Farmhouse Christmas Decor: 16 Ideas That Look Handed Down, Not Store-Bought
Farmhouse Christmas decor is the look you can almost smell: fresh pine, warm wood, a red plaid blanket over the arm of the sofa and a kitchen that glows like someone has been baking all afternoon.
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Look closely at the rooms you save on Pinterest, though, and you'll notice something. The best ones are full of things that were never made as decorations. The crock held pickles. The wooden bowl raised bread. The bells rode on a horse.
That's the difference between a farmhouse Christmas that looks handed down and one that looks like a store's holiday aisle. So these 16 farmhouse Christmas decor ideas go room by room, from the front door to the bedroom, and each one is built around one old working thing. You don't need a farmhouse, either: every idea here works in a ranch, a split-level or a new build with plain white walls.
After the 16 ideas: a one-question test for spotting farmhouse pieces, and the two palettes to pick from.
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The Front Door and the Entry
These two greet people before they've taken off their coats. For the outside of the door, the porch pots and the wreath, see our front porch Christmas decor ideas.
1. Hang Sleigh Bells on the Door
A leather strap of brass sleigh bells on the inside doorknob is the most farmhouse sound there is. Every time the door opens, the house says hello, and you'll know when the kids are home before you hear their voices.
Hang the strap on the inside knob, where it rings for everyone who comes in, and add a plain evergreen wreath with one red velvet bow. Old straps turn up at antique malls. New ones work just as well, because the bells still do their old job: they ring.
2. Make the Entry Bench the First Hello
A bench by the door does three jobs at Christmas. It's where boots come off, where bags land, and it's the first scene anyone sees. Fold a quilt along the seat, add one plaid pillow and one striped pillow, stand a crock of evergreen and red berry branches at one end and slide a basket of birch logs underneath.
Swap the art above it for the season. A snowy barn or a winter field in an old frame reads farmhouse without a single word on it. For hooks, a key tray and a runner that survive real life, see our entryway ideas.
The Living Room
3. Stand the Tree in a Galvanized Tub
A galvanized tub instead of a tree skirt is the single change that makes a tree look farmhouse. It hides the plastic stand, it's easy to reach into at watering time, and the soft gray metal sets off the green.
Measure your stand at its widest point and choose a tub a few inches wider; listings often give tubs in gallons, so check the diameter before you order. The stand sits inside the tub, flat on the bottom, and the plugs and light connections stay outside it, away from the stand's water. A big round basket works the same way if you'd rather have something softer.
Then trim it farmhouse: a natural wood bead garland, cream and barn red ornaments, warm white lights and a few loops of plaid or striped ribbon. Brown kraft paper and red-and-white twine on the gifts underneath finish the picture.
4. Trim the Tree With Cookie Cutters and Dried Oranges
Old tin cookie cutters are the farmhouse ornament hiding in your baking drawer. Stars, hearts, gingerbread men and little trees hang beautifully on red-and-white baker's twine, and they catch the tree lights like tiny frames.
Mix them with dried orange slices, which glow amber when the lights sit behind them, and the wood bead garland from the tree above. If the cutters come from your own drawer, the whole trim costs little more than a bag of oranges, and every piece tells a story about the kitchen it came from.
5. Lean a Ladder for Quilts and Lights
An old wooden ladder gives a farmhouse corner height without a single nail. Lean it against the wall at a gentle angle, wind a lit garland up both rails and hang a quilt and a plaid blanket over two of the rungs. A basket of pinecones at the foot makes it look settled.
Choose a ladder that's still sturdy, set its feet on a rug or a nonslip pad, and keep the heavy things low. In a home with pets or toddlers, give it a corner where nobody can pull it sideways.
6. Line the Mantel With Ironstone Pitchers and Crocks
White ironstone and gray stoneware lined up along a mantel look like a collection that grew over fifty years, even if you found every piece this fall. Use six to eight pieces in different heights, put fresh evergreen sprigs and cotton stems in each, and let a loose cedar garland run along the front edge. Cream knit stockings below keep the whole thing soft.
This look works on a painted mantel, a brick one or even a sideboard. Our Christmas mantel ideas have the garland math and a second farmhouse version, a wood beam with brass bells. If you use your fireplace, the greenery and stockings come off before you light a fire.
7. Fill a Dough Bowl With Old Ornaments
A dough bowl on the coffee table is the farmhouse centerpiece that takes five minutes. Fill the long wooden bowl with old glass ornaments in faded red, green and silver mercury glass, then tuck in pinecones and a few sprigs of pine.
Old glass ornaments are thin and break into sharp pieces, so this is a grown-up table. With toddlers in the house, use shatterproof ornaments in the same colors. And keep real flames out of the bowl: dry pine catches fast, so if you want a glow there, tuck a flameless candle in a small lantern.
