29 cool Christmas tree ideas that may inspire you to ditch your old decorations

There are so many wildly varied ways to decorate a Christmas tree, yet many of us end up doing the same old thing every year: lights and garland, some colored globes and a mishmash of ornaments we’ve collected over time. It’s traditional, sure, but it can also be pretty boring.

If you’re looking for some unique spins on the old familiar, check out these fresh designs — from rustic and natural to dazzlingly bright and bold. Consider your Christmas tree a blank slate for telling a brand-new story this year.

Cozy Reindeer Games

For this tree, blogger Lia Griffith based the theme in warm woodland imagery and earthy materials with wooden reindeer figures, paper snowflakes and metallic globes and stars. Sprigs of bright berries and a minimal use of red-striped burlap ribbon add a pop of crimson — but not too much. We love that she chose a reindeer topper instead of a star!

Icy Elegance In White And Blue

A white tree with a few carefully placed blue ornaments proves that less can be more when it comes to holiday decor. Just looking at this tree evokes a feeling of brisk wintry air, swirling with snowflakes.

According to Heather at Setting For Four, the goal was to mix some glamour with elements of nature. The metallic ornaments lend sparkle and shine, while the pops of color evoke the crystalline blue of glaciers. Meanwhile, wise little owls and other woodland creatures quietly watch the holiday happenings. What a lovely way to bring the stillness and beauty of a snowy forest indoors!

Gold And White With Scandinavian Touches

Gold and white are a perfect color scheme for decorating a tree, as both hues reflect the glowing lights beautifully. This tree also by Lia Griffith was truly a work of heart with handmade decorations, including the paper houses and diamond-shaped ornaments, wooden stars and felt garland. These natural fibers and the Scandinavian design touches combine to create a vibe of cozy simplicity.

Rainbow (Merry And) Bright

The beauty of this design concept is that you could create it using the ornaments you already own by simply arranging them in order of color — no extra expense or even DIY required. Of course, you may find that you’re lacking some of the colors, such as orange and yellow, so a little spray paint and glitter may be in order, as recommended by blogger Rachel at Lines Across. The end result is so vibrant and cheerful, it’s worth the extra effort.

Frosty Coastal Christmas

Not everything Christmas-related needs to include snowflakes and sleighs, as seashore-dwellers celebrate the holidays, too! Find some seaside inspiration in this tree by Crafts By Courtney, which incorporates oceanic elements like starfish, seashells, mermaids and more in a white-and-aquamarine palette. The overall effect is as soothing as a day at the beach.

Black And White Is The New Silver And Gold

Who says red and green or silver and gold are the only color combinations anyone wants to see around the holidays? The Crafted Sparrow covered her tree in a wide variety of shapes, patterns, textures and words, all adhering to a bold black-and-white scheme, which puts a stylish spin on the same old holiday decorations.

Dreaming Of Japan

As the bloggers over at Tami and Kevin point out, a white Christmas tree is a blank slate onto which any decorative theme can be applied. One year, these bloggers were inspired by Japan for their holiday decor, decking out a white tree in colorful paper lanterns, fans, origami cranes and cherry blossoms. The end result is a unique East-meets-West take on the usual holiday Tannenbaum.

Cozy Pinecones And Snow-White Globes

At first glance, this looks like a snow-laden tree that was simply brought indoors. Blogger Liz at Love Grows Wild stuck to natural elements for this design, with pine cones, white sprigs and a burlap-and-lace ribbon woven vertically throughout. Antique-looking bells were added for a sweet old-fashioned touch. The result is a quiet-forest effect, with the large white globes evoking snow on pine branches.

Cotton-Candy Pink With DIY Donut Ornaments

This tree looks sweet enough to eat! A cotton-candy-pink tree doesn’t need much decoration to pack a visual punch, and this blogger chose just a few colorful globes along with peppermint candies and handmade donut ornaments. Check out the tutorial at Studio DIY for instructions on crafting your own donut decorations. They’d make for impressive holiday gifts as well!

Out-Of-This-World Holiday Decor

Inspired by “Dr. Who,” blogger Lindsay at Shrimp Salad Circus dreamed up this festive holiday ode to outer space and the great beyond.

