No festive decorating scheme is complete without a Christmas garland. Whether you're looking for a discreet and minimalist design to wrap around a bookshelf, or are going all out and covering every visible surface with festive folliage, we have a range of options, from realistic foliage to abstract designs. What will take your fancy?
Oh and as it's Black Friday weekend, we have found some great deals too that will save you £££s on your garlands so don't miss out on those. Plus if you are looking for more Christmas decorating ideas? We've got loads more festive fun in our Christmas decoration ideas feature so be sure to check that out too.
The best Christmas garland Black Friday deals
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1. Go for a simple homemade fir garland
A classic Christmas garland is always the best in our eyes, simple, stunning and, if you can DIY one yourself, totally free. Head into your garden (or local woods) and scout out a mix of evergreen folliage – look out for ivy, fir and pinecones. You can also usually pick these up in bunches from florists or a Christmas tree farm should have plenty going spare.
Use a wire as the base of your garland and just start wiring your greenery around it, securing it in place with that same thin green wire. Work in short segments and join them together to get the length you want.
2. Or go for a really realistic artificial one
Oh, this is the mantlepiece of dreams! And that gorgeous garland? Well forget slaving away all weekend making one – this is from The White Company and you can order it online right now. Annnd, it's pre-lit so no faffing around untangling the lights, plus there is a matching wreath too if you want to recreate this look.
Love this look? Check out our traditional Christmas decorations feature too.
3. Find an alternative way to use baubles – as a garland
Perfect either in lieu of or in addition to a Christmas tree, displaying your cutest baubles on a string is a really quick and easy idea. We love the rustic look of using brown string and 'aged' baubles and hanging them up above a door frame of along a mantle. If you like this distressed effect, you can achieve something similar by sponging white chalk paint onto metallic glass baubles and rubbing it away in places.
4. String understated greenery above your windows
You could recreate the gorgeous Christmas garland idea with fake or real foliage – we just love the simple clean vibe here, the greenery is the focus, no baubles, no tinsel, no fussy, but still suitably festive!
Find more Scandi Christmas decorations in our feature.
5. Bring that idea to your kitchen to add some festive feels
Despite being the heart of the home at Christmas time, the kitchen does tend to get a bit neglected when it comes to decor. We know it might not be that practical to have a full on tree in your kitchen but a garland takes up zero room and brings in just as much of a festive feel. These garlands are from Lights4fun, they have loads of lovely garlands this year from the super simple to super decorative.
6. Make more of a feature of your garland
We have said it before and we will say it again, an undecorated mantle at Christmas is a sad mantel. This sparkling look takes the garland on the mantle to the next level – add some candles for a soft glow in the evenings and take the decor up the wall too with this fab star lights. We would be tempted to keep these up all year round!
7. Swap traditional fir branches for stylish magnolia
Whether as part of a traditional Christmas look or a more contemporary Christmas decorating scheme, a Christmas garland made of magnolia? LOVE IT! This gorgeous creation is from One Kings Lane and we reckon you could definitely leave this up all year round.
8. Create an asymmetric by mixing your garland with plants
Love this quirky look – it's traditional but then that fiddle leaf fig just adds something unexpected and takes a string of ivy from being cute, but not that noticeable, to a mantlepiece that becomes a real feature of the room. You could switch out the fiddle leaf for a mini Christmas tree if you are more of a traditionalist too.
9. Go for minimalist charm with a eucalyptus garland
For an understated, go-with-anything look, go for a eucalyptus garland, which will look especially lovely against woven up your stairs. You could go for the classic green, which also looks lovely with red berries if you are more of a traditionalist but we love this gold option from Cox & Cox.
10. Use a garland to decorate your shelves
Oooh, this is how we are doing Christmas garlands this year! We love how they look trailed along some open shelving, definitely an idea we are going to be pinching. If you don't want the shelves to become totally unusable because they are basically a forest, pick more slimline garlands like this Berry Twig Garland from Dunelm.
11. String up the classic paper garlands
The easiest garlands going! You can spend a lovely afternoon making these with the family and stringing them up from the ceiling, around the bannister and over the mantle. You can obviously also buy paper chains from Amazon if you don't fancy cutting our loads of strips.
Check out more DIY Christmas decorations.
12. Add drama with dark green foliage
To add festive drama to a neutrally painted room, choose dark green foliage with distinctly shaped leaves. Eucalyptus is always a good choice, or a combination of different herbs and fir. What you want is plenty of interestingly shaped, spiky branches that will frame your mantelpiece or window.
13. Add a splash of colour with a red berry garland
We can't stop looking at this delicious Red Berry Garland from Next: the berries are so shiny and pretty, it's almost good enough to go on the tree on its own, instead of baubles. Of course, it will also make the perfect accompaniment to a traditional, red-green-and-gold decorating scheme.