The Kitchen, Where Farmhouse Christmas Starts
The farm kitchen was the working heart of the house, and most of the old working things that make a farmhouse Christmas already live there.
8. Drape the Range Hood With Garland and Velvet Bows
The range hood is the kitchen's mantel. Lay a garland along the top or the front of the hood, finish it with three red velvet bows with long tails, and lean two or three wooden cutting boards against the backsplash below. A red enamel pot on the stove does the rest.
Keep the garland on the hood and down its sides, never hanging over the cooktop, and choose a faux one here. Real greenery dries out fast in a warm kitchen, and dry greens catch fire easily.
9. Put a Crock of Red Berry Branches on the Island
One tall crock packed with red berry branches and pine, set on a round wooden tray: that's the whole idea, and it's the easiest one in this guide. Add an ironstone pitcher and a bowl of red apples beside it, and hang a striped tea towel over each stool.
Fill the crock with branches, not food. The safety section below explains why old crocks stay decorative until they've been tested.
10. Swag a Dried Orange Garland Across the Open Shelves
Open shelves or an old hutch already stacked with white ironstone need only one more thing: a garland of dried orange slices and bay leaves swagged across the front. Tuck a few evergreen sprigs between the plates and set two small bottle-brush trees at the ends.
Pack the garland in tissue in January and it can come back next year.
11. Set Up a Cocoa Crate on the Counter
Turn an old wooden crate on its side and it becomes a hot cocoa station. Fill it with mason jars of mini marshmallows, peppermint sticks and cocoa, hang enamel mugs on small hooks, and set a little potted tree beside it.
It's the corner everyone ends up standing in on a cold night. Our coffee bar ideas have the full setup for tea, coffee and a Christmas coffee bar.
12. Tie Red Bows on the Cabinet Doors
For the price of one spool of ribbon, every upper cabinet in the kitchen can wear Christmas: a deep red velvet bow with long tails on each door. Tie them around the knobs, or hang them from small removable hooks so nothing sits on the paint for weeks.
If there's a gap above your upper cabinets, run a garland along the top. A small wreath hung in the window over the sink on a red ribbon ties the whole wall together.
The Dining Table
13. Run a Grain-Sack Runner Down Bare Wood
Skip the tablecloth. A cream grain-sack runner with a red stripe or two, laid on bare wood, says farmhouse before anything else goes on the table. The look copies the striped linen sacks European farms once used for grain. Then lay a long evergreen garland down the middle with pinecones, and stand tall tapers in old brass candlesticks in the gaps.
Make the tapers in the garland battery ones: the National Fire Protection Association says to keep every real flame at least 12 inches from anything that can burn, and greenery catches fast. Flameless tapers give the same glow. For a smaller table, see our Christmas table decor ideas.
14. Tuck a Pine Sprig and a Bell Into Every Napkin
At each place: a white ironstone plate on a wooden charger, a plaid napkin tied with jute twine, a sprig of pine and one small brass bell tucked into the knot. Guests can take the bell home, so it's the place setting and the favor in one.
Pressed glass tumblers or mismatched thrift-store glasses suit this table better than a matching set. Used beats new here.
The Stairs and the Bedroom
15. Wind Garland Below the Stair Rail, With Bells
Stair garland looks generous when it's full and lit. Wind it along the balusters just below the handrail, not over it, so the top of the rail stays bare and easy to grip on the way down in socks. Tie a red velvet bow and a small brass bell at every second baluster.
Run the lights' cord down the outside of the balusters to the outlet, never across a step.
16. Layer the Bed in a Quilt and Plaid Wool
A farmhouse Christmas bedroom is mostly bedding: a white quilt, a red plaid wool blanket folded at the foot, blue-striped pillows and a light evergreen wreath above the bed on a long ribbon. On the nightstand, a small tree in a stoneware crock with battery lights glows like a nightlight.
For more bedroom ideas, and the one habit that matters with lights at night, see our Christmas bedroom decor guide.
The Farmhouse Test: Did It Once Have a Job?
Before you buy anything for a farmhouse Christmas, ask one question: did this thing ever have a job? If it did, it will look farmhouse the moment you fill it with greenery. If it was made only to look farmhouse, it usually won't, however many times the word "farmhouse" appears on the tag.
Here's what the classics did for a living:
- Stoneware crocks stored pickles, butter and lard.
- Wooden dough bowls were where bread was kneaded and left to rise.
- Sleigh bells rode on horses' harnesses.
- White ironstone was tough everyday china.
- Striped mattress cloth covered feather pillows, so that blue-and-cream stripe looks at home on a pillow.
- Bread boards, kitchen scales, enamel mugs, lanterns, ladders, buckets and baskets all worked for a living too.
