Christmas color schemes – 9 seasonal palettes to inspire your festive decor

Deciding on a color scheme for your Christmas decor is likely the first decision you need to make before curating your festive displays. Whether you prefer a classic approach with red and green or something more modern, there are plenty of stylish color schemes to explore this year.

Taking inspiration from the latest color trends as well as the cozy hues we naturally associate with Christmas decor ideas, we've rounded up our favorite Christmas color schemes to embrace this year to help you on your way.

You can go as bold or subtle as you like with your Christmas color schemes, elevating your existing room color ideas with a festive feel for the holidays.

Christmas color schemes for your home

Of course, Christmas decor that complements your existing interior space can establish a wonderfully coordinated and chic look, but your festive decorations and Christmas tree themes are also a great opportunity to inject an element of contrast into your space. The main piece of advice for choosing the right Christmas color scheme is to choose shades that you are naturally drawn to – and that you won't tire of over the festive season.

1. Embrace the traditional colors of Christmas

What better place to start than with the traditional colors of Christmas? Classic Christmas color schemes are often centered around berry reds and rich, forest greens, taking inspiration from the natural colors found in traditional Christmas decor such as Christmas foliage and flowers.

A red and green Christmas scheme is often complemented by a metallic accent color, such as gold or silver, adding a note of stylish contrast.

From Christmas wreaths and Christmas garlands, to red, green and gold tree ornaments and decorations, these classic festive colors can create a scheme rich in nostalgic character, cozy charm, and Christmas tradition.

2. Choose calming, cozy neutrals

Neutral room ideas can help to create a restful and grounding atmosphere in a space, so are perfect if you're looking for a more cozy and calming Christmas color scheme.

Ashley Banbury, color marketing manager at Sherwin-Williams brand group, says, 'In holiday decor this season, there’s been a noticeable shift towards decoration with understated elegance and a more soft and tactile appeal. Accompanying this textured trend is a move towards neutral and pastel shades. Traditional reds and greens are still present, but they are now joined by softer, muted neutral tones.'

Interior design trends such as 'quiet luxury' champion a look of understated elegance through a more subtle, pared-back color palette, so if you're looking for 'quiet luxury' Christmas decor or minimalist Christmas decor, enduring neutrals such as cream, white, beige and brown are perfect.

3. Create a luxurious feel with metallics

'Think gold, gold, gold,' says interior designer, Jonathan Adler. 'It’s sparkly, it’s festive, and it’s more modern than red and green. Opt for gilded decorative accents for instant festivity. A bowl of metallic ornaments for your Christmas table centerpiece can create a simple yet stylish metallic arrangement, they're unexpected, they glimmer, and you don't have to move them out of the way in order to make conversation across the table.'

For the right accent color for your glistening gold scheme, home decorating expert, Nikki Lo says, 'create a sophisticated and glamorous look with a palette of gold and white. This wintery combination brings a touch of luxury and also works well with various decor styles. Or, for an even softer look, pair gold with a palette of blush pinks for a feminine, whimsical look.'

Metallic decor will always feel wonderfully special and festive, and as well as gold, silver, and bronze also work well for a Christmas color scheme. Silver can be paired with blue to create a cool look, whereas bronze can add a touch of inviting warmth – and it looks beautiful when paired with an earthy green.

4. Be bold with brights

For the Christmas table decor in this dining room, we love how an uplifting, bright color palette has been used across the flowers, candles, and ornaments, bringing an unexpected, summery feel to the table.

Whether you go all out and opt for a pink faux Christmas tree this year, or embrace refreshing shades of pink, orange, yellow, and blue across your Christmas ornaments on your tree, who says you can't be inspired by summer decor ideas in December?

We explore more non-traditional Christmas decor ideas in our dedicated feature.

5. Look to the colors of nature for a rustic look

Home decorating expert Nikki Lo says, 'Create a rustic and cozy feel for your Christmas color scheme by incorporating natural tones such as earthy browns, greens, tans, and muted reds. Add in natural elements like pinecones, twigs, and burlap for a warm and inviting look.'

A grounding, earthy color scheme is perfect for those wanting to embrace rustic Christmas decor or Scandinavian Christmas decor, and borrows elements from both traditional and neutral Christmas color schemes.

Look to nature for inspiration for this color scheme, and dress your space in an abundance of natural materials and nature-inspired decorative accents, think plenty of greenery, wood, wool and linen.

6. Use rich, jewel tones

'I’m not a fan of the full-on red and green look,' says interior designer, Tiffany Duggan, founder of Studio Duggan, 'I love jewel tones such as deep aubergines, soft pinks, chartreuse, and berry shades as a more modern take on a traditional Christmas.'

For those wanting to embrace a colorful Christmas theme but with a luxurious, sophisticated feel, you can never go wrong when decorating with jewel tones. Emerald green and purple will always make for a complementary color pairing, as do sapphire blue and ruby red. For a more subtle look, use jewel tones to provide a stylish note of contrast in a neutral Christmas scheme, and use the colors across smaller decorations such as flowers and candles.

7. Combine blue and red

A blue and red color combination is a recent trend being welcomed by designers, and it can work just as well for the festive period. Unlike classic red and green, blue and red can create a slightly more modern look that feels unexpected and stylish.

'My favorite color scheme for Christmas is blue and red or, to be more specific, deep Prussian blue and crimson,' says interior designer Caroline Gidiere. 'I use this scheme because it is not as obvious as the traditional red and green, but it screams Christmas during the season and the combination really pops against the deep greens of a Fir tree and other trimmings.'

8. Go timeless with dark forest green

If you're not sure where to start with your Christmas color scheme, you can't go wrong with timeless forest green. Taking inspiration from the natural green hues of festive foliage, dark green is also a key color trend right now so it's a win-win for the holiday period.

'I love to use as much natural green – accented with pops of cream, silver, and champagne– as possible when decorating for Christmas,' says designer Kathy Kuo. 'In general, red isn't my favorite color, so I tend to shy away from that traditional red-and-green combination; I find that holiday decor looks best when it accents your existing design motifs.'

Miranda Cullen, founder and principal designer at Inside Stories is also a fan of a classic green color scheme for Christmas: 'One of our favorite color schemes to use when decorating for Christmas is earthy greens. The color green is synonymous with the holiday season but instead of the classic bright green we associate with Christmas, we like to opt for a deeper green. These darker shades create a cozy, forestry vibe and have a wonderful way of bringing the beauty of the outdoors into a home design.'

9. Opt for on-trend burgundy

Decorating with burgundy is everywhere right now, and there's no better time of year to embrace it than Christmas. Sophisticated and cozy, rich wine red hues will instantly have your home feeling ready for the festivities.

'I love using dark red wine as my main Christmas color,' says interior stylist Alexis Woodbury Earman of The Woodbury Home. 'It compliments the emerald green of the Christmas tree so well and feels like a timeless choice. I always add creams, browns, and deep golds to accentuate the red and keep it the main focal point. No matter how many times I experiment with different colors for Christmas, I always tend to come back to wine red.'

Whether your style is bold and colorful or more neutral, these Christmas color schemes cater to a whole range of interior design styles.

When choosing your Christmas color scheme, always consult the color wheel for color inspiration and best practices for pairing colors together.