Christmas decor styles explained: Scandi, rustic, modern and glam
What sets Scandi, rustic, modern, glam, retro and boho Christmas decor apart, the Nordic traditions behind the Scandi look, and how to pick a style for your home.
Scandi Christmas decorations are white, natural wood, straw and paper, with warm light doing the job that colour does in other styles. The other popular styles start from different materials: rustic decor from pine cones, hessian and greenery, modern decor from one or two colours and clean shapes, glam from metallics, velvet and sparkle. Below are the palette, materials and key pieces of each style, the Nordic traditions behind the Scandi look and how to choose between them.
Christmas decor styles compared
Each style can be read from four things: its colours, its materials, its light and a handful of signature pieces.
| Style | Colours | Materials | Light | Signature pieces |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Scandi | White, beige, soft grey, pale wood, touches of red | Wood, straw, paper, wool felt, wicker | Warm white, candles, window stars | Straw goats, paper hearts, tomte figures, candle arches |
| Rustic | Greens, browns, cream, berry red | Pine cones, hessian, wood, dried fruit | Warm white, tea lights, beeswax candles | Twig star, pine cone wreath, knitted tree skirt |
| Modern | White and silver, or clear, black and rose gold | Glass, acrylic, metal | Warm white, never coloured | Slim or black tree, wireframe star, ribbon |
| Glam | Gold, champagne, copper or jewel tones | Velvet, glitter, sequins | Warm white | Oversized velvet bows, glitter baubles, sequin skirt |
| Vintage and retro | Multicolour | Glass, ceramic, tinsel | Multicoloured | Snow globes, nutcrackers, fibre optic tree |
| Boho | Natural, earthy tones | Wooden beads, macramé, feathers, dried flowers | Warm white | Dried floral topper, rattan tree skirt |
Scandi Christmas decorations: what defines the style
Scandinavian Christmas decorating is pared back. Christmas Tree World’s Scandi scheme uses white, beige and soft grey with simple white baubles, wooden ornaments and warm white lights, and its advice for the style is quality over quantity.
Colours and materials
- A neutral base of white, ivory, beige, soft grey and pale wood. The Living House keeps to one colour plus greenery and white, with simple red accents.
- Red, white and green as the traditional palette, which Nordic Nest pairs with natural wood and brass.
- Natural materials: wood, straw, paper, wool felt, wicker and ceramic. Lights4fun adds brown wicker tree skirts and flocked trees, and a Nordic-minded designer at the housebuilder Bellway uses glass baubles, oversized paper decorations, eucalyptus, cinnamon sticks and copper accents.
Light and windows
Light is the main decoration. Nordic Nest describes paper or metal Christmas stars glowing in windows and wooden candle arches on windowsills, a sign of the yearning for light in the dark months. Lights4fun uses warm white tree lights and LED candles in lanterns, and one of Bellway’s designers rules out cold or blue lights as too harsh.
Wooden ornaments, clear glass stars and plain white baubles for a Scandi tree are in our tree decorations.
Traditional Nordic Christmas decorations and what they mean
Many pieces sold as Scandi decorations come from a specific national tradition. These are the ones you will see most often:
| Decoration | Where it comes from | What it is |
|---|---|---|
| Yule goat (julbock) | Sweden and the rest of Scandinavia | A straw goat bound with red ribbon, hung on the tree or stood under it. In the 19th century the goat was the gift-bringer, and Finland still calls Father Christmas Joulupukki, the Yule goat. |
| Tomte or nisse | Sweden (tomte), Norway and Denmark (nisse) | A household spirit of folklore in a red cap and grey clothes, who later became the Christmas gift-bringer: Jultomten in Sweden, Julenisse in Denmark and Norway. |
| Pleated paper hearts (julehjerter) | Denmark and Norway | Hearts pleated or woven from glossy paper, hung on the tree and often filled with sweets. The oldest known one was made by Hans Christian Andersen in 1860. |
| Flag garland | Denmark | A string of small Danish flags wound round the tree, next to paper cones (kræmmerhuse) filled with treats. |
| Himmeli | Finland | A geometric mobile of rye straw, traditionally hung from Christmas until Midsummer. The name comes from the Swedish word himmel, which means both heaven and sky. |
| Advent star and candle arch | Sweden and across Scandinavia | A paper or metal star in the window and a wooden arch of candles on the sill through Advent. |
| Advent wreath | Across Scandinavia | Four candles in a wreath on the table, with one more lit on each Sunday before Christmas. |
| Angel chimes | Across Scandinavia | Small metal angels turned by the heat of candles below, ringing tiny bells as they spin. |
The British gonk is a soft version of the same household spirit: MFI traces gonks back to the nisse, tomte and tonttu of Nordic folklore. Our Christmas gonks and gnomes include Scandinavian gonks and faceless Swedish gnomes with red or blue hats.
