Simple Red and Green Christmas Living Room

Looking for easy Christmas decorating ideas? Tour a simple red and green Christmas living room and gather holiday decorating inspiration!

white mantel with simple green wreath and naked tree and red buffalo plaid | Maison de Pax

I have found myself this year talking about “how busy I am” way more than I would like. Life’s not all easy, but it’s filled with so many good things… so I’m working to adjust my mindset and vocabulary to focus on gratitude. And, practically speaking, I’m working to keep things a little bit simpler. Hence this year’s super simple red and green Christmas living room.

christmas living room with overlay: simple christmas home tour and decorating ideas | Maison de Pax
gray armchairs, linen sofa, classic christmas decor | Maison de Pax

Simple, Classic Christmas Decorating

As you can see, I didn’t even decorate the tree! A naked tree just felt right this year. Will we put the 10′ tree in the stairwell again later? We might. My kids love to set up and decorate that tree.

woman hanging DIY wreath above mantel | Maison de Pax

For now, though, we just hung a little frosted garland with small red berries on the banister.

french gray armchairs with green velvet pillows | Maison de Pax

And if we do put up the big holiday tree, we might just save that one for us. Not for the blog. Not to be photographed. Not to add to the to-do list. Simply to entertain my family on a cool winter day.

Not that there’s anything wrong with decorating your space to the nines! I obviously have enjoyed my fair share of more elaborate Christmas decor – like the blush winter wonderland (oh, and that one at night was simply magical!!). But this year was calling for simplicity.

red buffalo check ribbon on green wreath by green christmas tree | maison de Pax

From a single wreath over the mantel, to red accents, to solid green velvet throw pillows, this is the ultimate simple classic Christmas living room.

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living room with gray armchairs, linen sofa, green velvet pillows, naked tree | Maison de Pax

GET THE LOOK:

RED BUFFALO CHECK

It all started when I found red buffalo check ribbon for this gift basket project. Since I had just redecorated the living room for a more neutral color palette and sophisticated look, it was easy to bring in a pop of bold red.

woman hanging wreath above mantel with red buffalo plaid ribbon | Maison de Pax

It’s easy to get this look with wired ribbon. I just cut one long strip and one short one, then wrapped the short one around the long one and this DIY wreath, twisting to secure the ribbon in the back. A little shapping and fluffing in the front, and it was all done.

woman hanging red buffalo check ribbon on green wreath over mantel | Maison de Pax

And the wrapping paper to go along with it was too cute to pass up (for my lazy girl’s guide to gift wrap, check out this post).

brick fireplace and white bookcase with red and green christmas decor | Maison de Pax

Plaid Christmas Decorating

The plaid wrapping paper got me started. I love mixing coordinating papers that have different patterns. Red and black plaid, black and white plaid, a graphic paper with red and green trucks and trees, and some simple brown kraft paper merge and coordinate so beautifully!

beautifully wrapped Christmas gifts with red and white plaid and brown kraft paper | Maison de Pax

And I added a few plaid throw blankets I had to finish off the plaid Christmas look. Adding throw blankets is such an easy way to finish off a space and make it cozier, too.

black and white wool plaid throw over arm of gray chair in christmas living room | Maison de Pax

Decorating with Fresh Greenery

I also added a little extra greenery (some cedar clippings from the yard and an airplant) to a little greenhouse atop some of our vintage children’s books. But my boys promptly stole the books to read (we love this old series that was my grandmothers!)…

red and black and white plaid with red and green accents in Christmas living room | Maison de Pax

And I moved the greenhouse out of the toddler’s reach. So the bowl of little ornaments is actually alone now. Ha! But a clipping of cedar under mini ornaments in a bowl makes a great centerpiece even on its own.

rustic wood bowl with red glass ornaments | Maison de Pax

Naked Christmas Tree

As you can see, I opted to use only twinkle lights on this tree. It’s a beautiful tree, and I’ve found myself leaving it naked for the past couple of years. Sometimes white lights on a tree are all you need.

naked tree with white lights and beautiful wrapped gifts | Maison de Pax

If I’m really being honest, though, decorating for Christmas in a home with kids means that things don’t always stay put. My kids have added most of the ornaments from the bowl on the coffee table to the tree since I photographed this.

