How to Decorate your Bedroom for Christmas

Reading Time: 8 minutes

Christmas is a welcome opportunity to breathe festive cheer into your home decor. It’s time to dust off those boxes of decorations waiting patiently in the loft, put on some Christmassy tunes, and unleash the holiday spirit that never fails to bring fun and happiness every year.

When decorating, the joy extends beyond the living room tree.

Bedrooms are notoriously ignored at Christmas, and we can’t help but ask why. Your bedroom is your sanctuary and deserves just as much care and attention as the communal areas of your home. Besides, who wouldn’t want to wake up to Christmas every day?

Whether your décor preference is to keep things simple or go complete winter wonderland, or even if you can’t decide on your Christmas theme, we have many style tips and tricks to inspire you to get your bedroom Christmas-ready.

Read on and find out how to bring the Christmas spirit into your bedroom for a relaxing, cosy, festive feel.

Christmas décor trends for 2023

Before you start going wild with lights and tinsel, it’s worth taking a moment to consider your seasonal style first.

If you’re already content with your festive theme but want to know how to infuse it into your bedroom, we will cover this later. But if you’re lacking inspiration or want to switch up your style, we have several Christmas bedroom ideas that might be what you’re looking for.

Nostalgic

This trend, partly a reflection of a yearning for simpler times, is rooted in the nostalgia of Christmases gone by. The style incorporates traditional reds, greens, golds, tartan ribbons, Santa models, candy canes, and red berries. You can’t go wrong with a quintessential Christmas colour palette.

Scandinavian

Hygge embracing a cosy lifestyle, pictured a woman drinking tea.
Pictured: Young woman embracing the Hygge lifestyle sat on a bed with a hot drink. The Danish concept of hygge, or hyggelig (adj.), refers to finding comfort, pleasure, and warmth in simple, soothing things such as a cosy.

The Scandi look is a timeless classic, perfect for the minimalists who prefer a neutral palette. The Nordic hygge charm is clean and tidy, bringing winter indoors. To get this style into your bedroom, think rustic cabin in the woods, snowy whites, accents of selburose patterned stockings, and hints of nature with natural foliage and pines.

Novelty

Try out the novelty trend for a Christmas décor full of vibrant character and fun. Recreate Hansel and Gretel’s gingerbread house with bold rainbow colours, kitsch tree decorations, and nutcracker ornaments.

Kitsch mid century inspired celebration tree decorations
Pictured: Kitsch mid-century-inspired celebration tree decorations. Why not try searching on eBay?

Metallics

Magical metallics are another festive favourite this year. We don’t just mean silver or gold, but soft platinum or warm copper tones to add elegant glamour to your home. Experiment with any base colour and build in your metallic hues for a lux look.

Classic blue

Classic blue has taken over interior design, finding its way into furniture, home accessories, and now, you guessed it, Christmas décor. If you want to spruce up your festive decorating game, navy blue will give your bedroom a more contemporary look while tying in perfectly with your previously used metallics, whites, and reds.

Blue and White Christmas Bedroom Decor.
Picture credit: The Lily Pad Cottage

Bring the festivity to your bedroom interior.

Now we’ve established some Christmas décor options, let’s move on to how you can bring your chosen festive style into your bedroom.

Christmas bedroom decorating ideas, dress your bed with festive textiles.

Whether it’s Gonk-themed bedding, a cosy teddy bear duvet, or some simple Christmas cushions on top of snowy white sheets, adding festive-themed accessories to your bedroom is a simple yet effective hack to welcome a touch of Christmas into your humble abode.

When it comes to dressing your bed for Christmas, warmth is essential. Layer your bed with a chunky knitted blanket or faux fur throw to stay warm this winter. Now Jack Frost won’t be nipping at your nose. Your bed is ready for you to get cosy and enjoy a Christmas movie.


Deck your headboard with boughs of holly.

Forget decorating the halls: this year, it’s all about decking out your bed frame headboard with a festive garland. We recommend a foliage garland if you have an upholstered or solid wood headboard. Don’t worry: you don’t need to invest in a fully premade garland when you can make it yourself. Follow the simple steps below to build a garland:

  1. Find a basic foliage garland that’s the length of your headboard. We recommend buying an artificial garland to avoid it turning limp after a few weeks. If you want that extra-natural look, take cuttings from your garden or buy a natural fir garland from your local garden centre.
  2. Place the garland on the top of your headboard. If necessary, fix it in place with some clear adhesive wall hooks to achieve a draped look.
  3. Add a string of battery-operated fairy lights for extra cosiness and a twinkle. (This step is optional.)
  4. Depending on your chosen style, layer up your garland with other foliage, such as artificial red berries, ivy, pine cones, or golden ferns.
  5. Attach your decorations to the garland, whether a few pieces of tartan ribbon, silver sleigh bells, or large colourful baubles to suit your theme.

And there you have it: a DIY garland for your headboard in 5 easy steps. 

For metal bed frames, you can tie this garland from one-bed knob to the other or mount the garland on the wall behind your bed. You also have the option of suspending baubles from the headboard. We suggest using nylon thread to do this.

Get your bedroom to smell a lot like Christmas.

