In a world filled with ever-evolving trends in holiday decorations, there's a timeless and charming approach that never goes out of style: botanically inspired holiday décor. Incorporating the beauty of nature into your festive arrangements can create a warm and inviting atmosphere that resonates with the spirit of the season. This article will guide you through various ideas and tips to infuse your home with botanical charm, making your holidays truly special. 

As the holiday season approaches, many of us look forward to decorating our homes with festive cheer. Botanically inspired holiday décor draws from the wonders of the natural world, combining the freshness of greens, the warmth of wood, and the allure of flowers. It's a trend that celebrates the beauty of simplicity and blends seamlessly with traditional holiday decor. 

Bringing the Outdoors In 

A Touch of Greenery 

 Start by adding greenery to your home. A wreath on the door, a festive garland, and potted plants can enliven your space and spread holiday cheer. Fill in emptied seasonal planters with live evergreen plants such as pine, fir, or cedar to embrace the scent of the season and keep your planters looking lively even during the colder winter months. 

Floral Centerpieces 

Elevate your holiday table with floral centerpieces. Mix seasonal blooms like poinsettias, amaryllis, and holly with pine branches and berries for a beautiful botanical arrangement. 

Incorporating Pinecones 

Pinecones are a charming addition to your decor. Use them as table scatter, adorn wreaths, or place them in decorative bowls. Their natural elegance adds a rustic touch to your holiday settings. Here are 32 Festive Ideas for Decorating with Pinecones for the holidays.

Wreaths and Garlands

Natural Wreaths 

Consider purchasing or even crafting your own natural wreaths made of found branches, twigs, and pinecones. These rustic wreaths evoke the tranquility of the forest and welcome guests with a touch of wilderness. Gathering your own supplies and making a wreath can be a fun outdoor activity and a smart way to involve young children in the holiday decorating process. 

Mix Live & Faux Greenery for Garland Elegance 

Drape garlands along staircases, mantels, and walls. Intertwine greenery with lights for a magical, botanical glow throughout your home. Even if you prefer to use artificial greenery as the base for your garland, consider incorporating real pinecones and filling it with feathers or preserved greenery branches to give it a livelier look. A little extra “fluffing” of a basic pre-lit garland goes a long way, and there's no reason you can't mix live and faux greenery together. 

DIY Botanical Decor 

Handcrafted Ornaments 

Design your own ornaments using twigs, dried flowers, and natural materials. These handmade ornaments add a personal touch to your tree and create a unique holiday tradition. I loved making garland strings made of popcorn for the tree as a child—it’s low cost and a fun family activity—as is drying citrus slices in the oven and then stringing them with natural twine to make ornaments.  

Homemade Potpourri

Create fragrant homemade potpourri using dried herbs, flowers, and citrus peels. Place it in decorative containers for a charming and welcoming scent. Oranges and cloves can be gathered to make holiday pomanders—studding the whole oranges with cloves in fun designs is a good way to spend a winter afternoon and it makes for a heavenly scent in a bowl on a side table. 

Birch Branch Candle Holders

Craft candle holders using branches and greenery. These eco-friendly candle holders bring a natural and warm ambiance to your holiday evenings. With a nod to an old-fashioned Yule log, consider drilling holes into a large branch or log to hold your candles—attach preserved moss or other found natural objects for a low-cost and beautiful holiday centerpiece. 

Outdoor Botanical Decor 

Keep Your Garden Looking Lively

Line your garden pathways with solar-powered lanterns and place potted evergreens along the way for an inviting and enchanting outdoor experience and to brighten the garden on long, dark winter nights. Fill seasonal pots and planters with evergreen branches, found sticks—especially birch bark branches if you can find them—and berry branches so that the garden looks cared for and collected even under a light dusting of snow. 

Porch Pizzazz and Welcoming Winter Window Boxes

Adorn your porch with wreaths, garlands, and cold-hardy potted plants. A welcoming entrance sets the tone for a botanical holiday experience. In milder climates, select frost-hardy plants like kale to place alongside evergreen bows.

Scented eucalyptus is one of my favorite materials to use at the front door, especially when paired with dried citrus and fragrant evergreens. If you don't have a porch or a stoop, fill window boxes with seasonal greenery that you can enjoy when looking out the window and passing neighbors can appreciate too.

Sustainable Choices 

Eco-friendly Ornaments

Choose eco-friendly ornaments made by reusing waste materials intended for the landfill like remnant wrapping paper folded into folded origami ornaments. These not only look great but don’t cost anything, are a fun activity to do with visiting friends or family, and also happen to be gentler on the environment. Here are 34 DIY Paper Ornaments to make for your tree this year.

Live Christmas Trees

If possible, choose a live, responsibly grown Christmas tree harvested from a regional farm or a native potted evergreen that can be planted after the holidays. It's a fun way to bring a boost of fresh evergreen to your home for the holidays, support your regional economy, reduce the presence of plastic in your life, and perhaps even grow and contribute to your home garden’s natural beauty. 

For a closer look at some of the environmental considerations to take into account when choosing between a real or artificial tree, take a look at this helpful article.

Gifts Inspired by Nature 

Botanical-themed Gifts

Consider gifting botanical-themed items like plant-inspired jewelry, botanical prints, or herbal teas. These gifts reflect the beauty of nature and, especially when they are hand-made or grown by you, can make for exceedingly thoughtful presents. Check out my recommended Gift Guide for Plant Lovers for top gifts this year!

Personalized Pots and Planters

Customized planters with the recipient's name or a special message make for heartfelt and memorable gifts. If you have a local pottery studio nearby, why not consider stopping by to make your own art pottery as a gift! Often, pottery studios will offer group sessions, and this can be a fun way to spend an afternoon with friends or loved ones while also hand-crafting a lovely gift. 

