Whether you dread the holiday season for the stress it brings or you spend all year counting down until its arrival, one fact remains: the holidays are officially in full swing.

That means cosy layers, soft textures, and warm, inviting neutrals are making their way into all kinds of aesthetics while light linens, airy curtains, and breezy hues are stored away for another season.

But a winter interior transition tends to be a bit more challenging than others if you’re someone with a flair for festive decor who also subscribes to a minimal aesthetic.

The truth is, kitschy holiday decor doesn’t exactly seamlessly fit into a pared-back style. If they’re not properly executed, your decorations can significantly detract from the chic, minimal style you’ve worked so hard to cultivate.

The good news is, you’re not alone with this design challenge; lots of people face and overcome it each year, creating chic yet festive interiors that even the Grinchiest sensibilities among us will covet.

 

1. Spice Up Your Staircase

Putting elegant decor in unexpected places, like this unique staircase arrangement, is a great way to add a dose of festive intrigue without overwhelming your design. And you’ll achieve even more satisfying cohesion if you stick to just one or two styles of decor and repeat it throughout your arrangement.

 

2. Pay Mind to Your Coffee Table

Your coffee table is the centerpiece of your living room, so if you decorate only one area, let it be this one. A decorated coffee table tray will infuse your space with holiday vibes in a sophisticated, contained manner while DIY jar decor will add homespun warmth to your look.

 

3. Bare Bones Greenery

This stunning space proves that you don’t need to cover your wreaths and garlands in lights and sparkles to make a festive impact. Sometimes (most times?) less really is more.

 

4. Keep it Contained

Rather than spew decorations all of your place, consider keeping them contained to one corner. This will allow you to have fun with more whimsical details without risking your overall aesthetic.

 

5. Simple Colour Palette

Have a big ol’ tree that you want to work into your look? Then opting for a simple ornament colour palette featuring one or two main hues like this will instantly give your festive decor a chic and contemporary feel.

 

6. An Undecorated Tree is Just as Sweet

Forgo the need to unpack and hang a bunch of ornaments only to put them away a few weeks later by putting this idea into practice. An undecorated tree is striking in its own way as it makes an unexpected visual impact.

 

 

7. Black and White > Red and Green

You need not sacrifice your thoughtful colour palette to make minimal holiday magic. Turns out, black and white are an ultra-effective and incredibly chic alternative to traditional Christmas colours like red and green.

 

8. A Little Goes a Long Way

If you’re working with a highly minimal interior and a white, monochrome colour palette, all you need are a select few festive accents to transform your space into a chic holiday wonderland.

 

9. Forgo a Tree Entirely

If you don’t want to fuss with a Christmas tree at all, you don’t have to! There are endless alternatives to a traditional tree and they provide plenty of holiday spirit without leaving a mess of pine needles behind.

 

10. Sparse Can be Special

Who says trees need to be full to be stunning? This sparse Christmas tree is perfectly aligned with the pared-back nature of this space and that’s exactly why it looks so stunning. Of course, a little soft texture at the base certainly doesn’t hurt.

 

11. Let Your Wrapping Paper Work for You

The crazy colours and vivid patterns of many different types of wrapping paper can seriously detract from a simple style, especially when a bunch of ‘em are grouped together at the base of your tree. Choosing instead to enlist one solid colour to wrap your gifts is a super easy way to simplify your holiday style.

 

12. Play With Your Pillows

The beauty of a minimalist holiday design is that you’re able to put holiday decor in places that might be too much for traditional decorations. Such as the chic, Christmas tree throw pillows you see in this space.

 

13. Put Your Presents Away

If you’d rather not have a pile of presents cluttering up your design, then put them away entirely and opt for a woven base instead. In addition to simplifying your style, this will also keep your gifts away from curious little hands trying to take a peek before they should.