Christmas window decor ideas – 10 festive ways to dress up your windows

It may be cold outside, but by adding whimsical Christmas window decor ideas to your festive scheme, you’re sure to warm hearts from the inside. 

While your windows aren’t likely to be central to your Christmas decor ideas, creating little pockets of holiday fun around the house is important to creating an immersively magical feel. 

‘We often dress the home for Christmas, from wreaths to garlands and bowls filled with clementines and pine cones, but windows are so often overlooked!’ says Juliette Thomas, Founder and Director at Juliettes Interiors. 

Christmas window decor ideas

From fairy lights and quirky garlands to indoor wreaths and outdoor window boxes, we asked the experts to share their favorite Christmas window decor ideas and found some stunning ideas for festive displays. 

1. Turn a window seat into a cozy Christmas hideaway

Christmas decorations can not only make your windows look festive, but feel festive too. If you have a window seat in your home, turn this perch into the perfect cozy hideaway for quiet moments away from the Christmas chaos. In this example, garlands of winter leaves and hanging star decorations are strewn from the top of the shutters, while the bench below is equipped with blankets and cushions in festive prints, and makes for an excellent addition to farmhouse Christmas decor ideas. 

2. Warm up your window display with candles 

‘Helping to create a welcoming home upon arrival, decorative lights or candles can help to create the perfect cozy abode,’ says Thomas. ‘We love to dress windows during the festive period with beautiful starred lighting designs or a few decorative candles.’

As well as being a mainstay of Christmas mantel decor ideas, candles make a great addition to window sills. During the day, they help to add warmth to the cool winter sunlight – as demonstrated in this example – while at nighttime, they help window panes become a source of golden reflections, rather than pure darkness. 

3. Repurpose decorations from other parts of the home

Windows don’t necessarily need their own dedicated decorations – think about how you can repurpose extra decorations from elsewhere in the house. If you’re working out how to make a Christmas garland for a staircase, think about making one for a window too. In this example, a window has been decorated with a garland made from gold Christmas crackers, as well as two framed wreaths. 

‘Windows offer a great opportunity to utilize many different types of decorations,’ says Rikke Blaesild, Range and Design Manager at JYSK. ‘Hanging decorations such as baubles and ornaments are a great way to add a festive element without spending lavishly on additional items, as they can be placed where required and personalized to each window set-up.’ 

4. Tie in your window with your Christmas tree

Using decor from other parts of the home can have aesthetic as well as practical benefits, helping to acheive a sense of continuity. If the window in question is in the living room, ensure its decor ties in with your Christmas tree ideas. 

‘Decorations look fabulous wrapped and draped around windows,’ says Thomas. ‘Keep the tree in the same color and theme to ensure your décor is connected.’ In this room, the window garland features blue baubles and gold paper snowflakes, which tie in not only with the decor on the nearby tree, but the color scheme of the whole room. 

5. Fill a window sill with seasonal florals

Incorporating florals into your Christmas living room decor ideas and beyond helps bring a feeling of freshness and vibrancy to a festive room – and when used on the window sill, contributes to a sense of bringing the outdoors in. In this home, a decadent array of flowers in icy pastels tumbles over the window ledge, onto and around a seating area, creating a really special and celebratory moment amid the Christmas decor. 

6. Show the outdoors some love with window boxes 

Choosing window decorations isn’t necessarily an indoor pursuit – dressing up your windows is an important part of outdoor Christmas decor ideas too. 

‘See Christmas in a whole new ‘leaf’ by filling your window boxes with unique, pre-lit faux arrangements,’ says Samantha Candela, Christmas Merchant at Grandin Road. They offer pre-arranged fillers bedecked with lights, baubles and more, but you can also consider doting decorations among your existing plants, or adding a statement bow to the front for an easy festive swap. 

7. Wreaths are for windows too 

From offering a festive welcome at your front door to providing focus to your Christmas wall decor ideas, wreaths are a versatile tool in holiday decoration. They can also make for an impactful addition to windows, particularly due to their two-sided nature – choose a wreath that looks just as good on the back as it does the front, and your window decor will look great from outside as well. In this festive living room, double wreaths on adjacent windows creates an organized, thoughtful look. 

8. Add some sparkle with fairy lights 

‘Lighting is an excellent way to add a festive feel to a window display, with a warming contrast against the outside,’ says Blaesild. While your Christmas fireplace decor might be the cozy heart of the room, electrical lighting can help transport this feeling elsewhere with ease. ‘Lighting displays can often be achieved with minimal effort, but offer the desired effect, such as placing lanterns or vases filled with string lights on a window sill for a warming glow.’ 

Fairy lights dangling from the tops of windows add gentle sparkle, while you may also want to consider swapping in bulbs for your candles. ‘With battery candles now widely available, this is a much safer option which can be popped on a timer for when darkness begins to fall,’ says Thomas. 

9. Decorate your window panes with stickers 

Decorating around your windows may be your first port of call, but consider how you can add a magical touch to the glass panes themselves. Stickers are a simple addition that can create a big impact on your window decor, and work especially well when chosen in designs that reflect the outdoor world. Snowflakes are an enduring favorite, while the silhouette of a snowy forest that runs along the bottom of the glass panes in this front door create an enchanting moment amid the Christmas hallway decor ideas.

10. Remember to decorate your view too 

Your window sill may look great, but if you find yourself looking out onto a decidedly unfestive view, the festive feeling can fall flat. Head outdoors and have a think about how you can make the outside area around your window feel a little more Christmassy. In this example, delicate snowflake decorations have been hung from the tree branches that cross in front of the candle-lined window, making for a white Christmas whatever the weather. 

What can I put in my windows for Christmas?

Windows aren’t always the easiest part of the home to decorate from Christmas, as there is already so much going on visually. Christmas decorations should still allow the likes of curtains and blinds to be functional, so if you’re looking to add decor within the window area, choose smaller pieces like candles, miniature ornaments, slim wreaths and daintily hung baubles that won’t interfere too much with daily usage. If you have a lovely view, try not to obscure it and continue to allow lots of natural light to flow through the window by choosing less bulky decor options. 

How do you hang Christmas decorations on windows? 

For hanging larger items like wreaths to your windows, choose adhesive hooks that are suitable for attaching to glass, and then use the likes of fishing wire to create an attachment – try to keep the line short so that the foliage of the wreath can cover the adhesive hook, making it look like it is floating effortlessly. 

If you’re looking to hang the likes of baubles or tree decorations from the head or soffit of the window, look for adhesive ceiling hooks, and again use fishing wire cut to the appropriate length to attach your decor to the space above the window. Choose different lengths of fishing wire for each decoration to create an undulating display.