And that’s ok by me. It’s the magic for them that makes me happiest. Plus, I didn’t have to do it. 😉

woman and daughters laughing in front of Christmas tree with white twinkle lights | Maison de Pax

But I digress. My main point today is that Christmas decorating doesn’t have to be extremely complicated. If you’re feeling like me this year and could use a little more margin in your life, be encouraged. There’s beauty in simplicity.

naked holiday tree with red and black plaid ribbon and wrapping paper | Maison de Pax

GET THE LOOK:

More holiday living room and Christmas tree decorating ideas

I hope you enjoyed today’s little tour! Please be sure to pin it for later and to visit all the other bloggers sharing their holiday living rooms and Christmas trees today. A special thanks to sweet Kristen of Ella Claire & Co. for organizing this as part of the Seasons of Home series!

bowl with ornaments and twinkle lights with overlay: simple christmas decorating ideas | maison de pax
Ella Claire & Co. | Rooms for Rent | Handmade Farmhouse | Zevy Joy Kindred Vintage | Home Stories A to Z | French Country Cottage | The Lilypad Cottage Inspired by Charm | Dear Lillie | Maison de Pax | Nina Hendrick Design Co. Boxwood Avenue | Craftberry Bush | Jennifer Rizzo | My Sweet Savannah

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26 Comments

  1. Oh my goodness!!! That turned out beautifully. I’ve been wanting to tone down allot of the decorations that we put out, inside my house every year, but I had no idea how to start. I’ve been so afraid of how the naked tree would look, and how many questions that I’d get from the family. I host Christmas every year, because my house is the only one decorated, to the hilt, inside and out. This year I’m going minimal since I see how to begin. Thank you, thank you, thank you, for sharing this with us. You’ve just given me more Christmas spirit, simply by making it so that I don’t dread decorating, come Black Friday. You’re such an inspiration. Again, thank you for sharing your talents and ideas. Love your blog.

    1. Jeannie, I’m so glad my simplistic look inspired you! We often host a lot of family, so I get the pressure to have the whole home ‘decked’ out with Christmas decor.

  2. I can’t tell you how much I needed this post today. I have been renovating a large portion of the main level of my home and am in the middle of laying new wood flooring. It’s been incredibly slow going (long story), but my goal was to have enough done to be able to actually put a tree up/decorate this year. With so much going on, simple Christmas decor is the way to go for me.
    Maybe next year I will go crazy, but for this year, simple is perfect.

    1. I’m so glad, Sue! We’ve had years of renovation in different areas of our home so I totally understand the need to stay simple.

    1. The Fiddle Leaf Fig? I’ve had it for YEARS! I found it at a local Houston nursery, but they sell them at speciality plant stores as well as big box hardware stores. 🙂

  3. I love what you write about simplicity, Rachel! And I especially adore how you open up about the kids adding their own decor touches by moving things around. I remember that when my kids were little, and even today – my 12 year old has other decorating ideas than mine. 🙂
    Your home is gorgeous and the simplicity is refreshing. Thank you!

  4. This is gorgeous! I always do a classic Christmas look every year! It never goes out of style so I’m always able to re-use my decor from the year before just in a different part of our home!

    Where is your wrapping paper from? I love the paper with the cars on it! 🙂

    1. Thank you so much, Morgan! I found the wrapping paper at my local Tuesday Morning. Isn’t it adorable? 🙂

  5. Rachel, love your style! While I was looking at your beautiful pictures I noticed the books on your table. I have that set. I remember it was 1964, I was four years old and my twin brothers were two. A man was going door to door selling encyclopedias, my parents didn’t have much, but my dad wanted his kids to have a good set of books. I will never get rid of these books, except to pass them to my daughter. Happy Holidays!

  6. Thank you so much for the reminder about SIMPLICITY. Im totally overwhelmed already. I’ve been putting out less and less each year. We get tricked by this world to think that our children NEED it all but that’s not true. Thanks again. Well done.

  7. I love your idea and style, it looks beautiful. With all the cooking and presents buying and wrapping, it seems hard to find time to truly sit and enjoy the beauty of Christmas with your family and this is a great way to do that. Thanks so much for this post and sharing it .

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