Emily Henderson reveals the on-trend color to elevate your Christmas decor this year

Picking a color palette, and sticking to it, makes decorating for Christmas so much easier. It sets some limits on what you can buy, therefore bringing a sense of cohesion to your decorations. 

So whether it's the baubles on your tree or a fancy tablescape, choosing a couple of key tones will elevate your Christmas decoration ideas for 2021. Interior designer Emily Henderson shared a trending color Christmas tip: she says navy blue can look fresh and festive when paired with shiny golds and coppers, and we'd have to agree.

emily henderson trending color christmas tip 

'For holidays, it's pretty easy, you can truly do any color palette,' Emily begins. 'If you want to add pops of red, great, that adds energy and a sense of holiday.

'These days, everything is in style as long as it's well done and cohesive. So you could have blushes in there, you could have navy,' she says. 

Blues also happen to be really on-trend this year, and a palette of blue tones were selected as color of the year for 2022. For instance, brands like Farrow & Ball and Dulux both chose variations of the calming, nature-inspired tone as their color of the year.

Thanks to the enduring appeal of Hague Blue from Farrow & Ball, a dark blue palette will be super easy for many people to incorporate into their homes. Sophisticated and grown-up navy will also work layered against pale blues, whites, neutrals and natural materials.

While we're loving the idea of navy Christmas decor, there's nothing wrong with sticking to traditional Christmas decorations and classic festive colors. Red and green sit opposite each other on the color wheel, making them complementary colors. 

This means red contains no green, and green contains no red, creating a visual tension when placed together. Blue, on the other hand, sits opposite zingy orange, which would also work as an additional color if you're not feeling blush.

Emily feels that a red palette and lots of stuff will make things feel high-energy and festive. If you'd prefer things to feel calm and sophisticated this holiday season, navy, blush and metallics could work brilliantly.

Throw out the rule book and just think about how you want to space to feel. If that means every color of the rainbow, all-neutral-everything or even a sea of pink, that's okay too.

We spoke to Emily as part of her work with PRESS premium alcohol seltzer.