Christmas window decor – 20 festive ideas to enjoy indoors and out
Nothing beats Christmas window decorations for festive curb appeal. After all, it may be cold outside, but by including humorous elements in your design, you’re sure to warm hearts from the inside out.
While your windows are unlikely critical to your Christmas décor ideas, establishing little pockets of seasonal fun around the house is essential for creating an immersed magical sense.
‘We typically decorate the house for Christmas, from wreaths to garlands and bowls loaded with clementines and pine cones, but windows are so often forgotten!’ Juliette Thomas, Founder, and Director of Juliettes Interiors, states
CHRISTMAS WINDOW DECOR IDEAS
We asked the pros to share their favorite Christmas window decor, from string lights and odd garlands to interior wreaths and outdoor window boxes, and found some beautiful ideas for festive displays.
1. CREATE A WINTERY SCENE WITH MINIATURE HOUSES
Windows, like Christmas fireplace ideas, really shine this time of year. They provide additional surface space for décor and, if done well, have the added benefit of creating an atmosphere both inside and outside your home. Create a delightfully wintery scene using light-up ornaments – they will look gorgeous during the day and produce a warm and comforting glow when darkness falls.
‘Because we have so many friends and family visiting us over the holidays, we try to make the entrance to our home look festive yet classy.’ ‘We like to add rows of white ceramic buildings filled with LED tealights in our porch windows to create a gorgeous small village that guests can see before they’ve even stepped foot inside – it’s always a lovely conversation point,’ explains Suzy Humphreys, proprietor of Layered Lounge.
2. HANG BAUBLES
Your Christmas tree ideas can be used to decorate your windows. ‘If garlands and wreaths feel a little too much, try hanging beautiful ornaments at varied heights in your windows,’ recommends Connor Prestwood, interior designer at Dowsing & Reynolds. ‘You could take it a step further by adding some LED micro fairy lights for a simple yet stunning effect.’
If you’re hesitant to attach baubles to your window, you may always hang them from a garland above. Keep it low to the ground, or choose a style with trailing plants so that it may be viewed from the outside.
3. CREATE A HOMEY FEEL WITH A GARLAND OF CHRISTMAS CARDS
Though sending Christmas cards is a beautiful way to share cheer over the holiday season, it seems wasteful to throw them away once the holidays are gone. An environmentally friendly and sentimental alternative transforms them into paper decorations like this bright garland. It works beautifully as window trim and can be readily expanded as needed.
4. TAKE A PARED-BACK APPROACH
Like us, you probably start feeling merry well before December. It’s too early to go all out with your Christmas living room ideas, but the window sill is a great place to start adding some seasonal cheer before (and after) the holidays arrive.
Using a plain white vase to highlight the foliage and some understated paper decorations will create a natural aesthetic that will last long after the wedding day has passed. You can add more dense foliage like fir and holly as the event approaches, and then finish it off by decorating the branches with colorful decorations.
Some lanterns look nice if you have deep window sills. In the days leading up to Christmas, I like to fill mine with a combination of LED pillar candles and pinecones scented with holiday fragrance oil. To satisfy our adult guests, I also load a few with marron glacés,’ enthuses Suzy Humphreys.
5. COORDINATE FROM TOP TO BOTTOM
Foraged foliage Christmas garland ideas over a windowsill is a terrific way to bring the outdoors in, but if you want to increase the festive ante, consider throwing in coordinating ornaments across the upper half of the window, too. Glass baubles hung in the window provide the perfect finishing touch and are a charming Christmas window décor concept that can be appreciated from the inside and outside. Other options include a garland, window stickers, or trailing fairy lights. Incorporate your ideas for Christmas wreaths into your overall design concept.
6. REPURPOSE WALL HANGINGS
It’s common to think of traditional hanging decorations as Christmas wall art ideas, but they may also look beautiful when hung out in windows. Snowflakes and stars in the Scandi style are as popular as ever this year, and with some creative Christmas lighting ideas, you can achieve a stunning silhouetted effect.
Lucy Searle, worldwide head and editor of Homes & Gardens, says, “Intricately-cut paper decs are fantastic for this too; you could even have a try at constructing your own for a touch of homespun charm.”
7. ADD A POP OF COLOR
Even if you’ve gone with a primarily neutral color palette for your house, the windowsills are a great place to inject festive hues. Remember that neutral decoration can look a little fuzzy behind a pane of glass if viewed from the outside, so if you want to charm, don’t be shy and opt for vibrant and vivid hues.
There’s a particular enchantment to looking through the Christmas windows at a well-decorated home and all the beautiful things it holds. Gisela Graham, CEO of Gisela Graham, advises putting out a few critical festive pieces for an eye-catching display, with more vibrant colors drawing more attention.
Authentic, bright colors will have a different dramatic effect once the sun goes down. However, following this example and using shadow silhouettes formed by flickering tea lights, you may still make a striking display.
8. HANG A FESTIVE BLIND
To completely change a room’s decor, try switching out the window treatments for something new this holiday season. The homeowners of this home have opted for a lovely embroidered blind with a woodland theme. The red color scheme works wonderfully with their homey decor style, and with a few tweaks to the window sill ornaments, it can be easily updated for the festive seasons.
9. REMEMBER THE FRAME, TOO
How about using some smaller Christmas wreath ideas to spruce up the frame of your windows or glazed doors? One for each window and a matching ribbon can make your decor windows look uniform and polished.
