Beautiful and simple last minute Christmas decorating ideas in 10 minutes or less

Growing up, one of my favorite Sundays to go to church was called the “hanging of the greens”. After service we spent an hour working together as a team to deck the halls, followed by cookies & juice, of course! Given that I host Thanksgiving & out of town guests, I usually wait until December to decorate.

Each year it seems we’re decorating later & later. Decorating for Christmas is a month-long event in our house & I enjoy every moment of it. In fact, that’s what our Christmas decorations are – moments. Our house isn’t immersed in Christmas decor, there are little moments here & there of warmth.

I’m especially excited to decorate our house for Christmas this year because there is nothing else that makes it feel more like home! We are still in the early stages of renovation & haven’t hung anything on the walls to date. Something about Christmas just makes your house feel more like home and I’m deeming this the year of comfort & joy!

For the holidays, I love making our home feel a bit cozier, each room is full of plush throws {I may have an addiction}, velvet & cable knit pillow covers & hints of the holiday season. This year I was inspired by our recent visit to Big Cedar Lodge in Ridgedale, Missouri.

Our new home is full of wood trim & cabinetry & this year, I decided to embrace it with a lodge-like feel. Plaids, natural elements & casual grosgrain ribbon paired with candles & woodland creatures have transformed our home into a little getaway.

It’s all part of trying to make the best of our home as it is & being patient until we’re ready to move forward on the next project.

Decorate your mailbox for Christmas with this easy DIY swag & scarf you can create in just 10 minutes!

Our home is full of 5-10 minute decor like these Mailbox Christmas Decorations made from things in our yard and a scarf!

Simple & neutral Christmas front porch decorations

I plan to add ribbon to my garland, but our porch is casual & classic. Get the details for the DIY topiary & copper tea lights.

Simple & neutral Christmas front porch decorations
Christmas garland

I hung garland trimmed with grosgrain ribbon along the stairs in the entryway. Soon, our stockings will be hung here as well. I couldn’t resist including this beautiful brass table that will eventually find it’s home in our living room. I look forward to exposing the treads & risers & adding hardwood floors soon!

Simple Christmas decorating ideas
A beautiful Christmas table

In our previous home, we used our dining room frequently. We have been in our new home for almost 5 months & haven’t used it once! I still wanted to give it a touch of Christmas decor because it’s passed through frequently to get to the kitchen & breakfast boom, where we often entertain. This magnolia garland is perfect for the space!

Gorgeous Christmas bar cart

The bar cart easily transitioned from Thanksgiving to Christmas with a magnolia wreath & a few pomegranates. You can read more about it here.

Beautiful and simple last minute Christmas decorating ideas in 10 minutes or less
Beautiful brass bar cart styled for effortless Christmas entertaining with a magnolia wreath

I do a lot of entertaining, so you’ll often find fresh, casual table settings like this! This, like most of my centerpieces, was created in less than 10 minutes. I’ll be sharing the tutorial for this Christmas floral table runner on Wednesday.

Casual & cozy pomegranate Christmas table setting
Casual & cozy pomegranate Christmas table setting
Cozy Christmas decor

Our living room has been updated with a few throws, velvet & cable knit pillow cases.

Simple & beautiful Christmas decorating ideas

I made this birch vase last year…this table isn’t exactly what I wanted, but I’m struggling to find a lot of my Christmas decorations. It looks like January with be a month of organizing! I keep my tables free of breakables with 3 littles running around. I added a couple pinecones & love how natural it looks, paired with a faux tree. Integrating fresh with faux makes it feel more authentic.

Simple Christmas decorations
Tip: use a kids' blanket to create a small tree skirt

We decided to get Adalyn a little tree this year – she is enamored with her fresh cut tree & the responsibility! I used her stroller blanket to create a tree skirt simply by wrapping it around & tucking the edges under.

We plan to decorate it with colorful lights, miniature ornaments & a bow for a tree topper. Next to the tree is her pinboard with a Christmas card photo of my mother & uncle! I filled her decorative dish with starry string lights, which I’m obsessed with!

Simple & beautiful Christmas decorating ideas
Cozy Christmas decorating ideas

Adalyn’s room is also decorated with cable knit mitten garland she selected & her favorite plush throw.

Simple & beautiful Christmas decorating ideas

Starry string lights are pretty – anywhere, don’t you think?

Decorating a kids' room for Christmas

In Aniston’s room, I added the pinecone garland I made last year {in less than 10 minutes}. Also, there are some perks to minimal decorations – plenty of room for Christmas!

Easy & inexpensive Christmas decorations

In our room, I incorporated the softer side of Christmas, too – a chunky throw.

cozy master bedroom

Thank you for joining me! I’d love to have you join me on Instagram & Pinterest & follow along on Bloglovin! I’ll be sharing more of our Christmas decor later this week! For now, see my favorite Christmas decorating ideas on Pinterest.

If you liked this post, you’ll also love my winter decorating ideas.

Not so Christmas winter decorations

More Creative Christmas Ideas

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32 Comments

  1. I love all of these ideas – I am trying to step away from the red and green stuff we bought when we first got married and am now going a little bit more eclectic. I used a rodeo styled skirt as our tree skirt and am only using the soft metallic ornaments on our tree! PS that garland tied with grosgrain ribbon = swoon!
    xo,
    Cait

    1. Each year I mix it up a bit by just changing out a few elements. I hope you share yours soon! I love the idea of a rodeo styled tree skirt, Cait!

  2. How lovely! Your home is beautiful and serene. I want to come right over, curl up on the couch, and enjoy a cup of coffee – or that delicious Cambria!! I don’t think it’s weird at all that a total stranger feels at home in your home – it’s a testament to your ability to create such welcoming and thoughtful spaces. So glad I found you!

  3. I love your styled bar cart and simple table! I love simple decorating 🙂 Those sparkly lights are to die for too! Where might one find those or did I miss it in the post? Cheers!