When considering her color palette, Lindsay wrote, “I just love how even though we often think of space as this endless field of black, there are crazy bright Lisa Frank colors playing around out there!”

She spray-painted a tree with rich, spacey colors and then selected just a few globe ornaments — along with a nod to Dr. Who, of course — and ended up with a tree that just might bring about inter-galactic peace.

Golden Southern Glam

In Southern decor, the idea is often to “go big or go home,” and blogger Jessica at House Full of Summer really went big — and gold and glittery. Covered top to bottom in gold and white, the towering tree was infused with glitz and glamour, along with a few Southern touches, such as sprays of magnolia leaves. The final product is a giant golden glitter bomb of Christmas festivity.

Pom-Poms On Pine

Is there anything more cheerful than a Christmas tree covered in gigantic colorful pom-poms? These vivacious balls of color add a burst of energy to the room — as this design by Sugar & Cloth demonstrates — and they’ll make for a fun conversation-starter at your holiday party. The jumbo pom-poms pictured were purchased, but you could also make your own pom-poms using yarn.

Christmas At The Movies

For die-hard fans of all things cinematic, a Christmas tree is the perfect opportunity to put that passion for movies on clear display. Adventures in Decorating created this towering ode to movie magic — and the magic of Christmas — using the family’s DVD collection, some classic concession candies and movie reel tape cascading down the tree. Strands of popcorn are an obvious choice for a Christmasy touch, alongside lights and red and blue ball ornaments. Merry cinemas!

Christmas Breakfast At Tiffany’s

Inspired by the classic blue box with a white ribbon from Tiffany’s, blogger Kelley Nan of Gracious Living added big, snow-white baubles to this pretty blue tree and draped it in swathes of white ribbon. The tree even looks like it’s wearing elegant strands of pearls, further evoking the feminine and chic jewelry-store vibe.

Old-Fashioned Cabin In The Woods

Crafted by Fynes Designs, this tree could have been plucked from the set of “Little House on the Prairie.” Using natural materials like wood, yarn, fabric and twine, this decor theme is a warmer and more muted option than many of the flashier modern concepts. Meanwhile, the cute little ornaments with foxes, deer and squirrels bring a little bit of the playful outdoors inside. In our high-tech world, the rustic naturalism of this tree would be a welcome reprieve.

Countdown To Christmas

For the family that eagerly counts down the days to Christmas, it only makes sense to make the Christmas tree into a bold, splashy Advent calendar in the middle of the living room. Blogger Jen of Tatertots & Jello dreamed up this tree that counts down the last 12 days to Christmas and features a numbered gift for each of the days (added bonus: the numbered boxes can be reused each year — even if the tree decor changes). In addition to the countdown aspect, the tree is loaded with oversized candy canes and red and white ribbons and baubles, and it’s all topped off with a big, red marquee star.

MORE: 11 Best Christmas Tree Stands 

Mixed Metals

Decorating with a mixture of metallic hues is the perfect way to commit to a Christmas tree theme without being either too monochromatic or too garishly vibrant. Plus, it looks cohesive without requiring much planning. In addition to the classic-looking ornaments in varying shades of silver, gold and copper, blogger Z Design at Home added sprigs of golden leaves and a white floral topper.

Tropical Yellow Pineapple Tree

Talk about a conversation piece. This bright invention turns your ordinary Christmas decor into a tropical holiday fantasy. The bold yellow tree is the star of the show here and only requires a few accessories to complete the pineapple look. Jen from the Treetopia Blog strung sparkly eyelash yarn in a criss-cross pattern and then added black pom-poms inside each diamond shape. Some green foliage with black spray paint tops off the fruity decor. What better way to beat back the winter doldrums than by gazing at this hilariously oversized pineapple in your home?

An Elegant Case Of Holiday Blues

Here’s one way to have a blue Christmas without acquiring a case of the Christmas blues. The frosty gray-blue hue of this tree decor is more muted than bold, which makes for a classy, mature holiday look. Blogger Kelly of Blue Gray Gal showed off her blue glass ornaments and added in some blue ribbon, along with touches of gold and silver throughout.