What fails the test: glitter, anything sold as a matching set of six, and signs that tell you what style the room is. Our rule: no more than one word sign in a room. One is charming; three start to look like a store display.
Start the hunt in your own kitchen. A mixing bowl, a cutting board, a cake stand, an enamel colander or a row of mason jars already pass the test. Thrift stores, estate sales and antique malls fill in the rest, and the pieces don't need to match. They just need to look used.
Pick Your Palette: Barn Red, Flour-Sack Cream or Both
Farmhouse Christmas comes in two palettes. Choose one before you buy a single ribbon:
- Barn red: cream walls, lots of evergreen and warm wood, plus one deep red in velvet bows, a buffalo check blanket and red berry branches. Keep it to one or two reds so they look like they belong together.
- Flour-sack cream: cream, oatmeal, white and wood, with evergreen as the only color. Mattress stripes, knit and quilts do the work the red would have done.
- Both: a cream room with red in only three places, say the door, the table and one blanket on the sofa.
Then the fabric rule: give every plaid a quiet partner. For each plaid in a room, add a stripe (a blue mattress stripe or a red grain-sack stripe), a chunky knit or a plain linen, so the plaid has space around it and the room reads cozy instead of busy. Keep all your plaids in the same red. Black lanterns and brass bells are the two metals that go with everything here.
Keep the Old Things Safe: Candles, Lights, Tinsel and Crocks
Old things are what make a farmhouse Christmas beautiful, and a few of them need a rule:
- Old crocks, ironstone and handmade pottery are decor, not dishes, until tested. The FDA lists antique, handmade, worn and flea-market pottery among the pieces more likely to contain lead, and warns that no amount of washing or boiling removes lead from pottery. Fill them with branches and ornaments. If you'd like to serve food from one, test it first with lead-test swabs, sold at hardware stores and online.
- Check old string lights before they go up. The holiday safety sheet from the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) says to check every set, new or old, for broken or cracked sockets, frayed or bare wires and loose connections, and to throw out damaged sets. Use lights that carry an independent testing lab's label.
- Leave old tinsel at the antique mall. Tinsel made before the early 1970s may be lead foil; U.S. makers agreed to stop selling it after the FDA raised the risk to children in 1971. The CPSC says to choose tinsel of plastic or non-leaded metal.
- Candles: keep any flame at least 12 inches from anything that can burn, never near evergreens, and use flameless candles in lanterns anywhere greenery is close.
- A real tree: keep the stand full of water the whole time the tree is indoors, and keep the tree away from fireplaces, radiators and other heat sources (CPSC holiday safety).
When Christmas is over, the crocks, quilts, lanterns and plain greenery can stay right where they are for January. Our cozy winter decor guide shows what to keep and what to pack away.
FAQ
What Is Farmhouse Christmas Decor?
Farmhouse Christmas decor is a holiday style built from evergreen, warm wood, cream and red fabrics like plaid and mattress stripes, and old working objects such as stoneware crocks, dough bowls, ironstone and sleigh bells, all lit by warm white lights and lanterns. It looks collected over the years rather than bought as a set.
What Colors Are Farmhouse Christmas Decor?
Cream, evergreen and warm wood are the base. Most farmhouse Christmas rooms add one deep barn red; others stay cream and green with no red at all. Black (lanterns, Windsor chairs) and brass (bells, candlesticks) are the accent metals.
What Is the Difference Between Farmhouse and Rustic Christmas Decor?
Rustic Christmas leans on the woods: logs, birch, antlers, pinecones and darker wood, often with a cabin feel. Farmhouse Christmas leans on the farm kitchen and the linen closet: crocks, ironstone, striped linens, quilts, bread boards and bells, in lighter, creamier rooms. They share evergreen, plaid and wood, so plenty of homes mix the two.
How Do You Make a Regular House Look Farmhouse for Christmas?
Bring in what a farmhouse would have had: real wood, real or good faux greenery, quilts and old working pieces. Put a crock of branches by the door, the tree in a galvanized tub, a dough bowl on the coffee table and a grain-sack runner on the dining table. You don't need shiplap; a white wall and warm lamps do the same job.
How Do You Decorate a Farmhouse Christmas Tree?
Stand it in a galvanized tub or a big basket, then add a natural wood bead garland, cream and barn red ornaments, old tin cookie cutters on baker's twine, dried orange slices and a few loops of plaid or striped ribbon. Keep the lights warm white.
When Should You Start Decorating for Christmas?
Whenever it makes you happy, but start planning early. Hunt for crocks and ironstone first, since old pieces take time to find, and buy a real tree close to the day you'll decorate it so it stays fresh longer.
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Check What You Already Have Before You Buy
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