This year’s Christmas decorations – minimalist elegance with glass, bows & earthy tones

A few weeks ago I shared three different mood boards for minimalist, nature-inspired Christmas decorations, and now December is here I want to show you how I’ve decorated our home for the festive season. 

I love dressing the house for Christmas, and I normally turn it into a bit of an event with festive music playing on the speakers and a glass of mulled wine in hand. But as always, I like to keep things fairly neutral and minimalist – cosy and seasonal, without being overly cluttered or glitzy. This year I’ve opted for earthy browns and beiges with touches of frosty white and silver – a mix of two of the schemes I shared last month – and I think it treads the balance perfectly.

I have a varied collection of Christmas decorations which I can mix and match to create different looks, but this year for the first time in ages I’ve added to it by treating myself to some new glass baubles. I’ve been finding myself increasingly drawn towards glass as a material recently, and it brings a beautiful sparkle without the need for anything glittery. The fluted designs are from North Home and The White Company and they have a timeless elegance about them, while the smaller textured ones are from Cooee Design’s ‘Gry’ series [AD – affiliate link] and remind me of ice – especially when the glow from the fairylights shines through them.

Our Christmas tree is very difficult to photograph as it sits in the bay window with light directly behind it, but I hope the below images give you an idea. Alongside the new baubles there are a few of my existing paper decorations and ceramic leaves, plus mercury-glass drops given to me by my late grandmother which make an appearance every year. They’re joined by bows tied with delicate brown and white ribbon, which along with the drops remind me of icicles hanging from branches and add a lovely depth to the tree. 

Bows appear elsewhere in the house, too, giving a festive twist to candlesticks, swags and my homemade front-door wreath. And there’s more ice-like glass in the form of an ‘Odd’ candleholder from Normann Copenhagen and a ‘Gry’ bowl and vase from Cooee Design [AD – affiliate links]. The latter are filled with pine cones and branches of festive foliage, as are some of the wooden bowls made by my husband. I’ve also dotted pine cones and sprigs of fir here and there on shelves and tables.

Finally, on the living-room mantelpiece I’ve created a festive and rather wild Ikebana-style display using a Kenzan flower frog in a bowl of water. In the past I’ve created garland-like arrangements, but only with dried foliage as I try to avoid planet-damaging oasis foam. This year I wanted to add some fresh fir into the mix, and doing it this way allows me to keep it hydrated without the need for anything nasty. I was also very pleased with my autumn Ikebana display and was keen to try something similar for Christmas! My effort now sits on one side of the fireplace, with advent candles made up from my modular Lind DNA ‘Curve’ candleholders [AD – affiliate link] on the other. Below on the hearth are pillar candles in glass hurricane lanterns, plus a pair of large paper stars that tie in nicely with the star on top of the tree.

So there you go: this year’s minimalist Christmas decorations. I’m really pleased with how everything has come together, and the house feels calm yet inviting. The only thing missing now is some styling for the dinner table, as I’m hosting this time around. More on that to come soon…

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All photography by Abi Dare