Classic Christmas Combo

Candy canes, elf stockings, Santa’s suit … the red-and-white color scheme is as classic as Christmas itself, which makes it a natural choice for Christmas tree decor. Rachel Parcell of Pink Peonies decked out her tree in top-to-bottom red-and-white decorations, from the frosted snowy branches to the holly berry sprigs and pretty red ribbons.

Fa-La-La-La Florals

In the dead of winter, this floral-wrapped evergreen is an unexpected burst of cheerful vitality.  According to the DIY tutorial from Design Love Fest, achieving this look is as simple as picking out a bunch of silk flowers in varying sizes, shades and textures and arranging them on the tree, starting with the larger blooms and filling in along the way with smaller flowers. At the end, you’ll have a vibrant-hued Christmas tree — a buoyant change from the same old wintertime decor.

Sophisticated Farmhouse Copper And White Tree

Copper-colored ornaments on an evergreen tree lay the perfect foundation for a farmhouse vibe — but with a glimmer of sophistication. This look, courtesy of Giggles Galore, is simple to create using a variety of metallic and white decorations. Mixing the textures of cascading ribbons, puffy white pom-poms, glinting ornaments and coppery flowers makes for a tree that’s showy but not garish.

Pun-Lover’s Christmas Tree

How do you sleigh Christmas? With a pun-covered Christmas tree, of course. Winding a string of holiday puns around your tree from top (“I’m the Star”) to bottom will result in a Christmas centerpiece that’s sure to get your guests talking and laughing (or groaning!). Check out The Paper Mama blog for a step-by-step tutorial on achieving this masterpiece of festive wordplay. Holla! (Days.)

Minimalist To The Max

If you’ve gone through all your old ornaments and none of them “sparked joy,” perhaps this is the year you toss them all out and start anew with the bare minimum of Christmas tree decor. This minimally adorned tree by Homey Oh My is refreshing in its clean simplicity. The tree-shaped cutouts are actually cardstock gift tags, reimagined as Christmas ornaments. Add a felt-ball garland and some golden globes and voila: the tree-trimming is done.

Bright And Merry With Oversized ‘Bulbs’

Turn the classic color wheel just a notch from red and green to pink and turquoise with this pretty and playful tree from Love the Day. The felt-covered oversized “bulbs,” shimmery glass globes, pink fern sprigs and felt garlands combine in a hyper-rich blend of texture and color that makes for a whimsical take on Christmas traditions.

Winter Whites And Creature Comforts

How adorable is this white-and-silver tree packed with sweet woodland critters? Created by Pretty Providence, this tree is especially fun for children (or the young at heart), who will enjoy spotting all the furry animals tucked inside the branches. While pine cones, fake snow, silvery garlands and bright-white globes set the wintry stage, the cuddly animals snuggle into their spots throughout the tree.

Turquoise Tree With Marquee Snowflakes

This bright turquoise tree has that show-stopping wow factor — but it doesn’t require a lot of work. The bold color of the tree means you can go more neutral with the decorations, and blogger Sugar Bee Crafts chose to stick with block letters spelling out “peace” and “Noel” along with large marquee-style snowflake ornaments and oversized burlap bows. The end result is a bright, crafty tree, styled in a way that packs a punch.

Wrapped Up In Ribbons

Although this tree is sensationally eye-catching, it didn’t take much money to create. Over on Remodelaholic, guest blogger Corey of Sawdust2Stitches wanted to create a designer look from dollar store materials — and it looks like she succeeded. Check out the blog post to see every stage of the process, from stringing up the lights to winding the ribbon and spraying the “snow.”

Rose-Gold Charm

Remember when rose gold was the color of everything from forks to Minnie Mouse macarons? You can revisit the color trend of not so long ago with a rose gold Christmas tree. Blogger Little Inspiration first used white spray paint and then rose-gold spray paint to give her Christmas tree a glowy metallic sheen. Then she kept the decorations to a minimum, opting for snowflake ornaments and clear glass globes that allow the pink-gold color to sparkle through.