Pretty Christmas Door Decorations

By BH&G Holiday Editors
Updated June 26, 2019
Once you've trimmed the tree, head outside to deck your front door for the holidays. Our ideas for front door decorations range from traditional to modern, but all are easy to put together. Using Christmas wreaths, lights, and garlands, you'll have the prettiest house on the block.
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Use Double Boxwood Wreaths

When it comes to choosing a Christmas wreath, more is merrier! Twin boxwood wreaths add bold decor—just tie them together with a colorful ribbon and embellish the loops with leftover ornaments for a pop of color.

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Tie Together Your Frosted Wreath

A small embellishment (like this gossamer bow) ties in frosted elements from your wreath. Choose a bow that connects with other colors on your porch, or use it as a statement piece that draws your eye to the door.

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Grow a Winter Herb Wreath

Winter-friendly herbs can be used to create delicate holiday wreaths. Some of our favorite herbs to grow in the home include rosemary and thyme, and they lend themselves to fresh, sweet smelling Christmas door decorations.

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Find Northern Inspiration

This Scandinavian-inspired Christmas decor combines evergreen branches with red berries for a northern holiday look. Deep red lanterns add crisp holiday color, while a snowflake-shape wreath pops against the dark gray home.

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Add a Rustic Wreath

This DIY Christmas wreath is created from precut wood slices, and it will add rustic charm to your winter style. Simply arrange and glue wood slices against a flat wood wreath, then add a pinecone and berry bow.

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Make a Cedar-Stacked Christmas Tree

Eighteen miniature cedar sprig wreaths stack together for a clever Christmas tree idea. Use wire to tie together the cedar wreaths—allowing you to stack the tree as tall (or as short) as you'd like.

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Vintage Ice Skate Door Decor

Our most popular Christmas door decorating idea is so simple, you'll wonder why you've never tried it!

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Tie It All Together

Douglas fir creates a classic and full wreath, while colorful berries and boxwood greens enhance the traditional holiday greenery. A bright red matching bow ties the adornment together.

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Go for the Bows

Cover your front door with ribbons and bows to ring in the holiday season. Use red to give your greenery garland and evergreen wreath a bright boost of color.

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Light Evergreen Arches

Artfully drape a garland wrapped with Christmas lights above your doorway to create a welcoming Christmas display. Adding evergreen to your traditional holiday lights will provide extra sparkle to your Christmas curb appeal.

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Play with Pastels

The deep jewel tones common during Christmas aren't right for every home. If you're looking for a change, try a pastel palette, like the white, sea green, and butter yellow shown here.

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Mix Shapes and Textures

If matching isn't your style, funky forms are a wonderful way to add visual interest to a holiday front door. Here, distinctive holiday topiaries play against a gathering of bright berries and the soft white of the wreath.

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Customize Your Traditional Wreath

Dress up your door decor with a customizable Christmas wreath that you can make yourself!

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Hang a Low Wreath

Be the first on the block to break wreath tradition. Hanging your creative Christmas wreath low on the front door looks modern and welcoming, and it leaves the window free for collecting sunlight.

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Celebrate Traditional Decor

Bring your front door back to basics by decorating with Christmas ornaments nestled in fresh greenery. This look is sophisticated and works on a traditional or contemporary home.

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Try the Coolest Front-Door Secret

Our holidays editor came up with a nifty trick for making matching swags for outdoor light fixtures. See her secret!

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Add Fresh or Faux Flowers

If you live in a temperate climate, you might be able to make front door decorations with seasonal flower displays, such as poinsettias. To dress up the arrangement, try selections in an accent color—here, white adds a pop of bright against the brick. If your weather isn't so mild, go for faux flowers that you can reuse year after year.

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Play with Modern Shapes and Colors

An unconventional wreath (made from an antique serving dish) is the centerpiece of this modern Christmas decor, but every detail counts. The bold ornaments, lime ribbon, and contemporary plantings combine for a cool Christmas look.

