Inspirational living room décor ideas for Christmas and New Year's Eve

Create a Christmas Nook for the Children

Since the spirit of Christmas embodies feelings of joy, fantasy and merriment, there’s no better time to include your children in the home’s festive décor than during Yuletide celebrations. Perhaps it can be a space in their rooms or even a little nook in the living room—you could include small figurines, wooden toys and houses and miniature trees and lights for the kids. You could also recreate a festive North Pole scene with elves, Santa and his reindeer around and under the tree, or even a manger where the young ones can gather around and tell Christmas stories.

Style Tip: This is the perfect time to include and involve the children in styling the home. Not only will it be a special time to bond with them, but you’ll also start to discover their tastes and preferences, and help them learn a thing or two about design, creativity and colour pairing early.

Make Your Bar Cart Your New Year Decoration Centrepiece

If you are hosting guests or family for bringing in the New Year, chances are you’ll need a space to set up the drinks. While you may have a designated area for the bar built into your home interiors, you could also use a bar cart to hold all your alcohol, mixers and glasses. And both these places can serve as the perfect spot to add a bit to festivity and holiday décor. Simple tricks, such as hanging an interesting or shiny ornament on one of the railings or draping a wreath garland around the bar, will immediately set the tone for the party and out everyone in a festive mood.

Insider’s Tip: Jazzing up your bar space is also a clever idea for those of you who don’t want to go all out and decorate the whole house, but would like a bit of festive cheer in the home. Being an area a lot of guests will make a beeline towards, you can expect this simple yuletide display to serve as the centrepiece of your decorations.

Where to Place the Christmas Tree in the Home?

While the obvious place we think of—when it comes to placing the Christmas tree—is the living room, where exactly can you find the perfect spot? If it’s between two armchairs or couches, does it block off your view of the person sitting next to you? If it’s in a corner, does it hide all the effort you’ve put into decorating the whole tree? While each living room design is different and unique, there’s no fixed space of rule for setting up the tree. However, when working on your Christmas décor, think of including them in corners where they aren’t too distracting to the eye or, if they’re not too big, on tabletops and consoles to enhance the air of festivity. If you have a space that you think is the perfect spot for your tree, but taken up by a piece of furniture, consider moving it elsewhere for the time being to let your Christmas décor get some attention this month.

Work Your Christmas Décor Into the Existing Colour Palette

Another festive season, another change in décor? If this thought has you rolling your eyes in exhaustion, we have a solution for you—you don’t have to go all out and buy a new tree, add lights, change your accessories, and give your space a complete makeover. You could, instead, work with the existing style and colour palette of the home and bring in some festive cheer. In this living room design, for example, we see a verdant colour palette enhanced by potted plants and palm-leaf accessories across the space. A simple string of fairy lights, however, immediately lends a festive mood to the room.

Style Tip: If you’re looking to do away with a large Christmas tree this year, you could look at  these alternatives to a fake Christmas tree, which can be recreated with plants found in and around your home.

…and How to Style Your Christmas Tree to Echo Your Home’s Aesthetic

Remember that episode of Friends, where Monica pretended to let her friends decorate one half of her Christmas tree, and turned around her half once they were done to display a neatly, symmetrically decorated side? While that stays as a hilarious memory in your minds, it does make us wonder—is there a way to style a Christmas tree, along with the Christmas décor and New Year decorations, in tune with the aesthetic of the rest of the home? Yes, there is. If you live in a heritage home filled with antiques and heirlooms that fill each room, you could place more intricate, handmade ornaments with European comfort symbols like a kid’s horse rocking chair, horseshoes, vintage cottages and porcelain bells. If you’re a minimalist, consider all your ornaments in a single colour palette, such as silver, and in two to three shapes, placing them symmetrically around the tree. For the true maximalist, the entire tree is your blank canvas—add in all the colours, textures, shapes, lights, and, even, mini picture frames at the ends of each branch!

A Minimalist’s Living Room Design for Christmas

Do you love the thought of Christmas décor, but don’t have the inclination to live around it? Or, perhaps, the idea seems appealing but the living room design or limited floor space doesn’t allow for it. If you prefer to live like a minimalist, but feel like the Grinch when your house is bare without any festive cheer, you could add small symbols or tiny Yuletide elements and accessories around the house to spruce up the space.

Style Tip: In the absence of a Christmas tree, place a wreath on a door or a wreath garland on an open shelf or across a wall. Even small details such as single ornaments places on hooks or ledges around the room will go a long way.

Add Festive Elements for Your New Year Decorations

Whether it’s your coffee table, side consoles or even the buffet spread—you can always slip in a few festive elements to bring in some holiday cheer in the room. Placing solid red candles on the coffee table, for example, immediately makes one think of Christmas without trying too hard, while a few ornaments or pine cones positioned between the food spread will create the perfect Christmas décor.

Don’t Forget the Festive Details Around the House

Even if you’ve decorated the most elaborate Christmas tree this year, your home may still feel like something’s missing if there aren’t any other festive elements around—especially if you have a rather large home or living room. Placing simple and easily available pieces such as poinsettia plants, a string of fairy lights, a tray of pine cones or even a glass bowl filled with ornaments can extend the festive cheer across the room.

Insider’s Eye: We couldn’t help noticing the ornaments placed at the corner of each step on this living room, which works as a clever and easy style tip for any home with a staircase. 

A Focal Point for the Entire Festive Season

Come December, and, for most of the month, we like to be in a festive mood, kick back and let the end-of-the-year relaxation set into our, otherwise, hectic daily rhythms. And, sprucing up the living room design to echo this mood of festivity and yuletide cheer can help you unwind even more. As the weather cools down, bring out the throws and fluffier cushions to cosy up on your couches and add hints of crimson around the room with your accessories and décor pieces. For a simpler trick, try creating a focal point in the room by setting up a table or console with your Christmas décor. You don’t have to break the bank or be over-the-top with your styling—in this living room, simple red candles with a few fir branches placed next to it work just as well in the absence of a completely decorated Christmas tree.