It’s the most wonderful time of year again and the right midcentury modern decor will make your home feel cozy and inviting. If you’re an MCM enthusiast, this is a wonderful time of year to embrace the elements of modern design.
Midcentury modern design may have originated a few decades ago, but it feels right at home in holiday décor. From the bright color palette to the straight lines to the warm metallic tones, it’s the perfect choice to fill your home with holiday cheer.
Midcentury Modern Christmas Decor Essentials
Turning your home into a winter wonderland, while embracing modern design requires a few essentials. Of course, you’ll need a Christmas tree with ornaments, lights, and a tree topper, but not just any old tree. Let’s start with the essentials:
The Christmas Tree
At the center of everything is your tree. An aluminum or tinsel tree with bold, metallic colors will fit best. Think silver, while, fuchsia pink, or cobalt blue.
The Lights
For your tree lights, you don’t have to go crazy, as simple one-color bulbs will work best. Since you’ve chosen a metallic-looking tree, white bulbs may be best to set off the look of the tree. Colored lights pair well with a silver or white tree, too. Remember if your tree is a classic aluminum one, you shouldn’t put lights directly on it. Instead, go for the classic color wheel to add some sparkle, or choose to go without lights and select brightly colored ornaments to offset the silver instead.
The Ornaments
Ornaments with contrasting hues will help make your non-traditional Christmas tree really pop. Consider adding turquoise ornaments, pink ornaments, or green ornaments to your tree. A mix of brightly colored ornaments works well on silver or white trees, as well. The ornaments should certainly make a statement and onion-shaped or teardrop-shaped ornaments are usually best.
Want to go bold? Reverse the style by choosing a blue or other color tree and using white, silver, and gold ornaments for decorations. The occasional pink can also add interest to your colorful tree.
The Topper
The crown of your tree needs to be something special. It doesn’t have to be super fancy, but it should add a punctuation mark to your MCM Christmas Tree.
Once you have the tree set up, your holiday decor will start to come together. Since the tree is often the focal point, it’s a good idea to design your perfect tree before decorating the rest of your home.
The Stockings
Another very important part of your decor will be the stockings. If you don’t hang your stockings with care, where will Santa put all your goodies for Christmas morning?
Retro stockings fit best within the midcentury modern design, but you can also choose silver or gold stockings to make a statement. Hang your stockings on a railing, staircase, or the traditional fireplace mantle with a metallic garland and a string of lights to add a touch of modern style. Adding gold bows to silver stockings can also offer a unique touch, depending on the color scheme you’ve chosen.
You can even choose to decorate your own stockings as a family. Start with classic red felt stockings and add embellishments, felt cutouts, and ribbon with hot glue.
The Front Door Wreath
A popular MCM front door option for the holidays is the tinsel wreath. Several varieties will match the style including a wreath with saturated hues or a simple silver wreath. Many modern enthusiasts choose to match their front door wreath to the color of their Christmas tree.
You can also add a bit of embellishment with a red ribbon or another colored ribbon to hang the wreath on your door.
Quick Tips for Curating Your Midcentury Modern Christmas Decor
Choosing the right tree, lights, ornaments, garlands, stockings, and other decor items may not be easy. When you know you want to create a midcentury modern look for the holidays, these three tips will help point you in the right direction.
Choose your colors
When it comes to your holiday decor as an MCM enthusiast, you’ll love bright options with hints of shimmering gold and silver. Hues of turquoise, green, red, and yellow offer bold selections to contrast neutral furniture and keep your home feeling cheery and bright.
Pick just a few colors from a single pallet for your home to ensure that you’re creating a cohesive environment. When you start shopping for decorations, stay focused on your chosen color scheme. Still, if something magical catches your eye and it doesn’t quite fit, get creative, there is always room for a little more magic around the holidays.
Consider reusable or evergreen décor
Not all of your decorations for Christmas need to stay hidden away for the rest of the year. Look around your home at what you have. As an MCM enthusiast, you likely have some great pieces already. Consider if a piece can be integrated into your daily décor when looking for items to purchase.
Give yourself time
If this is your first year decorating, start slow and choose a few key pieces that really stand out to you. Then, enjoy the fact that you will be adding to your collection and your memories with new pieces each season. Plus, keep in mind that some of the best finds happen when you’re not hunting for Christmas décor. Keep an eye out throughout the year while antiquing, you never know what you might find!
Use these tips, along with the essential modern decor items to transform your home into the perfect winter celebration this year. The holidays are a very special time of year and are a great opportunity to show off your style. Looking for some extra fun? Check out these cool midcentury modern-inspired gingerbread houses!