5 Holiday Decor Trends That May—or May Not—Bring You Joy

If you’re looking to add holiday flair to your home this year, you’ll find plenty of inspiration in the latest trends. Here’s a countdown to some of the hottest holiday decorating fads of the season.

5. Nature-inspired holiday decor:

Better Homes & Gardens calls this holiday motif an “enchanted forest,” topping off natural, rustic decorative elements with colorful ornaments and ribbons. Nature-inspired decor includes evergreens, pinecones, sticks, twigs and acorns. A growing number of store-bought, faux varieties enable you to capture an authentic look without the fallen needles from real-life evergreen. To top off your “enchanted forest,” try a faux tree stump on your front porch with some holiday gnomes—another hot trend—for a finishing touch.

4. Sparkly tinsel:

Individual strands of silvery tinsel hanging from a tree’s branches adds shimmer and offers a vintage look. Tinsel has come and gone in popularity over the years: It was expensive and accessible only to the wealthy in the 1600s, but by the 1980s, tinsel ironically got a bad rap for looking cheap. Now tinsel is making another comeback, and a trendy way to use it is with a full tinsel tree in a solid silver, gold or red. Red tinsel trees, in particular, are one of the hottest holiday decor items of the year.

3. Pinkish decor:

The “Barbiecore” trend is now being used in holiday decorating. Pink is having a moment and is expected to remain popular in everyday home decor well into 2023. Add in some pops of pink for the holidays with a pink tinsel tree, rosy colored ornaments or pink tablecloths and holiday place settings. Variations of pink include blush colors or even brighter fuchsias. They’re also being mixed in with some traditional holiday colors: a pink and red holiday color combo is hot this year.

2. Flocked or faux snow-tipped trees:

To flock or not to flock your holiday greens? This year, it’s clear: The trend is to cover those holiday tree branches with white tips. It’s like snow on your trees, and it creates a cozy warm glow when illuminated with lights. White-tipped Christmas trees were called out by Better Homes & Gardens as one of the top holiday decorating trends for 2022. This includes flocked trees and wreaths but also a white tinsel tree. (Yes, tinsel—again!) The benefits of adding more whites into your tree is that it enables brightly colored ornaments to pop and take centerstage.

1. Vintage holiday decor:

Retro holiday decor from the 1960s or earlier are being incorporated into more decorations. From tabletop ceramic Christmas trees to neon “happy holiday” signs in windows, vintage touches are everywhere. At home improvement retailers, it’s easy to find tall plastic Santa figurines that light up for the front porch. Also, old-fashioned Santa mugs—which were a holiday staple in the 1940s—are trending. Nowadays, they’re more for decorating tabletops with nostalgia.