How Scandinavians decorate for Christmas
The season follows a calendar of its own. In Sweden, according to Wikipedia’s account of Swedish Christmas:
- Advent, from the end of November: lights and stars go up in the windows.
- 13 December, Lucia: most children and some adults dress up for the day.
- 24 December, Christmas Eve: the main celebration and the exchange of presents, with the julbord, a buffet of five to seven courses running from pickled herring and gravlax to Christmas ham, meatballs and rice pudding with a hidden almond.
- 13 January, St Knut’s Day (Tjugondag Knut): the official end of Christmas, when families take the decorations down.
In Denmark the tree carries paper hearts, flag garlands and paper cones of sweets, and after the Christmas Eve meal the family dances round it singing carols and hymns. Dessert is risalamande, a cold rice pudding served with hot cherry sauce and a whole almond hidden inside.
Scandi Christmas decorations to make
- Paper strip baubles: cut strips of wallpaper or any patterned paper and hold them together with wire and a wooden bead, as The Living House suggests. Display them on the tree or in a glass vase.
- A dried orange garland: thread dried orange slices on twine for the tree, the mantelpiece or a parcel.
- Brown paper stars, folded from paper bags.
- A branch hanging: tie fir sprigs to a bare branch with twine and hang it in a window, or wind fairy lights round it.
- Pleated paper hearts in glossy paper, the Danish classic, which also make a patient craft for older children.
Rustic Christmas decor
Rustic decor shares the natural materials of Scandi style but trades white space for texture and warmth.
- Pine cones, evergreen foliage, hessian and wooden tree decorations are the base of the rustic scheme described by Bellway’s creative lead, who also tucks dried hydrangea heads into the tree, scatters moss down the table and lights beeswax candles.
- Burlap, cotton and linen ribbons on the tree, from Christmas Tree World’s natural scheme, and a knitted or fabric tree skirt from its cottagecore one.
- Fruit and spice: dried orange slices, cinnamon sticks and berries.
- A topper made from a star of real twigs tied with burlap ribbon.
Greenery brings the look into a room fastest: start with a pine cone or frosted pine wreath from our wreaths and garlands on the front door, then a garland along the mantelpiece.
Modern Christmas decorations
Modern Christmas decor keeps to one or two colours and lets shape do the rest.
- Colours: white and silver with sparkle, as one Bellway designer prefers, or clear, white and black with rose gold, the frosty modern scheme of another.
- Ribbon instead of tinsel, and baubles clustered and wired to the branches rather than spread evenly: both tips come from the same two designers.
- Trees: a slim or pencil tree for a corner, or a black tree with gold, copper or white baubles, which Christmas Tree World suggests for minimalist homes.
- Toppers: a 3D wireframe star in gold, black, rose gold or chrome, or a cone of wood, ceramic or brushed metal.
- Light: warm white only. The designer behind the frosty scheme rules out coloured and bright white lights.
Clear, silver and plain gold baubles from our Christmas baubles collection suit a modern tree.
Glam Christmas decor
Glam is the opposite of Scandi restraint: metallics, velvet and sparkle, in layers.
