16 Quick and Easy Christmas Kitchen Decorating Ideas for a Cozy Cottage
We spend a lot of time in the kitchen during the Christmas season. It’s where the cookies cool, the cocoa gets made, and everyone ends up standing around the island whether I planned for it or not.
Decorating it doesn’t have to be a big project. Our 1920 beach cottage kitchen has very little counter space, so everything here is quick, simple, and mostly off the counters. Here are the Christmas kitchen decorating ideas I come back to every year.
If you’re working on the kitchen itself, here are my 19 ways to create a cottage-style kitchen.
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Christmas Kitchen Decorating Ideas
1. Decorate Your Open Kitchen Shelves
A few years ago, we removed a set of upper cabinets and added open shelves. I couldn’t be happier. (You can see the whole 1920 kitchen before and after.)
With so little counter space, most of our seasonal decor lives on shelves. They work the same way for glass cabinets or a hutch.
On open shelves, try:
Build a color story, or keep it neutral and let your vintage collections do the talking.
2. Mix Your Metals
Look around our kitchen, and you won’t find just one metal. Silver and pewter antiques, copper, and mercury glass all mix together, and the copper pots and pans on our iron pipe pot rack make quite a statement.
Copper usually goes away with my fall kitchen decor. One year I left it out with the ironstone, and I loved the warmth it brought to the room. Fresh greenery and copper look beautiful together.
3. Wrap Garland Around Windows, Shelves, and Pot Racks
Faux or fresh garland around windows, shelves, or a pot rack is one of the fastest ways to make the kitchen feel like Christmas. Add fairy lights for extra glow.
The garland in our kitchen is a very old faux bay leaf garland from Pottery Barn. It’s falling apart. I haven’t found another like it, so it gets one more year.
4. Hang a Wreath on the Range Hood
A wreath on the range hood looks festive, and it uses zero counter space. Go fresh or faux, with evergreen, boxwood, berries, or dried oranges. With fresh greenery, keep it well above the burners, since heat dries it out fast.
5. Create a Christmas Vignette on a Tray
A tray keeps a vignette tidy and easy to move. This one sits on a vintage silver tray with:
Above the window, I lined up little houses and bottle brush trees. Someday I’ll have a real Christmas village to show off. See more ideas on how to create a vignette in 5 minutes.
6. Set Up a Coffee and Hot Cocoa Bar
I wanted a coffee and hot cocoa bar for years. When my husband put up a shelf in the hallway across from our pantry, I finally had the spot. It doesn’t need much:
Add a small tree or a bit of greenery, and it’s ready for guests.
Shop My Holiday Home Decor Favorites
Shop my favorite online holiday home decor items from Christmas trees and stockings to candles and pillows.
7. Put a Christmas Tree in the Kitchen
One year I set a tree between the living room and kitchen and decorated it to match the copper. Look closely, and you’ll see it’s sitting in a vintage galvanized bucket. If your kitchen is tight, see my Christmas trees for small spaces.
8. Fill Glass Jars with Holiday Treats
Glass jars are one of my favorite ways to decorate the kitchen. Fill them with:
9. Tuck Something Under a Glass Cloche
A cloche turns most anything into a display:
10. Style the Kitchen Island and Table
Containers and trays keep decor on the island and table from sliding into clutter. Fill dough bowls, trays, and scalloped ironstone bowls with greenery, pinecones, fruit, berries, and ornaments.
In past years, an old vintage chicken feeder filled with rustic ornaments, berries, and greens has been our centerpiece.
We don’t have a formal dining room, but we love our eating area, which looks out over Puget Sound. It gets the same treatment.
Use cloches to create magical Christmas displays.
11. Drape Plaid Blankets Over the Chairs
A plaid blanket over a kitchen chair adds color in two seconds, and it’s there for anyone who wants it with their coffee.
12. Add Mini Christmas Trees
A mini tree or two brings Christmas right to the counter without taking over. Set them in a vintage crock, a galvanized bucket, or a copper pot. A few bottle brush trees in an ironstone bowl or cup work too.
13. Decorate with Seasonal Fruit and Baking
Pomegranates, oranges, pears, and nuts are the easiest winter kitchen decor there is. You’d have them in the kitchen anyway.
A pie, cake, or plate of cookies on the island counts too. It makes the house smell amazing, and it doesn’t last long.
14. Bring in Fresh Greenery
Branches, berries, seasonal flowers, fresh greens, and pinecones are the simplest way to decorate for the holidays. A jar of fresh rosemary on the counter looks pretty and smells even better. See more in my post, Natural Elements for Cozy Christmas Decor.
For our pendant lights, I cut faux greenery napkin rings and put two on each light, overlapped on each side so you can’t see the cut. I used the same trick in my green-and-white Christmas living room. Use faux greenery on light fixtures. Fresh greens dry out quickly near a warm bulb.
15. Decorate Your Kitchen Cabinets
Fill glass-front cabinets with colorful dishes and glassware, and hang small wreaths or garland on the cupboard doors. If you have space above the cabinets, that’s a great spot for greenery or a few mini trees.
16. Hang a Christmas Sign
A Christmas sign on the kitchen wall is a great focal point and a pop of color, with nothing on the counter.
Christmas Kitchen Decorating FAQs
Use vertical space first: open shelves, the range hood, windows, cabinet doors, and light fixtures. Group decor on a tray or in a dough bowl on the counter, and keep your main workspace clear.
