I Still Can't Stop Thinking About Christie Brinkley's Festive, Personal, and Inviting Christmas Tree 3 Years Later – And It's Back As a Major Decorating Trend for 2025

Colorful lights, candy cane ornaments, and sentimental details come together on the model's stunning Christmas tree – here's how to recreate her look

Christie Brinkley
(Image credit: Lexie Moreland/WWD via Getty Images)

Holiday decor is ephemeral by nature; it is up one month and gone the next. However, no matter how much time passes, I will not be able to get Christie Brinkley's Christmas tree out of my head.

The model took to Instagram to share her Christmas tree idea in 2022. It is a stunning collage of festive cheer and retro details that's not easily forgotten. Her tree features colorful Christmas lights, classic circular ornaments, icicles, candy canes, and Santa figurines.

Every year, my mom, sister, and I would gather on the day after Thanksgiving and decorate the tree together – it was full of handmade ornaments, beautiful pieces sourced on family trips, and baubles that mirrored our history together. Christie's tree captures this same sense of nostalgia.

Her combination of colorful lights and multiple different types of ornaments feels eclectic and collaged together over multiple years of collecting. It feels like a reflection of her family.

Recreate Christie's Look at Home

According to experts, I'm not alone in my love for the nostalgic aesthetic of Christie's tree. Festive nostalgia is one of the biggest Christmas decor trends of 2025.

Gifting and decorating expert, Joanna Formby, explains: 'This year, families are embracing nostalgia and looking for ways they can make Christmas personal and meaningful. Driven by emotion and tradition, people are drawn to products that evoke a sense of warmth, comfort, and familiarity.'

To tap into this look, Joanna advises referencing traditional Christmas decor motifs. She states: 'This trend embodies a traditional storybook Christmas, with deep burgundies, rich greens and polished brass being the standout colours. Think Victorian-inspired trimmings, tartan prints and nutcrackers.'


Regardless of your style, everyone can agree that injecting the magic of childhood holidays into Christmas decor is never a bad idea. For inspiration, just look to Christie Brinkley's tree.


Sophie Edwards
News Editor

Sophie is a writer and News Editor on the Celebrity Style team at Homes & Gardens. She is fascinated by the intersection of design and popular culture and is particularly passionate about researching trends and interior history. She is an avid pop culture fan and has interviewed Martha Stewart and Hillary Duff.

In her free time, Sophie freelances on design news for Westport Magazine and Livingetc. She also has a newsletter, My Friend's Art, in which she covers music, culture, and fine art through a personal lens. Her fiction has appeared in Love & Squalor and The Isis Magazine.

Before joining Future, Sophie worked in editorial at Fig Linens and Home, a boutique luxury linens brand. She has an MSc from Oxford University and a BA in Creative Writing and Sociology from Sarah Lawrence College.

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