Green and White Christmas Decor Ideas: A Cozy Cottage Living Room Tour

Green and white might be the easiest Christmas palette. It works with traditional decor, it works with modern, and it doesn’t fight with anything already in the room.

The year I went green and white, our living room felt calm and cozy at the same time. Here’s the full tour, with ideas you can borrow for your own home.

Want more? I share my cottage Christmas kitchen in my Quick and Easy Cozy Christmas Cottage Kitchen Decorating Ideas, and my favorite tree, mantel, and living room ideas in 32 Christmas Decor Ideas for Bringing Comfort and Joy Home.

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Our Beach Cottage Decorating Style

If you’re new here, welcome. You can find out more about me on my Meet Kim page.

Our 1920 beach house on Puget Sound is decorated in cottage style, with new and vintage pieces living together. It’s casual and cozy, and I bring the outdoors in every chance I get, no matter the season.

Past Christmas Home Tours

My Home for the Holidays page gathers some of my favorite Christmas photos of our home. A few more tours from past years:

Green and White Christmas Living Room Tour

Our living room stays mostly neutral at Christmas. One year the tree was blue and green. This time I went with green and white, and it may be my favorite so far.

It’s a classic pairing for a reason. From what I’ve read, green stands for evergreens, which stay full of life through the coldest months, and white for the quiet of freshly fallen snow.

Christmas Tree Ideas for a Small Living Room

Our home is about 1,600 square feet. It’s small, and the living room shows it.

When we first moved into our 100-year-old beach cottage, we bought a big fresh tree every year, just like we always had. It took over the entire room.

Now I’m more strategic. I’ve learned which Christmas trees work in small spaces, and instead of one big tree, I use several smaller ones around the room and decorate each one differently.

The Green and White Flocked Christmas Tree

Faux pencil trees are the answer for this room. We have two 7-foot trees at opposite ends of the living room.

I’m calling the first one “The Green and White Christmas Tree.” Brilliant, right? It’s flocked, and it looks taller than it is because we built a DIY shelf inside the wicker tree collar to raise it.

It was my first white tree, and it’s prelit, which meant no wrapping lights. That’s my least favorite part about decorating, so I’ll take it.

I started with the neutral pom pom garland from the year before, then added green ornaments I picked up in early November at the holiday open houses in Poulsbo. Mixing a few shades of green keeps the tree from looking flat.

Next came off-white faux berries, white birds, burlap poinsettias, and feathered white ornaments.

It still needed more green, so I tied green velvet ribbon here and there until it looked right.

Then I found a vase of dried hydrangeas sitting with the fall decor. The green was a perfect match. Tucked into the branches, they finished the tree.

Under the tree are gifts wrapped in green and white. They’re empty boxes. I store them every year and rewrap them in whatever color scheme I choose. It’s an easy way to add color under the tree without buying new decor.

The Dried Hydrangea Christmas Tree

If you’ve been here a while, you know I love hydrangeas. I’ve always dried hydrangeas in late summer and early fall and used them all over the cottage for autumn decor.

Then it clicked. Why not put them on the Christmas tree?

It gave a plain green tree a completely new look. I finished it with rust-colored velvet ribbon and a few gold decorations. If you want to grow your own for drying, here’s my guide to growing and caring for hydrangeas.

Instead of a tree skirt, I used a blanket. It’s so easy. A pair of vintage ice skates, a wicker picnic basket, and a few green-and-white wrapped gifts finished the spot.

A Mini Christmas Tree in a Hanging Basket

I found this vintage hanging basket at Red Plantation a few years ago, and it’s become a focal point in the living room.

For Christmas, I set one of my mini trees inside and added fairy lights. Small white and mercury glass ornaments, and a soft brown ribbon with a cream border were all I needed.

Green and White Christmas Ornament Displays

What do you do with large ornaments that won’t fit on the tree? I pile them into bowls with fresh greenery and pinecones. They make a perfect centerpiece.

White ornaments, mercury glass, silver ornaments, and knit balls are a great mixture of metallics and textures.

My vintage dough bowl holds my fabric and glass ornaments every year. It’s oversized, so I fill the bottom first to add height and use fewer ornaments. Bubble wrap, towels, and paper bags all work. Use whatever you have.

Display extra ornaments in ceramic bowls, galvanized buckets, and enamel pots.

Christmas Pillows and Throws

Christmas pillows and throws are one of my favorite ways to decorate. One or two festive pillows mixed with neutrals on the sofa may be all you need.

I buy a pillow or two each season and reuse the neutrals I already have. It keeps things fresh without replacing everything.

Green and White Christmas Vignettes

Coffee tables, mantels, console tables, cabinets. Vignettes pull your color scheme into every corner, and you can create a holiday vignette in 5 minutes.

Tiny trees like this faux Norfolk pine, branches, pinecones, faux snow, and green garland are the building blocks.

I’m a sucker for mixing vintage with new. A vintage wicker basket, a suitcase, a shutter, and a stoneware crock holding one of my many mini trees look right at home on our old copper-topped sideboard. See vintage Christmas must-haves here, and tips on mixing vintage and modern.

I like grouping mini trees in different textures and sizes. Bottle brush trees come in so many colors now, and they’re easy to mix.

Festive Green and White Christmas Decorations

I found this wooden horse at Home Goods. I’ve always wanted a vintage horse for Christmas, and this reproduction will do until I find the right old one. A green patterned bow, fresh greens, and a few little bells dress it up.

This winter white textured wreath has floral details, a green bow, and a few mini bells. I use it in both fall and winter.

The cream knit stockings are dressed up with gold bells, a bit of faux greenery, and green ribbon tying them to the cabinet handles.

Another white vintage with green accents: a carved wooden Santa, a white deer under a glass cloche, and a cream pom pom garland.

The green wreath around the cloche handle is actually a napkin ring. I used them all over the room, even on the pendant light.

And our rustic reindeer head got her usual scarf. Sometimes the smallest touches do the most.

Green and White Christmas Decor FAQs

Final Thoughts on Green and White Christmas Decor

A green-and-white combo is calm, cozy, and easy to pull off with what you already have. A few new green ornaments, some velvet ribbon, and a vase of dried hydrangeas did most of the work here.

For the rest of the house, head to my Christmas cottage kitchen.

Until next time,

Merry Christmas and Happy Holiday Decorating!

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