Holiday Garland Ideas for a Warm and Welcoming Home

Welcome the beauty of nature into your home this holiday season with stunning holiday garland. Choose shades of brown, orange and gold for Thanksgiving. Or, pick garland in deep shades of green with snowy white flowers, or frosted burgundies for winter holidays like Christmas and Hanukkah. There are numerous ways to use garland in your holiday decor. For example, you can use splashes of color that garland provides to draw the eye to a larger display. Or, create a whole display around your favorite style of garland. With these helpful holiday garland ideas from us at Pottery Barn, bringing floral flair in your home will be a breeze.

Curb Appeal

Start decorating at your home’s entryway to signal the season. Hanging a beautiful wreath on the door creates a friendly, welcoming touch and looks beautiful doing it. Weave garland around stair rails, or hang it above the doorway to frame the entrance to your home. Loosely drape a strand of garland around an outdoor light fixture. Hang it at least a foot back from the heat of the bulb, so the light looks like a festive part of your holiday display. Choose colors that match your existing outdoor decor, or simply opt for traditional holiday colors.

Step Inside

The entryway or foyer is the first thing guests see when they enter your home. This makes an entryway table or storage cubby a fun place to start decorating. Spread out a lacy runner or layers of fluffy white batting on the tabletop and set up a Christmas village. Surround the village with garland and LED tea lights to make it sparkle with festive flair. Or, leave your favorite catchall container and framed photos on the table with a cozy strand of garland draped around them.

Frame a Window

Hang up garland to outline the border of a window. Stick with garland in natural colors for a fresh, outdoorsy touch. Or, make it sparkle with iridescent glitter. To do this, lightly mist craft glue on the garland before you hang it up. Then quickly sprinkle iridescent glitter into the semi-dry glue. The glitter catches the light and adds a beautiful, frosty glimmer to garland. Using garland as a frame is also a stunning way to spotlight a large photo, print or painting.

So Sweet!

Drape garland off the front of your fireplace mantel or along the outside of a stair rail. Then, hang Christmas stockings or colorful bags of Christmas candies from the lower spots in the garland. If you expect to fill your stockings with a heavy load of goodies, hide a strand of rope that matches your wall color or clear fishing line in the garland. This adds a little extra strength to the garland and helps it stay draped how you want it to. Draped garland with stockings makes a charming backdrop for pictures of your family and pets.

Light It Up

Garland with twinkling lights adds a touch of charm and warmth to any room. To create this effect, loosely weave garland around cool LED string lights. Then, hang the garland up on the stair rail, around a picture on the mantel’s edge or within a tabletop display. Another version of this look that’s easy to create involves carefully weaving holiday garland around a spindly chandelier or wrought iron lamp base.

A Touch of Glam

Draping garland across the wall adds a glamorous, bright touch to any room. Hang the garland at eye level, or slightly above to draw the eye upward. Hide nails and clips used to attach the garland behind chunky red or white bows for an extra festive touch. Decorate the garland with a spray of pine cones for a classic look. Attach seashells or sand dollars to garland in the bathroom for a nautical effect. Or, create a thick, bushy effect by running two or more strands of garland together. Then, drape strands of beads, winter berries or popcorn for a traditional Christmas vibe. You can also hang your favorite ornaments from the garland to ring in the holiday season.