Christmas

Farmhouse Christmas is the style for people who like decor that feels homemade and comfortable rather than shiny. It doesn’t need a barn door or shiplap. In an apartment, it’s mostly about materials: wood, wicker, linen, metal, greenery and one plaid. One plaid Buffalo check, the big red and black or red and white squares, is the farmhouse pattern. Use it once or twice, not everywhere: a plaid runner (on Amazon) on the table, or one throw, or the stockings. More than that starts to look like a store display. ...

Searches for DIY Christmas garland are up again this year. Garland is one of the easiest things to make yourself, and a homemade one changes how a room feels more than another store-bought ornament does. All of these can be done in an evening, at a table, with a movie on. Dried orange slices The most popular homemade garland right now, and for good reason. It glows when light shines through it. ...

There’s a kind of tree that shows up in old family photos: bulky colored bulbs, tinsel, a jumble of ornaments that don’t match because each came from a different year. “Nostalgic Christmas tree” and “classic Christmas tree” are both rising on Pinterest this fall, and this is the look people mean. The good part is that it’s forgiving. It’s meant to look collected, not designed. The lights make it If you change only one thing, change the lights. C9-style bulbs (on Amazon), the big ones, in red, green, blue, orange and yellow. LED versions stay cool and use little power. Space them evenly, with the cord tucked toward the trunk. ...

The topper is the last thing to go on the tree and usually the one we think about least. It’s also the first thing people see. Searches for tree topper ideas are up again this season, and there’s more variety than star or angel. A classic star, sized right A gold star (on Amazon) is never wrong. The common mistake is size. A tiny star on a 7 ft tree looks lost. As a guide, the topper should be about a tenth of the tree’s height: 7 inches for a 6 ft tree, 9 inches for a 7.5 ft one. ...

Tinsel spent a couple of decades as the thing your grandparents did. Now “tinsel Christmas tree” is climbing on Pinterest along with “beaded tinsel” and nostalgic trees in general. Done right, it makes a tree shimmer every time the air moves. There are three kinds, and they look quite different. Icicle strands The old-fashioned kind: thin individual strands draped over branches so they hang straight down like icicles. This is what makes a tree look vintage. ...

A red and white tree is about as classic as Christmas gets, and it’s one of the fastest-growing tree searches on Pinterest this season. It’s also one of the easiest to get right, because two colors leave little room for mistakes. The base A green tree gives you the traditional Christmas look. A white or flocked tree with red and white decorations looks more modern and Scandinavian. Either way, use warm white lights (on Amazon). Colored lights fight with the two-color idea. ...

Searches for “vibrant Christmas” on Pinterest are up about 1,500% on last year. After years of beige, cream and white trees, a lot of people want their apartments to look like a party again. Color is the easiest way to make a small space feel festive, because a little goes a long way. Here’s how to use it well. Choose your kind of colorful There are three main ways to do it, and they look very different. ...

“Whimsy Christmas decor” is one of the biggest climbers on Pinterest this fall. It’s the opposite of the all-white, all-neutral look of the past few years. Think pink and green, candy shapes, a slightly crooked tree, and the feeling that you’d find it in a picture book. It’s fun, but it can look like a dollar store exploded. The difference is mostly about limits. Pick an unexpected palette, then stick to it Whimsy isn’t every color at once. It’s an unusual combination used with confidence. A few that work: ...

Every fall I look at what people are searching for and saving on Pinterest in the weeks before Christmas. This year the pattern is clear: less beige, more color and more nostalgia. Searches for “Christmas tree ideas 2026” have been climbing steeply since September, along with a handful of specific looks. Here are the ones showing up most, and the simplest way to do each. Red and white Searches for red and white trees are up sharply. It’s the candy-cane look: a green tree, red and white ornaments, and nothing else. It’s easy because there’s no color decision to make. ...

The weeks between Halloween and Christmas are awkward for decorating. Thanksgiving is still ahead, but the stores are already full of Christmas, and nobody wants to redecorate the whole apartment twice in a month. The trick is to build fall decor that’s already half Christmas, then change it in small steps. What stays all season Some things work from October to January. Leave them out and change what’s around them: ...