Festive Botanical Color Palettes 

Traditional Reds and Greens

Embrace the classic holiday color scheme by pairing vibrant reds with rich greens for a traditional and timeless look—one that is particularly striking if it’s carried across your seasonal décor. But this monochrome technique can be used with any color offset by greens: purple with greens, blues with greens, or pastels with greens are stunning in their presentation. 

Nature-Inspired Neutrals

Choose a neutral palette with soft browns, beige, and muted greens for a calm and soothing holiday ambiance inspired by nature. Think natural wood tones, found objects like pinecones, and arrangements placed together with little fuss and loads of authenticity.  

Vibrant Berries, Citrus Trees, and Lush Foliage

Infuse bold colors like cranberry red and deep green with the vibrancy of berries and foliage for a lively and festive atmosphere. Citrus, whether it’s sliced and preserved blood oranges or whole kumquats, pairs nicely with foliage.

Boxwoods, eucalyptus, rosemary, olive branches are other types of foliage to consider outside of traditional evergreen branches. Consider adding live citrus trees, rosemary plants, or olive trees into your holiday decor. Kumquats fruit prolifically in my home around the holidays and their flowers when in bloom are heavenly!

Maintaining Your Botanical Décor

Watering and Care

Keep your live plants fresh by watering them occasionally, even when they are outside and it’s cold. If you can dig your finger into the soil and it feels dry, consider watering your potted outdoor evergreens. But, if the soil is iced over, it’s probably best to leave it alone and check on it once the weather warms. Well-cared-for greenery in potted containers can maintain its beauty throughout the season. 

Preserving Freshness

Spritz cut greenery with water to keep it looking fresh and vibrant. Consider a humidity tray to ensure that the air around your plants remains moist. Refresh wreaths and garlands by replacing failing greenery with fresh branches—sometimes just a few fresh branches or sprigs can reinvigorate an entire garland or wreath with very little extra effort.

Here are an additional 5 things you can do to keep your indoor greenery fresh over the holiday season.

Botanical-Inspired Dining 

Tablescapes with Greenery

Adorn your holiday dining table with greenery, candles, and botanical centerpieces for a festive feast that looks and feels enchanting. Here's a fun list of easy holiday centerpiece ideas filled with ways to add greenery to your tabletop.

Mix in live potted houseplants in 2” or 3” containers alongside your ceramic heirlooms or festive pieces to give them a lively and less stuffy vibe on your holiday table. I love to use red in my holiday tablescape, so plants like this lovely variety of Croton with long strap-like leaves and flames of red are some of my favorites to mix into a centerpiece.

Botanical Place Cards

Create personalized place cards using small branches, leaves, or herb sprigs. Your guests will appreciate the attention to detail. I love to use edible fragrant herbs for this, especially if you plan to rest them on your guest’s dinner plate. Sprigs of fresh rosemary are one of my favorites for this! 

Here's a tutorial on how to make botanical place cards like those shown above.

Creating a Cozy Atmosphere 

Botanical Fragrances

Enhance the ambiance with botanical scents like pine, cedarwood, or cinnamon. Scented candles and essential oil diffusers can fill your home with the comforting aromas of the season. Consider pairing natural fragrances with top notes like citrus alongside the warmer base notes of pine and cedarwood to create a more complex fragrance story for your home. 

And don't be afraid to try using unconventional scents for your holiday home. This year, my favorite scent is the cardamom, amber, and oakmoss candle by Crate & Barrel -- it's rich and earthy and so delightful.

Natural Textures

Incorporate natural textures such as burlap, woven baskets, and wooden elements. These additions such as cachepots, or potted plant holders, add depth and warmth to your décor by grounding it in earthy colors and textures. Throw pillows and blankets made of delightfully rich and natural materials like wool are a lovely treat for long winter nights and cozy afternoons. 

Conclusion 

Botanically inspired holiday décor brings the beauty of nature into your celebrations. It creates a warm and welcoming atmosphere, allowing you to embrace the magic of the season while sharing your love for plants and nature with your friends, family, and holiday visitors.  

FAQs

1. Where can I find botanical-inspired holiday décor items? 
   • You can find botanical-inspired holiday décor items at local craft stores and online marketplaces, but my favorite way to source them is by creating your own DIY decorations using natural and found materials. 
2. How do I care for live plants used in my holiday décor? 
   • To care for living plants, ensure they have adequate water and light. Mist cut greenery to keep it fresh and vibrant, but plan on replacing pieces of it if you plan to keep it up for more than a couple of weeks. And don’t forget about your outdoor potted greenery, especially in milder climates where daytime temperatures either stay consistent or rise occasionally above freezing. 
3. Can I mix botanical décor with traditional holiday decorations, family heirlooms, or other holiday keepsakes? 
   • Absolutely! Botanical décor can complement traditional holiday decorations and keepsakes beautifully. The combination of natural elements and classic ornaments creates a unique and inviting holiday ambiance, each bringing something to the table, whether that’s tradition and fond memories or fresh looks and new life. 
4. What is some popular botanical-themed gift ideas? 
   • Popular botanical-themed gift ideas include plant-inspired jewelry, botanical prints, herbal teas, and personalized planters. Check out my Holiday Gift Guide for my top recommendations! 
5. How can I make my home smell like a botanical wonderland during the holidays? 
   • You can achieve this by using scented candles, essential oil diffusers, or by incorporating natural fragrances like pine, cedarwood, or cinnamon into your décor. Many of the items on this list will enrich your home with fragrance naturally.