Start with what’s already there, like white ironstone or glassware, then add greenery, pinecones, and berries. Mix in a few vintage pieces like a Santa mug or scale. Use one color story so the shelves look styled and not crowded.
Display basics like hot chocolate mix, marshmallows, candy canes, and Christmas mugs. Add a coffee option, spoons or stir sticks, and a small tree or some greenery to make it festive.
Yes. A slim or tabletop tree works well in a kitchen corner, on a counter, or between the kitchen and living room. Set it in a crock or galvanized bucket, and keep it away from the stove.
Fresh greenery is fine on the shelves, tables, and windows. Keep it away from burners, the oven vent, and hot light bulbs, where it dries out quickly. Faux greenery is the safer choice on range hoods and light fixtures.
Candy canes, wrapped candies, cookies, pinecones, small ornaments, cinnamon sticks, or mini gingerbread houses all work. Clear jars on an open shelf make an easy display that changes when the treats get eaten.
Final Thoughts on Cozy Christmas Kitchen Decorating
You don’t need all 16. A garland, a bowl of pomegranates, and a wreath on the range hood are enough to make the kitchen feel like Christmas. Everything else is extra.
If you have any questions or your own kitchen tricks, share them in the comments.
Until next time,
Happy Holiday Decorating!
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Love your cozy kitchen all dressed up for Christmas. The tree in the opening between rooms is awesome; you can enjoy it from both sides! Your adorable green vintage picnic basket is making me want to vintage shop for one of those; love it & I don’t own a green one…yet;) Always love seeing your vintage find decorated for the season. Thanks for the tour; can’t wait to see more!
Kim,
Your kitchen is filled with charm! I love the tree in the space and can imagine coffee enjoying the view. Beautiful!
I plan to decorate our kitchen this weekend (fingers crossed) but was totally dreading it until I read your post. I am just going to go with natural greens and not switch things out like I have in the past. I loved every tip! Your tours are always amazing and so inspiring to me. Love every nook and cranny! Merry Christmas Kim. Looking forward to seeing the green house soon.
Kim, I cannot believe I missed this post. I think the 35 homes just sounded overwhelming and I am finally getting back to read this. Your home is all of the following: cozy, warm, charming, loving, soothing, approachable, and beautifully decorated! You have the gift, my friend. Thank you for sharing all your great tips. I am getting my fresh cedar garland delivered today so hopefully the house will be smelling like Christmas soon!
I always love your tours, Kim! And that tree is SO pretty! The centerpiece on your dining table is perfect, and, of course, that view! Always makes me sigh! The copper and ironstone work great, too! Looking forward to seeing your completed beverage station! Woot!
Kim I would just love to spend a day at your home and garden taking in all the wonderful treasures and views! I think I have said that before! We love so many of the same things so I always gather some ideas for using my vintage junk in new ways when I see your styling. Everything looks beautiful and I can’t wait to see more of your holiday home. Merry Christmas!
I just love your home, Kim! Your kitchen looks beautiful and I especially love your table centerpiece. So very pretty! Merry Christmas to you, friend!
So festive and warm, Kim! I love the slim tree between the kitchen and living room! Frames the view in both directions! And so clever to use napkin rings to decorate your pendant lights! I am ready to get my home decorated!
Kim!!! Your kitchen Is absolutely gorgeous! You did a great job getting it decorated for Christmas!!
Your kitchen is so pretty. I love all of the special details that you added. Happy holidays to you, my friend. So fun hopping with you today.
Kim
Your kitchen is so warm and inviting. I loved the garlands around the windows and all your copper touches. Just beautiful. So fun doing these together.
Kim
Your kitchen is so warm and inviting. I loved the garlands around the windows and all your copper touches. Just beautiful. So fun doing these together.
Kim your kitchen looks so charming and inviting with your vintage items and cute additions of greenery. So much to see and appreciate including the wrap around garland which still looks pretty good to me! Lovely tour, and as always I enjoyed visiting your beautiful cottage!
Kim, I love your kitchen and now even more that it is decorated for Christmas. I love the copper pieces with white ironstone. It looks beautiful. My favorite is the basket with all of the wooden cutting boards. It looks so nice under the open shelves. Your kitchen looks beautiful, warm and cozy for the holidays.
Gorgeous as always Kim. I love all the copper and your trees. Your kitchen table looks gorgeous and Ollie is adorable! Pinned! Great touring with you!
Your kitchen is so beautiful! Love all these great holiday decor ideas!! Pinned.
Kim, your kitchen looks so beautiful all styled for Christmas. I feel like I always forget about mine, but you’ve inspired me to add some more fun holiday touches. So happy to be touring with you this week. Pinned!
Kim, It is always a pleasure to visit your charming cottage kitchen. Everything looks beautifully festive and hanging a wreath from the vent hood is brilliant–pinned! Wishing you a joyous Christmas season! Blessings, Cecilia @My Thrift Store Addiction
Kim your kitchen is just so cozy and beautiful and even more so at Christmas! I love how you have kept it simple. The tree between the rooms is jsut perfect as is the hot cocoa bar! Pinned and want to wish you a very Merry Christmas!
Kim the kitchen looks amazing! I love all the pretty details and you are the best at creating vignettes. And how cute is your sweet pup at the table. LOVE!!!
Everything is just lovely Kim!! So much vintage charm!