How to Have a Minimalist Christmas

Not everyone likes the sheer loudness of Christmas. While few can resist the merriment and cheer of the festivities, it’s an undeniable fact that people like to express themselves in different ways. Some favour the extravagant and bold approach with their festive celebrations, and that’s fine. However, others may prefer a more muted and casual arrangement, and that’s just as okay too!

Consequently, here’s how you can have a minimalist Christmas in terms of style and decor.

 

Colour Palette

Minimalism is accentuated first and foremost by a colour scheme. Contrary to what some might think, colours communicate character and personality. They’re thematic, and set a precedent for those who walk into your abode; are you bright and flashy, or calm and collected? The colours you utilise in your home can reveal these traits inside yourself to others, especially at Christmas when everything is more notable.

Golds, whites and silvers will better emphasise your desire to go for a more understated style this Christmas. Certainly, they’re still festive colours, but they’re nowhere near as loud, bold or brash as the classic reds, blues and greens. By comparison, they’re somewhat muted and much more elegant, so everything from your lightning to your baubles should follow these themes.

 

Avoid Flashing Lights

Flashing lights communicate ‘look at me, look at me’ with every passing blink, and some lights do hundreds of flashes in mere moments. While they can be fun for little kids in hues of red, blue and green, if you’re going for the minimalist approach you likely want a more mature lighting set up that’s less distracting. Therefore, you should avoid flashing lights! This will make your Christmas decor seem more ordered and controlled.

Once again, go for the gold colours here both indoors and out. Moreover, pick up some dimmer LED lightbulbs too, so that you’re saving energy whilst also not becoming a beacon of elaborate Christmas lights throughout your street. Your lights will shine nicely without engulfing your entire house, and your Christmas tree will have smaller lights poking through the branches instead of shining out intrusively from every angle.  

 

Half Wreaths and Acorns

Christmas is full of artificial things; tinsel, fake Christmas trees, plastic pinecones, etc. When there’s so much of these kinds of items filling up the house, it’s easy for it to feel a little congested and overstuffed. Moreover, it can feel somewhat generic too, a one-note display that’s lacking any nuance or elegance. Fake things may be favourable for their cheap cost and standard design, but really, it’s a safe option that doesn’t really communicate a strong sense of style.

Sometimes, minimalism is best to combat this. You can invest in a half wreath, with the top half being exposed as a naked and thin wooden beam. This makes the wreath seem lighter, cuter and more delicate, instead of broad, thick and overfull of accessories. After that, you can string up some real acorns and pinecones that you collected from outside and drape them across your walls, door frames or shelving units. This will bring some of the real outdoors inside, and make your home seem more authentically Christmassy in a subtle kind of way.

Kimberly Atwood’s books have received starred reviews in Publishers Weekly, Library Journal, and Booklist. Kimberly lives in the Rocky Mountains with her husband, an exceptionally perfect dog, and an attack cat. Before she started writing historical research, Kimberly got a graduate degree in theoretical physical chemistry from Ohio State University. After that, just to shake things up, she went to law school at the University of London and graduated summa cum laude. Then she did a handful of clerkships with some really important people who are way too dignified to be named here. She was a law professor for a while. She now writes full-time.

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