Vintage Christmas Decorating Ideas for an Old-Fashioned Look
A vintage Christmas is the one you remember rather than the one you bought last week: soft faded colours, natural wood, mercury glass that's lost a little of its shine, and characters that look like they've been in the family for years. It's also the easiest look to get right, because nothing has to match.
Below are seven ways to bring that feeling into your home this year, using pieces from our vintage & nostalgic Christmas collection.
1. Start with a vintage Christmas colour palette
The quickest way to make a room feel nostalgic is to take the brightness down. Swap pillar-box red for a deeper cranberry, pure white for cream, and shiny gold for something closer to old brass. Silver works too, as long as it's tarnished rather than mirror-bright.
Mercury glass is the shortcut here. Its speckled, half-silvered finish reads as "old" even when it's brand new, and a few pieces on the mantel or in a bowl set the tone for everything else you add. You'll find plenty of it among our vintage baubles and ornaments.
2. A nostalgic Christmas mantelpiece
The mantelpiece is where a vintage Christmas lives. Keep it low and layered: a length of greenery along the back, candles of different heights, then one wooden sign or garland as the centrepiece so the eye has somewhere to land.
Resist the urge to fill every inch. The look comes from a few well-chosen pieces with space around them, not a solid wall of decorations. A row of metal bells on jute rope hung along the front edge finishes it without adding clutter. Our vintage signs, plaques and words are made for exactly this spot.
3. Vintage Christmas tree decorations
An old-fashioned tree is a mixed tree. Wooden cut-outs, glass, fabric and a bit of lace, hung at different depths so the branches look full rather than flat. If you've inherited a box of odd decorations, this is the year to use all of them.
Wooden and fabric hanging decorations do most of the work. They're light enough for the thinner branches at the top, they soften the glass pieces around them, and a few with lettering give the tree a handmade feel that shop-bought sets never manage. Start with our vintage hanging hearts and decorations and build from there.
4. Old-fashioned Christmas signs and plaques
Nothing says nostalgic like a hand-painted sign. Lean one against the wall on a shelf, prop a small plaque on the kitchen windowsill, or hang one from the back of a door with a loop of ribbon. The distressed, whitewashed finish does the ageing for you.
A countdown plaque is the one children actually look at every day, so put it somewhere low; our Sleeps Until Christmas countdown plaque has been a favourite for years. Everything else can sit at eye level or above, where the lettering reads from across the room.
5. Shelf sitters and characters with heirloom charm
Every vintage Christmas needs a few characters: a Santa with a proper beard, a snowman with a scarf, a reindeer that looks carved rather than moulded. They're the pieces that get unpacked first every year and the ones people remember.
Group them in threes on a windowsill, a bookshelf or the hall table, with a sprig of greenery or a pine cone or two at their feet. Vary the heights and let them face slightly different ways, as if they've been set down rather than arranged. Browse our nostalgic shelf sitters and figures for the cast.
6. Candlelight and a soft Christmas glow
The light is what makes a vintage room feel vintage. Turn the big light off and let candles, tea lights and a few warm LEDs do the work. Anything bright white or blue-toned will undo the rest of your effort in an instant, so check the bulb colour before you buy.
Mercury glass tea light holders and small lanterns are a lovely touch on a side table or windowsill, and they catch every flicker from the candles beside them. Our Christmas candles and tea light holders cover the lot, from single votives to clustered centrepieces.
7. Finishing touches: garlands, bunting and the hallway
The hall is the room everyone sees and the one most people forget. A wooden lettered garland across a mirror or along the banister, a wreath on the inside of the front door and a single lantern on the side table is all it takes.
Keep the materials the same as the rest of the house, wood, jute and a little red and cream, so the look carries through from the front door to the living room without a jolt. The wooden Merry Christmas garland is the one we'd hang first; the rest is in our Christmas wreaths and garlands.
Shop the look
Everything in this guide is in our vintage and nostalgic range, and new pieces arrive throughout the season.
Shop vintage & nostalgic Christmas
You might also like: Rustic & natural Christmas · Traditional Christmas · All Christmas decorations
Frequently asked questions
What colours are vintage Christmas decorations?
Muted ones. Cranberry and brick red rather than scarlet, cream and ivory rather than bright white, old gold and tarnished silver rather than anything shiny. Natural wood, jute and brown paper tie it all together. If a colour looks like it came from a tin of paint in the 1950s, it will work.
Can I mix vintage and modern Christmas decorations?
Yes, and most homes do. The trick is to keep the colour palette consistent and let the vintage pieces sit where they'll be seen first: the mantel, the hall table, the front of the tree. Modern lights and baubles can fill in behind them without changing the overall feel.
How do I make new decorations look old?
Choose finishes that are already distressed, whitewashed or speckled, and avoid anything glossy. Group pieces loosely rather than in neat rows, add real greenery and pine cones, and keep the lighting warm. A new decoration surrounded by candlelight and foliage looks like it's been there for years.
Where should vintage Christmas decorations go?
Anywhere you'd naturally put a photograph or an ornament the rest of the year: mantelpiece, windowsill, hall table, bookshelf, the top of a dresser. Low surfaces suit shelf sitters and plaques; high ones suit garlands and hanging signs. Spread them through the house rather than crowding one room.