- Colours: gold, champagne, copper and bronze in Christmas Tree World’s metallic luxury scheme, or emerald, ruby and sapphire in its maximalist one.
- Finishes: gloss, matt and glitter mixed on the same tree, with velvet ribbon.
- Bows: oversized velvet bows in burgundy, cream or gold all over the tree, one of Christmas Tree World’s tree trends for 2026.
- The base: a sequin tree skirt or a gold sequin collar instead of plain fabric.
- Light: warm white, which Christmas Tree World pairs with metallics for a warm glow.
Vintage and retro Christmas decor
Christmas Tree World’s retro revival style borrows from the 1960s to the 1980s: multicoloured lights, ceramic trees with built-in bulbs, fibre optic trees, tinsel, nutcrackers and plaid. Musical snow globes and snow globe lanterns from our snow globes and music boxes suit a mantelpiece styled this way, with vintage-style glass baubles on the tree.
Boho Christmas decor
Boho decorating mixes natural textures with craft: wooden beads, macramé hangings and natural feathers in Christmas Tree World’s boho style, topped with a cluster of dried eucalyptus, lavender, berries and pine cones, a topper it suggests for rustic, boho and romantic trees. A rattan or wicker tree skirt fits the look.
How to choose a Christmas decor style
- Match the room. Christmas Tree World recommends Scandi simplicity for small spaces and modern interiors, and layered styles for larger rooms.
- Pick one style per room and repeat one material, such as wood, brass or velvet, from the tree to the mantelpiece and the table.
- Keep the lights warm white unless the style is retro or kitsch.
- Count the colours: two or three main colours hold any style together, and our Christmas tree decorating ideas give 12 colour schemes with their lights and toppers.
- Follow the year if you like: Christmas Tree World says individuality is what connects its tree trends for 2026, and our Christmas decorating trends for 2026 list the palettes behind it.
Whatever the style, the tree carries most of it: wooden, glass and metallic pieces sit side by side in our tree decorations range.
Frequently asked questions
How do Scandinavians decorate for Christmas?
With light and natural materials more than colour: stars and candle arches in the windows, an advent wreath on the table and a tree hung with straw, paper and wood. Red and white is the traditional palette, and in Sweden the decorations stay up until St Knut’s Day on 13 January.
What are some examples of Nordic-style Christmas decorations?
Straw Yule goats, pleated paper hearts, tomte or nisse figures, paper stars, wooden candle arches, Finnish himmeli straw mobiles and Danish flag garlands. Nordic-style shops add wooden ornaments, white baubles, wicker tree skirts and wool felt.
What are some traditional Christmas decorations in Sweden?
The julbock, a straw goat tied with red ribbon, straw ornaments, tomte figures, advent candlesticks and stars in the windows, and red tulips. Swedish families traditionally take them down on St Knut’s Day, 13 January.
What do Swedes do at 3pm on Christmas Eve?
They watch Donald Duck. Kalle Anka och hans vänner önskar God Jul, a Disney Christmas special from 1958, has been shown on SVT1 every Christmas Eve since 1960, starting just after 3pm, and around 40% of Swedes watch it.
What is Santa called in Sweden?
Jultomten, or simply tomten. He grew out of the tomte, a household spirit of Nordic folklore, and took over the gift-bringing role from the Yule goat in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
What is the Swedish name for gnomes?
Tomte, also tomtenisse; the Norwegian and Danish word is nisse and the Finnish one tonttu. In folklore the tomte is a small figure in a red cap and grey clothes who looks after the farm, and families left him a bowl of porridge on Christmas Eve.
What do the Danes call Santa Claus?
Julemanden, which means the Yule Man. He arrives on a sleigh pulled by reindeer with presents for the children, while the smaller julenisser are said to live in attics and barns.
How do you say Merry Christmas in Swedish?
God Jul, which literally means Good Yule. The same word appears in julbord, the Christmas Eve buffet, and julbock, the straw Christmas goat.