Whether it’s gingerbread, fresh fir trees, roasted chestnuts, or oranges and cloves that remind you most of this time of the year, having a scent wafting through the house adds a whole new dimension of Christmas cosiness and immerses you in festive feels.

For ease, choose wax melts, diffusers, or scented candles. Why not try creating traditional dried fruit decorations if you fancy getting creative? They’ll simultaneously decorate your room and infuse it with a festive fragrance.

You can make your own dried fruit decorations by following the steps below:

  1. Cut oranges into 1-2 cm thick slices and pat them dry with a tea towel to absorb the juice.
  2. Place the slices on a baking tray lined with parchment paper.
  3. Pop the baking tray into the oven on low heat for around 3 hours, turning them over at half time.
  4. Once the fruit is dehydrated, remove the tray from the oven and allow the fruit to cool.
  5. Take a piece of twine or string and tie a knot at one end. Please make a small hole with a needle in the centre of the dried orange and thread it onto the string. To make a small vertical stack, you can incorporate ivy leaves and tie the end with a cinnamon stick.

You can hang these arrangements anywhere in your bedroom, from your window to the corner of your mirror or door handle. Add any leftover dried orange segments or cinnamon sticks to your headboard garland.


Create a Christmas display.

Although most Christmas trees live in the lounge or kitchen, you can also purchase small artificial trees that are the perfect size for any bedroom surface, such as the top of your chest of drawers.

For a more modern look, you can create an alternative Christmas tree. Place a sturdy branch from your garden inside a substantial glass vase or bottle and suspend a few decorations from the smaller branches.

Alternatively, you can also create mini DIY Christmas trees with cones. There are many creative ways to make these dainty little ornaments: you can glue felt triangles to a wooden cone for a mini felt tree, apply craft paint directly to the cone, or create twine-wrapped trees is our personal favourite.

Want to make these little twine trees yourself? Then follow the steps below:

  1. Take a foam cone and cover it in clear plastic wrap.
  2. Take some green embroidery floss, twine, or string (note that you can use any preferred colour to match your Christmas theme) and wrap it around at the tip of the cone in a crisscross pattern. You can vary the sizes of your trees by stopping before you reach the end of the cone.
  3. Apply a generous amount of fabric stiffener or PVA to the floss. Remove the foam cone and plastic wrap when it’s hardened.
  4. Glue on some sequins for extra sparkle or dust with fake snow.

Once you’ve made a handful of these miniature trees, arrange them on your bedside table or window ledge next to a jar of snow-dusted pines or candle for a neat Christmas display. 

Introduce soft lighting

Nothing adds to the Christmas atmosphere like a set of twinkling fairy lights. String lights can be draped over your bedroom mantelpiece, around your mirror, or threaded through your headboard garland. You can also take a smaller set of string lights and put them inside a glass lantern or jar, and place it on your bedside table or window ledge, along with a cluster of candles for an even warmer hue.


Festive accents

If you’re looking for an easy way to add festive accents to your bedroom, consider hanging a wreath above your bed — there’s no reason you should only have a wreath on your front door! From bright, colourful pom-poms to beautifully snow-dusted arrangements, countless unique wreaths will effortlessly nestle into your Christmas décor.

Hanging stockings on your footboard, a Christmas sign on your wall, or paper spirals from your ceiling are classic, charming, festive features that inject seasonal fun into your bedroom. You could also place a snow globe by your bedside.


Decorating on a budget

If you’re looking to save the pennies this year but still want to go to town with your bedroom decorations, we have some more solutions up our sleeve.

Get crafting with paper.

Paper crafts are an affordable way to get your bedroom Christmas-ready. You can make 3D paper snowflakes, spirals, Swedish paper stars, or classic paper chains. You only need some paper (plain, coloured, or newspaper), scissors, sticky back tape or glue, and string to suspend your 3D creations from the ceiling or a door arch. These crafts are a perfect way to get the whole family involved in a fun, creative, and Christmassy activity.

Video: Tutorial how to make a Swedish paper star

Bring nature indoors

If you’re strapped for cash, in the first place, you should look to find potential décor materials in your garden or outdoor area. Take evergreen cuttings from differently textured foliage, forage for autumnal-looking brown leaves, or hunt for red berries in your garden. Then, arrange your findings as a display or in a glass jar with a dusting of artificial snow.

Create Christmas in a jar.

Repurpose your used glass food jars by removing the label with warm, soapy water, drying the jar, and placing a tea light inside. A cluster of different-sized jars on a bedroom surface can look charming and replace the need for string lights. You can also create a Christmas scene inside a larger jar with some fake snow on the base, cuttings from your garden to represent trees, and a small decoration of a sleigh or snowman.

Video: DIY Christmas Gift Jar – 7 IDEAS

Final thoughts…

Decorating your home during the build-up to Christmas Day is an inherent part of festive traditions. It generates childhood excitement, brings family and loved ones together, and instantly leaves your interior more welcoming and homely. We all deserve an extra special Christmas this year, and there’s no reason not to sprinkle your festive style throughout your bedroom and on your ground floor. Even the most straightforward decoration can make a massive difference.

Embrace the seasonal spirit and embellish your bedroom with festive decorations. Start 25 December with a bedroom full of decorative delight.

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