10 Festive Living Room Christmas Decor Ideas That Won’t Break the Bank

The cost of Christmas can be extremely overwhelming without throwing lots of living room Christmas decor ideas into the mix.

Our living rooms tend to be the centre of our Christmas décor, with Christmas trees, garlands and lights taking centre stage.

However, it doesn’t need to get expensive. Reusing and recycling what we already have and making our own decorations can create beautiful Christmas decor on a budget. 

10 festive living room christmas decor ideas on a budger Pinterest pin

Living room Christmas decor ideas

Don’t fancy putting up a tree and want to keep costs down this year? Already have a tree but your decorations are looking a bit tired and dated?

I am always looking for living room Christmas décor ideas as I love our living room to be as festive as possible.

This is where we spend a lot of our time on Christmas day, so it is nice to be surrounded by twinkling lights, candles and Christmas colours whilst we watch the kids unwrap their presents and drink champagne for breakfast!

7ft Christmas tree in the living room with green, red and gold decorations
Our cosy Christmas living room this year

How can I decorate my living room for Christmas on a budget? 

The tree always takes centre stage in the living room at Christmas, but there are plenty of other festive ways to decorate your living room without breaking the bank.

Here are some small living room Christmas ideas to add a bit of festive cheer to your front room.

1.  Decorate your mantelpiece or around your fireplace

Fireplaces and mantelpieces always take centre stage in a living room and a lot of our Christmas decor ideas are based around them.

Mantelpiece decorating seems to get bigger and better every year and I have seen some amazing displays on social media.

They are perfect for decorating with garlands, hanging ornaments or fairy lights.

dark green walls and christmas tree decorated in green, gold and red in the living room next to a fireplace
I love decorating our mantelpiece at Christmas. This garland is from Balsam Hill
mantelpiece garland with pine combs and gold leaves
Gilded Forest Foliage – Balsam Hill

Buying garlands can be a little expensive, so have a go at creating your own. You could go foraging for Ivy and tie them together with green pipe cleaners or find a large evergreen branch and wrap it with fairy lights.

Natural and homemade always looks better in my opinion and is great if you’re looking for Christmas decor on a budget!

2.  Make a Christmas tree twig

If you’re looking for small living room Christmas décor ideas, a Christmas tree twig decoration is ideal for a small space! They are really simple to do and you can use decorations you already have.

Depending on the size of the wall you want to hang it from, go for a lovely winter walk and find some twigs and branches in varying lengths to create your Christmas tree shape.

Tie the branches together and wrap copper wire fairy lights around them.

Finally, hang some small decorations from the branches and you have your very own compact Christmas tree for your living room!

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How to Create an Eco Friendly Christmas Tree Twig Decoration

dark green wall with christmas twig tree decoration
My Christmas Tree Twig decoration. So easy to create and extremely festive

3.  Decorate your artwork or create your own Christmas art

If you haven’t got a fireplace or mantelpiece and are looking for small living room Christmas ideas, don’t worry! You can still make the most of what you do have.

You can hang holly and ivy with berries from your artwork and mirrors and decorate your furniture with tinsel and garlands.

We save our Christmas cards every year and hang them on our shelves in the living room. My kids enjoy cutting out their favourite images and hanging them from fairy lights with pegs on them.

cream walls with vintage chest of drawers and a christmas tree shape made out of pages from books with fairy lights
Create a Christmas-shaped piece of art with old Christmas cards or pages from old books. Image credit: lights4fun

4.  Decorate with foraged items

Foraging for your own Christmas décor couldn’t be easier or cheaper. I love the simplicity of your own freshly cut evergreen leaves like fir trees or eucalyptus and they fit in with all styles of décor.

They are extremely easy to display. You can hang them from your chimney breast with command hooks or display them in vases with baubles hanging from them.

Christmas decor on a budget, but a lot of effort :)
A very elaborate Christmas hanging decoration with fir tree branches and eucalyptus I did back in 2019. I haven’t got time for that anymore! 🙂
barn conversion with timber joists, plants growing up the joists and a green velvet sofa
Wild woodland Christmas – Wayfair
cream abstract vase with twigs and baubles hanging from them
John Lewis Snow Mountain Baubles

5.  Hang paper decorations from your windows and walls

Another extremely easy and cheap way to make Christmas décor on a budget is to make decorations out of paper.