10. BRANCH OUT
A beautifully decorated Christmas tree deserves to be seen by as many people as possible, so why not put it on show in your home’s window? Please ensure the lights are on at night so it looks lovely outside.
11. TURN A WINDOW SEAT INTO A COZY CHRISTMAS HIDEAWAY
Decorating your windows for Christmas can do more than make them seem pretty. If you’re lucky enough to have a window seat in your house, you may transform it into the ideal retreat from the holiday commotion. As seen, a seat with blankets and cushions in festive designs is an excellent addition to the farmhouse Christmas decor ideas, and garlands of winter foliage and hanging star decorations adorn the top of the shutters.
12. WARM UP YOUR WINDOW DISPLAY WITH CANDLES
According to Thomas, “decorative lights or candles can help to create the ultimate comfy domicile” by making a house feel more like a home upon entering. During the holiday season, we love decorating our home’s windows with festive starlight patterns and sometimes some candles.
Candles aren’t just a staple of Christmas mantel decor; they also look lovely on windowsills. As shown below, they help to increase the calming effect of the chilly winter sun during the day, and at night they transform the window in windows into a source of golden reflections rather than total darkness.
13. REPURPOSE DECORATIONS FROM OTHER PARTS OF THE HOME
You can save money by repurposing decorations from other decorations to adorn your windows instead of buying new ones. Construct a window garland while figuring out how to make one for a stairway. Here, a garland of gold Christmas crackers and two wreaths in frames adorn a window sill.
Rikke Blaesild, Range and Design Manager at JYSK, explains that “Windows offer a tremendous opportunity to incorporate many different sorts of decorations.” The author argues that “hanging decorations such as baubles and ornaments are a terrific way to add a festive aspect without spending much on extra goods because they can be positioned where needed and customised to each window set-up.”
14. TIE IN YOUR WINDOW WITH YOUR CHRISTMAS TREE
There are both aesthetic and functional benefits to repurposing furnishings from other rooms in the decor. Make sure the window in the living room is decorated to match the theme of your Christmas tree.
Wrapped and draped decorations look great, according to Thomas. “To guarantee that your decorations flow together, use a tree that is consistent in color and style throughout.” Blue ornaments and gold paper snowflakes adorn the window garland, complementing the tree trimmings and the room’s overall color scheme.
15. FILL A WINDOW SILL WITH SEASONAL FLORALS
Ideas on the window sill or elsewhere in the room assist in creating a room of openness and freshness, festive for the decor season. A lavish decor of flowers in frosty pastels cascades over the window ledge in this home, landing on and around a seating area for a beautiful and happy moment among the holiday decorations.
16. SHOW THE OUTDOORS SOME LOVE WITH WINDOW BOXES
Dressing up your windows is an integral element of outdoor Christmas decor ideas, so make sure to do it inside.
Samantha Candela, Christmas Merchant at Grandin Road, adds, “See Christmas in a whole new ‘leaf’ by filling your window boxes with beautiful, pre-lit imitation arrangements.” They have fillers already decorated for the holidays with lights, ornaments, and more. Still, you can also easily make a festive exchange by placing decorations among your existing plants or adding a bold bow to the front.
17. WREATHS ARE FOR WINDOWS TOO
Wreaths are a multifunctional component of holiday decor, serving multiple purposes. Because of their two-sided nature, wreaths may also be an effective addition to windows; if you pick one with an excellent design on both sides, your window decor will look fabulous from the outside and the inside. The double wreaths on the adjacent windows in this festive living room give a neat and considerate appearance.
18. ADD SOME SPARKLE WITH STRING LIGHTS
“Lighting is a great way to create a festive vibe to a window display, providing a warm contrast against the outside,” adds Blaesild. Even though your Christmas fireplace ornaments are the room’s focal point, you can easily replicate that warm and fuzzy decor everywhere you set up some electrical lighting. Lighting displays can be created with little effort but provide the desired effect by arranging lanterns or vases filled with string lights on a window sill to cast a warm glow.
Strings of fairy lights draped across the tops of windows create a soft glow, and light bulbs can be used in place of candles. To prevent accidents, Thomas recommends using battery-operated candles, which may be placed on a timer and turned on automatically as dusk falls.
19. DECORATE YOUR WINDOW PANES WITH STICKERS
The area around your windows is a good starting point for decorating, but remember the glass itself! Stickers are a cheap and easy way to spruce up your window decor, and they look excellent when picked in patterns that mimic the natural world. The silhouette of a snowy forest that runs along the bottom of the glass panes of this entrance door creates an appealing moment among the Christmas hallway decor ideas. Snowflakes, of course, are a perennial favorite.
20. REMEMBER TO DECORATE YOUR VIEW TOO
However festive the arrangement on your window sill, the holiday spirit may be dampened if the view outside is anything but merry. Step outside and think about how you may spruce up the space in front of your window to make it feel more like Christmas. Delicate snowflake decorations, such as those shown here, have been suspended from the tree branches that cross in front of the candle-lined window to ensure a white Christmas regardless of the season.
WHAT CAN I PUT IN MY WINDOWS FOR CHRISTMAS?
Due to the abundance of visual clutter during the holiday season, decorating the windows can be challenging. Smaller pieces of Christmas decor, such as candles, little ornaments, narrow wreaths, and delicately strung baubles, work well in the window area because they won’t prevent the curtains or blinds from functioning normally. Try to keep the view and the abundance of natural light coming in through the windows unobstructed by using less obtrusive furnishings and accessories.
