughs of fresh greenery, your collection of candlesticks, and a few gold starbursts are all it takes for this table to go from boring to spectacular.
Fir for the Mantel
A layer of Fraser fir is enhanced with a few mercury glass Christmas ornaments. Drape a beaded garland down from the mantel to create more movement and interest.
Drape the Fireplace
Why hide a beautiful mantel with miles of heavy red ribbon and thick greenery? Create a simple yet striking look with thin greenery and light colors (inspired by in-season pears). Cascade a single garland, like Leyland cypress, asymmetrically across the mantel. Then, embellish it with a pale pink wired ribbon (we used about 10 yards). Next, attach sprigs of fresh magnolia clippings with wire to sharpen the silhouette. Finish by placing pears and candlesticks with tall pink tapers along the top of the mantel. Complement the shape of the garland with a bouquet of quirky anemones (shown here) or ranunculus.
Local Touches
Locally sourced cypress is hung from the banister and given an extra touch of Christmas décor with a few stockings attached with ribbons and ornaments.
Fresh and Serene
Pile thick garland around your front door to create a forestlike feeling. You can easily add more clippings to a ready-made garland to achieve the look you’re going for. A boxwood wreath and urns with loose clippings complete the look.
Streamers for the Stairs
Instead of making bows with your ribbon, just cut strips of ribbon and create streamers to hang with your garland along the stairs. Hang a few ornaments from the streamers and your Christmas décor will feel fresh.
Festive Focal Point
Keep kitchen counters clear with arrangements in your window. Silver champagne buckets are filled with fresh greenery, amaryllis and nandina berries. Frame the display with an evergreen wreath to create depth.
Festoon the Front Door
On the exterior, go for a few high-impact pieces rather than small, hard-to-see details. This entry point's all-natural look started with a 25-foot Leyland cypress garland that curves around the front door's fanlight and runs down the sides, with clusters of large pinecones fastened with wire. A lush collar of magnolia leaves, loosely stuffed into the top of each topiary pot, is an effortless holiday addition to any year-round container. For the cypress-and-olive branch wreath, we attached Ballard Designs' Vintage Bell Swag and a trio of ribbons to the top center.
Farm Fresh Mantel
Stop by the produce section of your grocery store and pick up colorful oranges and apples for your mantel. A base of spruce and magnolia clippings round out this well-thought-out mantel.
Grand Garland
Take the ornaments outside by incorporating them into your entry. After sweeping premade garland over the door, wire assorted ornaments in masse at the top and scatter more down the sides. Go further and decorate mini Christmas trees with more ornaments and beaded garland.
Complementing Touches
If you have a room with a strong point of view, go with simple holiday décor. Here a thick magnolia garland and white stockings are just enough to make this room feel festive.