Brown paper bag stars look stunning alongside foraged items from your garden or the countryside. You can vary them in size and hang them from your mantelpiece or from foraged branches.

I also love creating paper snowflakes every year and hanging them from our windows.

christmas garland on the mantelpiced with paper made decorations
If you are looking for simple Christmas decor ideas, creating your own paper stars and hanging them in your living room is quick and effortless

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6.  Add fairy lights, everywhere!

Fairy lights really shout Christmas to me. Although I do like using them all year round. They don’t have to be confined to the Christmas tree only.

You can drape them around your artwork, shelves or mantelpiece or even wrap them around your ornaments. You can never have too many fairy lights at Christmas!

large christmas tree in the living room with fairy light paper
The simplest of Christmas decor ideas is to add Fairy lights everywhere! They could be twisted around stars or find fairy light ornaments to decorate your coffee table or shelves. Indoor Christmas Lighting – Sparkle Lighting

7.  Make your own Christmas decorations

Social media is full to the brim with DIY decorations at the moment.

From paper bag stars to leftover wallpaper baubles, there are crafts and DIY tutorials for the most reluctant (me), to expert level!

home made paper decorations for your christmas tree
Beautiful and simple, make your own paper baubles! For a How-To, go to melanielissackinteriors.com
christmas tree with red baubles and home made brown paper house decorations
Keeping your decor simple with little decorations made out of brown cardboard. Photo by Mariana Rascão on Unsplash 

Another way to create Christmas décor on a budget is to make your own Christmas wreath and hang it on your chimney.

You can buy an artificial fir Christmas wreath from places like Hobbycraft for as little as £6 and add your own items.

Again, they don’t have to be bought from a shop. You can go foraging for branches with berries on them, holly, ivy and anything that catches your eye.

christmas wreaths with red ribbons and berries, dried oranges and pine combs.
How to make a Christmas wreath with Hobbycraft

A favourite of mine is to add dried fruit to your décor.

You could easily slice up some oranges, place them on a baking tray and put them in the oven for around 40 minutes until they are hard and dried out. Perfect for adding to your Christmas wreath.

orange with spice

8.  Fill jars with foliage and fairy lights

Creating your own Christmas scene in old jam jars or containers can be lots of fun. Collect moss from your garden and use little pine cones covered in glitter to create a miniature winter wonderland.

Use different-sized jars, fill them with fairy lights and place them on your coffee table, shelves and by the fireplace.

winter foliage in a glass sphere
Glass Globe Dome With Dried Flora And LED – NOTHS

9.  Create a coffee table centrepiece with candles and Christmas ornaments

Don’t have any jam jars or containers? Use a shallow bowl or fruit bowl and fill it with foliage, fairy lights and baubles.

This is a great way to create a centrepiece for your coffee table or dining room table without too much fuss.

Or, use a tray from your kitchen and fill it with candles, Christmas ornaments and foliage.

christmas living room with industrial style coffee shop christmas cushions and chunky knit throw
Small living room Christmas decor ideas
christmas scene in a tray
Simple Christmas Tray – Pretty Little Home

10.  Keep your décor simple

Finally, one of the best ways to add Christmas décor on a budget is to keep it simple. I think we can all get a bit carried away at this time of year and social media certainly doesn’t help.

We’re all lead to believe that everyone has a Christmas bauble bomb that is thrown into our living rooms and automatically creates a huge and over-the-top Christmas winter wonderland in our living rooms.

But sometimes, less is more!

Keeping your décor simple with a few foraged items, hanging your Christmas cards up and adding some fairy lights is all you need.

christmas decorations in the kitchen with plain christmas tree and fairy lights, gallery wall and chunky knit throw

So, get those secateurs out and grab a few evergreen branches on your next country walk.

Keeping the décor homemade, simple and eco-friendly is not only good for the environment, but it’s also good for your wallet too!

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10 festive living room christmas decor ideas

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2 Comments

  1. Please can you advise what brick slips you used for your faux brick wall that surrounds your grey sliding doors? Many thanks in advance. P.s I’m currently in the process of redecorating a conservatory, kitchen and front room that all flow in one long line.. I’m so glad I came across your social media sites. So much inspiration and help. Thank you,

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