Southern Living Christmas Door Decorating Ideas

holiday door decorations

Once you've trimmed the tree, head outside to deck your front door for the holidays. Our ideas for front door decorations range from traditional to modern, but all are easy to put together. Using Christmas wreaths, lights, and garlands, you'll have the prettiest house on the block.

Classic Evergreen Porch Decor

Credit: Adam Albright Photography Inc

Going for the neutral look? Keep it simple by working with greens and browns, especially if your house is white. Fill galvanized planters with tabletop Christmas trees to frame the doorway. Finish the display with a collection of wrapped gifts and a festive chalkboard sign. Instead of a traditional wreath, arrange greenery, flowers, and a large, layered-ribbon bow. and secure to a shovel using florists wire. Hang using an exterior removable hook.

Editor's Tip: Make a corner swag by wiring greenery to boards attached to each other at a right angle.

Use Double Boxwood Wreaths

holiday door

When it comes to choosing a Christmas wreath, more is merrier! Twin boxwood wreaths add bold decor—just tie them together with a colorful ribbon and embellish the loops with leftover ornaments for a pop of color.

Tie Together Your Frosted Wreath

wreath

A small embellishment (like this gossamer bow) ties in frosted elements from your wreath. Choose a bow that connects with other colors on your porch, or use it as a statement piece that draws your eye to the door.

Find Northern Inspiration

holiday decor

This Scandinavian-inspired Christmas decor combines evergreen branches with red berries for a northern holiday look. Deep red lanterns add crisp holiday color, while a snowflake-shape wreath pops against the dark gray home.

Add a Rustic Wreath

Nontraditional Wreath

This DIY Christmas wreath is created from precut wood slices, and it will add rustic charm to your winter style. Simply arrange and glue wood slices against a flat wood wreath, then add a pinecone and berry bow.

Make a Cedar-Stacked Christmas Tree

Tree wreath

Eighteen miniature cedar sprig wreaths stack together for a clever Christmas tree idea. Use wire to tie together the cedar wreaths—allowing you to stack the tree as tall (or as short) as you'd like.

Festive Swag Wreath

Door wreath made of evergreen, holly, and pinecones

Credit: Jay Wilde

Create a classic Christmas swag wreath with just a few basic crafts supplies. Here we dressed up a plain evergreen swag form with red berries, pinecones, and seeded eucalyptus branches. Finish the look with a red ribbon bow.

Tie It All Together

Classsic Holiday Wreath

Douglas fir creates a classic and full wreath, while colorful berries and boxwood greens enhance the traditional holiday greenery. A bright red matching bow ties the adornment together.

Go for the Bows

Ribbons of Red

Cover your front door with ribbons and bows to ring in the holiday season. Use red to give your greenery garland and evergreen wreath a bright boost of color.

Light Evergreen Arches

doorway lights

Artfully drape a garland wrapped with Christmas lights above your doorway to create a welcoming Christmas display. Adding evergreen to your traditional holiday lights will provide extra sparkle to your Christmas curb appeal.

Play with Pastels

Pinecone Wreath with Ribbon

The deep jewel tones common during Christmas aren't right for every home. If you're looking for a change, try a pastel palette, like the white, sea green, and butter yellow shown here.

Mix Shapes and Textures

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If matching isn't your style, funky forms are a wonderful way to add visual interest to a holiday front door. Here, distinctive holiday topiaries play against a gathering of bright berries and the soft white of the wreath.

Customize Your Traditional Wreath

copper hula hoop wreath on window

Dress up your door decor with a customizable hula hoop Christmas wreath that you can make yourself! After spray painting the hoops copper, finish the holiday door decoration with layers of seasonal greenery and an oversize bow.

Hang a Low Wreath

Low Christmas Wreath

Be the first on the block to break wreath tradition. Hanging your creative Christmas wreath low on the front door looks modern and welcoming, and it leaves the window free for collecting sunlight.

Celebrate Traditional Decor

Ornament Christmas Decorations

Bring your front door back to basics by decorating with Christmas ornaments nestled in fresh greenery. This look is sophisticated and works on a traditional or contemporary home.

Leather-Wrapped Wreath

minimalist winter wreath with wrapped hoops

Credit: Jason Donnelly

Inexpensive leather cording gives this DIY Christmas wreath a chic upgrade. To create, hot-glue two wooden crafts rings together. Wrap each ring with leather cording, overlapping the cording where the rings meet to secure. Add a bunch of faux greenery and attach it with hot glue. Add colored wood balls with hot glue and hang.

Add Fresh or Faux Flowers

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If you live in a temperate climate, you might be able to make front door decorations with seasonal flower displays, such as poinsettias. To dress up the arrangement, try selections in an accent color—here, white adds a pop of bright against the brick. If your weather isn't so mild, go for faux flowers that you can reuse year after year.

Farmhouse Christmas Door

outdoors-inspired decorated holiday porch with rake and window frame

Credit: Jay Wilde

The rustic farmhouse look is easy to execute when you have the right items. Use farm-fresh finds—garden tools, tin containers, foliage—in creative ways to yield a down-to-earth display. Layer two doormats to introduce color and pattern to your farmhouse Christmas porch. Suspend simple ball ornaments from a vintage rake for a unique display. Give a plain wreath an upgrade be securing a metal snowflake at its center.

Change Your Holiday Greeting

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Most seasonal displays are fairly static, but small elements can help you add a bit more personality to your front door decor. Here, a tiny chalkboard allows the homeowners to add a changing message on the front door wreath. Other ideas: a countdown to Christmas, or ribbons or wreaths that change weekly.