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Change Your Holiday Greeting

Most seasonal displays are fairly static, but small elements can help you add a bit more personality to your front door decor. Here, a tiny chalkboard allows the homeowners to add a changing message on the front door wreath. Other ideas: a countdown to Christmas, or ribbons or wreaths that change weekly.

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Choose Monochromatic Christmas Decorations

Go all out this year and create a winter wonderland at your front door. Enlist the kids to cut paper snowflakes, and hang them from strings of lights. Spray faux trees white and plant them in galvanized buckets on each side of the door. For the final touch, spray-paint wire baskets white, then fill with with sparkling silver orbs and hang the baskets.

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Use a Symmetrical Design

When in doubt, a symmetrical arrangement of Christmas decorations always looks polished. Spiral topiaries welcome guests onto the landing, where an evergreen arch accents existing architecture.

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Choose an Unusual Accent Color

Add an unexpected accent color to your Christmas decorations for a fresh front door idea. Here, ripe oranges and a tangerine-color ribbon make classic pine green pop.

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Use Garden-Inspired Christmas Door Decorations

This large, leafy garland and matching front door decorations are made from evergreen branches, pinecones, berries, apples, magnolia leaves, and festive holiday ribbon. At nighttime, the intertwined lights add a cozy, cheery glow. Use it as inspiration for your front door, or add your favorite festive elements.

Editor's Tip: Purchase a long evergreen garland to serve as the base, then use florist's pins and hot glue to secure embellishments.

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Learn to Make Easy Christmas Wreaths

Create your own front door decor with these simple-to-make Christmas wreaths.

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Decorate Front Yard Trees and Shrubs

Instead of simply accenting your front door, try integrating the rest of the front yard into your design. Here, simple lit orbs add unexpected brilliance to the large tree. These oversize Christmas lights also make the house as attractive by night as it is by day.

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Add a Twist to Your Front Door Decor

Wreaths are a lovely addition to nearly every front entryway. But there are other items that can add seasonal interest to your door. Here, ice skates—tied with a bit of fresh greenery and a Christmas bow—dress up the traditional entry.

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Match Front Door Decor to Architectural Style

If you're new to Christmas decorating, use your home's architectural style as inspiration. Traditional homes look great in classic decorations, while rustic homes call for a more casual setup. Here, a cozy cabin gets dressed up with simple, unadorned fresh evergreen greenery—two wreaths and a garland.

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Rely on Color for Contrast

One way to make your Christmas door decorations stand out is with color. White is a great contrast to dark or bright front door colors. Here, wooden snowflake cutouts are spray-painted white and hot-glued into wreath form. A wide double ribbon adds a simple, elegant finish.

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Decorate All Your Surfaces

If you have a large front entryway, you're lucky: You have more room to add pretty holiday accents. One way to unify them is to choose just a few materials to repeat, such as the grapevine and fir shown here.

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Create a Wreath from Nontraditional Materials

Evergreens and pinecones are standard elements for front door decorations, but unconventional materials will make your door stand out. Here, rolled-up cones of book pages or printed Christmas music are glued to a wreath for a graphic update to a classic.

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Balance Your Christmas Door Decorations

Ornate doors and wide front entryways need little decoration. Instead, add accents to the surrounding areas to create the perfect holiday look. Two containers flank this wide entry, playing off the elegant symmetry. Bright silver and red ornaments accent both the containers and the evergreen wreath.

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Add Glitter to Your Christmas Door Decorations

Sparkle and shine are synonymous with the season. Use this pretty silver front door decoration as inspiration to create your own glittering welcome. Purchase a silver wreath, or paint a grapevine wreath using metallic spray paint; add a sparkling ribbon, and weave in silver and blue ornaments. For another sparkling color scheme, use gold and bronze decorations to glam up your Christmas door.

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Make a Festive Yarn Wreath