December 9, 2025

A Minimalist’s Guide to Holiday Decor

We’re officially in the holiday season, with Diwali and Thanksgiving in the rear view, and Christmas, Hanukkah and Kwanza fast approaching. It’s the winter celebration season filled with warm family gatherings, joyful gift-giving and festive decorations. But decking your halls doesn’t have to be stressful for anyone who wants the ambience without maximum effort and expenditure. Minimalist holiday decorating is about layering festive into your surroundings by focusing on quality over quantity to capture the spirit of the season.

Here are some suggestions and examples for anyone who shuns going “all out” with overwhelming, heart-stopping holiday décor:

To Tree or Not to Tree

Don’t want to put up (and take down) a large pine tree – live or artificial? Simple centerpieces can go a long way in creating a holiday feel by incorporating pine branches, LED candles or mini-lights and pinecones. One possibility is a clear vase filled with pine branches, holly, or eucalyptus on your dining table. With just a few decorative ornaments or candles alongside it, I Heart Frugal shows you how it’s done with diminutive Dollar Store angels, churches, snowflakes, feathers, and gilded reindeer. 

Shelterness takes the notion of minimal holiday décor to the next level with dozens of ideas for bowl displays, mantel swags, “wall Christmas trees” and tabletop décor. West Elm’s collection of Punched Paper, Stacked Wood, Wood and Brass, Bottlebrush and Ceramic Tealight Trees offers a variety of simple holiday décor trios that can transform any room easily and inexpensively (and they’re almost all on sale)!

Hobby Lobby’s Christmas Sale is going on now and you can save 50 percent on artificial pine and cedar garlands to top a table, a mantel, a valance or a bed-board. And Home Depot has the real thing – bunched incense cedar boughs, pine boughs and even little live pine trees that you can decorate or leave natural in their red metal planters.

Vintage Vessels and Dressed-Down Trees

Fill vintage vessels like silver bowls, brass pitchers or wooden troughs with natural decor like mixed evergreens and pinecones for a simple French farmhouse feel. A scented pine candle adds a pleasing scent that subliminally underscores the look.

And, The Spruce has a few appealing ideas for bringing an empty hallway or lonely corner to seasonal life with a trio of mini trees wrapped in burlap at the base. A few wrapped packages can create a sense of eye-pleasing anticipation, and it’s not even necessary to drape the trees in ornaments or lights. If you wanted more, you could wrap ribbons around the base of each tree and gussy things up, a tiny bit more.

Holiday Happiness in Looking Glass

The true spirit of the holidays shines through in connection with family and friends, not in the number, size and volume of your decorations! Enjoy the reason for the season and the meaning behind it all in the master-planned community of Looking Glass. Homes from Dream Finders and Richmond American (coming in January!) start in the $600s. Find the right ranch or two-story model with a floor plan that will fit your family and your lifestyle – it’s here in Parker’s most convivial new home community!