Choose Monochromatic Christmas Decorations

Silver and White Christmas Front Porch

Go all out this year and create a winter wonderland at your front door. Enlist the kids to cut paper snowflakes, and hang them from strings of lights. Spray faux trees white and plant them in galvanized buckets on each side of the door. For the final touch, spray-paint wire baskets white, then fill with with sparkling silver orbs and hang the baskets.

Use a Symmetrical Design

Christmas Front Door Decoration

When in doubt, a symmetrical arrangement of Christmas decorations always looks polished. Spiral topiaries welcome guests onto the landing, where an evergreen arch accents existing architecture.

Choose an Unusual Accent Color

Orange and Green Christmas Front Porch

Add an unexpected accent color to your Christmas decorations for a fresh front door idea. Here, ripe oranges and a tangerine-color ribbon make classic pine green pop.

Use Garden-Inspired Christmas Door Decorations

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This large, leafy garland and matching front door decorations are made from evergreen branches, pinecones, berries, apples, magnolia leaves, and festive holiday ribbon. At nighttime, the intertwined lights add a cozy, cheery glow. Use it as inspiration for your front door, or add your favorite festive elements.

Editor's Tip: Purchase a long evergreen garland to serve as the base, then use florist's pins and hot glue to secure embellishments.

Decorate Front Yard Trees and Shrubs

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Instead of simply accenting your front door, try integrating the rest of the front yard into your design. Here, simple lit orbs add unexpected brilliance to the large tree. These oversize Christmas lights also make the house as attractive by night as it is by day.

Add a Twist to Your Front Door Decor

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Wreaths are a lovely addition to nearly every front entryway. But there are other items that can add seasonal interest to your door. Here, ice skates—tied with a bit of fresh greenery and a Christmas bow—dress up the traditional entry.

Match Front Door Decor to Architectural Style

lit Christmas tree near red bench and gifts on holiday front porch

Credit: John Granen

If you're new to Christmas decorating, use your home's architectural style as inspiration. Traditional homes look great in classic decorations, while rustic homes call for a more casual setup. Here, a cozy cabin gets dressed up with simple, unadorned fresh evergreen greenery.

Rely on Color for Contrast

Door wreath with ornaments and pink bow

Credit: Greg Scheidemann

One way to make your Christmas door decorations stand out is with color. A Simple flocked wreath is a great contrast to dark or bright front door colors. Here, an evergreen wreath is dressed up with vintage ornaments. A ribbon tied into a classic bow adds a simple, elegant finish.

Decorate All Your Surfaces

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If you have a large front entryway, you're lucky: You have more room to add pretty holiday accents. One way to unify them is to choose just a few materials to repeat, such as the grapevine and fir shown here.

Create a Wreath from Nontraditional Materials

Ombre Pine Wreath

Evergreens and pinecones are standard elements for front door decorations, but unconventional colors will make your door stand out. Here, pinecones are painted in shades of blue for a graphic update to a classic pinecone wreath.

Balance Your Christmas Door Decorations

Elegant Holiday Entryway

Ornate doors and wide front entryways need little decoration. Instead, add accents to the surrounding areas to create the perfect holiday look. Two containers flank this wide entry, playing off the elegant symmetry. Bright silver and red ornaments accent both the containers and the evergreen wreath.

Add Glitter to Your Christmas Door Decorations

Glittery Christmas Front Door

Sparkle and shine are synonymous with the season. Use this pretty silver front door decoration as inspiration to create your own glittering welcome. Purchase a silver wreath, or paint a grapevine wreath using metallic spray paint; add a sparkling ribbon, and weave in silver and blue ornaments. For another sparkling color scheme, use gold and bronze decorations to glam up your Christmas door.

Make a Festive Yarn Wreath

holiday door decorations

Using fresh greenery is a beautiful way to add farmhouse charm to your front porch, and the possibilities are endless. Drape greenery around your front door, fashion a wreath, or put greenery in planters. You can add ornaments to mini Christmas trees in planters for a punch of color. The soft gold of candlelight from lanterns gives a warm welcome to guests.

Use Seasonal Colors for Christmas Door Decorations

Merry Carnation Wreath

Play up the traditional Christmas red-and-green color scheme with a modern spin. If you have a green door, accent it with an all-red wreath and place bright red flowers on the front porch. Don't have a green door? Play around with other color schemes, such as white and blue (good for lighter doors) or silver and gold (good for darker doors).

Go for Traditional Decor

Traditional Christmas wreath

You can decorate a door for Christmas in a way that's both classic and fresh with traditional accents. Hang a medium-size boxwood wreath with a bright red bow in the middle for pretty texture and style. Add symmetrical accents on either side of the door to complete the look, such as the shaped topiaries shown here.

Use a Single Color

Traditional Christmas Front Door

There is a surprising array of diversity in the green color spectrum, from deep and rich to light and bright. These simple and traditional Christmas door decorations focus on color variations to add visual interest. A green ribbon adds luster to an evergreen wreath, while tiny lights brighten the garland around the front door.

Transform Premade into One-of-a-Kind

Pinecone and Ornament Garland

It's easy to customize an ordinary garland for extraordinary impact. Small holiday ornaments secured with hot glue coordinate with this red front door and add bright pops of color to a premade pinecone garland. Tall lanterns, adorned with small sprigs of berries, lead the way to Christmas celebrations.

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