KN Christmas Tree Color Schemes — Ideas to Just About Cover the Rainbow!

Over the past several years, we’ve decorated a lot of trees. We’ve dressed trees in different colors, different color combos, and different levels of formality. Even so, we haven’t even scratched the surface of possibility. And, it isn’t just the matter of declaring a color but how it’s incorporated that can make a tree look different. Like… using a specific color ribbon instead of ornaments (or vice versa, or both) can result in totally unique and distinct creations. So today, as we amp up to share this year’s annual KN Christmas Home Tour, we’re going to take a look back for ways we’ve interpreted different color schemes over the past several Christmas seasons.

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Christmas Tree Color Schemes

So, back to inspo for Christmas tree color schemes! My Christmas tree colors and themes are typically inspired by my existing decor, what I already have on hand, or new items I’ve seen or already purchased. That being said, I always try to come up with color combos I’ve not used (or seen others use.) Inspiration is all around, you just need to know where to look for it!

• After Christmas sales are a great way to get inspired for the next season. While I’m usually exhausted by the end of the holiday and taking down the decorations, I did purchase most of the items for Eliza’s purple Christmas tree for 70% during the post-Christmas sale at Hobby Lobby a couple years ago. (Thank goodness for Gran Nan’s carriage garage, where all the bags resided until the following year.) While Eliza’s big girl purple color scheme was the true inspiration, it sure did help to find most of the needed items after the holiday. You can see Eliza’s purple Christmas tree in my 2022 Christmas Home Tour HERE. And, you can get a sneak peek of how it’s evolved this year on Instagram HERE.
• I’ve also used my existing home decor color palette as the inspiration and choose colors that will complement, or even contrast my everyday decor.
• I review the colors and themes I’ve done in the past and like to mix things up so no two years in a row are identical.
• I survey the Christmas decorations I already have on hand to determine what I can reuse to determine the upcoming theme colors.
• If I’m shopping new items for inspiration, I don’t limit my searches to Christmas shops and Christmas sections. I also peruse florals, crafts, sewing supplies, wedding departments…pretty much, the sky’s the limit!
• When I’m prioritizing what colors go where, our main tree in the living room gets all it needs first. I use other colors/pull from what’s remaining to round out the decor for the secondary trees.

If you’re still considering establishing a Christmas tree color scheme, here’s some ways we’ve incorporated most colors of the rainbow over the past several years…

Green Trees

Our living room tree last year was one of my faves ever. I didn’t have big mint balls so I spray painted old balls I had in storage.

Sources: Large Wood Wall Art | Black Leather Arm Chair | Tasseled Green Throw Blanket | Wool Jute Rug | Terracotta Nativity Set | Brown Craft Paper | Green Berry Picks | Eucalyptus Stems | Moss Green Burlap Ribbon | Dark Green Burlap Ribbon | Moss Sage Green Burlap Ribbon | Canvas Wired Ribbon | Light Green Velvet Ribbon

The gold netting and black and white striped ribbon made this tree a few years ago…

Sources: Wingback Chair | White and Gold Boxes

I used a single forest green in the bedroom tree below but the literal stars of the show were the… well… stars 😉

Sources: Rug | Bird Art 1 | Bird Art 2 | Tasseled Throw Blanket

This was a similar take on the larger tree from above, in a nearby room.

Sources: Matted Black Frames | Dining Chairs (similar)

Red Trees

I have LOVED the years when we’ve used red! This living room tree from 2021 was an all time fave.

Sources: Wide Tartan Ribbon | Gold-Edge Striped Red Ribbon | Red and White Striped Canvas Ribbon | Burgundy Burlap Ribbon

I used both bright and deep red and kept the complimentary ornaments to gold.

Sources: Wide Tartan Ribbon | Gold-Edge Striped Red Ribbon | Red and White Striped Canvas Ribbon | Burgundy Burlap Ribbon | Striped Wrapping Paper | Red Wrapping Paper | Brown Craft Paper | Red Velvet Ribbon | Burgundy Velvet Ribbon | Wooden Wall Art | Wingback Chairs | Textured Linen Pillows

I took a more minimal approach to the flocked tree in the dining room this year…

Sources: Silver Star Christmas Tree Topper | Wool Jute Rug | Cement Lamp | Dining Table (similar) | Dining Chairs (similar) | Sideboard (similar)

And several years ago, I used some thin plaid ribbon with some red berries, red birds and red apples (no actual red ornaments!)

Several years ago, I came up with a wine and champagne theme and I was using a lot of metalics and glitz during this era…

Blue Trees

I loved this color combo — my primarily blue Christmas tree complimented by greens and golds with black-watch plaid…

Sources: Gold Mesh Ribbon | Black Watch Tartan Ribbon | Gold Organza Ribbon | Navy Ribbon | Green Satin Ribbon | Thin Navy Ribbon | Gold Satin Ribbon | Brown Craft Paper | Wood Wall Art | Wingback Chair | Teddy Bear Pillow | Woven Bar Stools | Christmas Stockings

And this blue was brought in via flowers and ribbon.

I had a tiffany blue tinsel tree that I kept to white decor…

And this southern-style magnolia blossom tree was a more formal fave in the dining room. Again, the blue was only incorporated via a single type of ribbon.

Tartan Trees

I’ve had plenty of plaid trees over the years but one of my favorite places to use plaid is on our family nostalgia trees where all the special ornaments go.

Sources: Rug | Oversized Curtain Rod | Brown Gray Floor Vase | Sconce (similar) | Bird Prints | Seagrass Storage Trunk | Glass Front Curio Cabinet (similar) | Large Stoneware Vase | Medium Stoneware Vase | Gold Star Christmas Tree Topper | Fairy Lights

When I had a plaid tree in the living room, I loved using all kinds of different, contrasting plaid wrapping paper for the gifts at the base.

Sources: Wood Wall Art | Wingback Chair | Woven Bar Stools | Christmas Stockings | Brass Party Bucket | Leather X Stool

Pink Trees

I haven’t done a lot of pink trees but I really went for the gold and blush glam way back when I had this tree in my office…

And I loved the fairyland theme and trees in Eliza’s nursery her first year.

And I decorated not one, but two 😉

Sources: White Cane Crib | Macrame Crib Skirt | Song Lyric Art (similar) | Song Lyric Art Frames | Antelope Pillow | Fringed Throw | Rocking Bear (similar) | Nursery Rocker | Sheepskin Rug (similar) | Textured Wool Rug

This was a spring-y meadow style tree I used some pink floral ribbon in the dining room.

White Trees

White trees are classic and it’s really easy to make ’em look great — especially if you’re using a flocked tree. I adored the long needled lightly flocked dining room trees this year and against our baby blue dining room walls and incorporated icy blue blooms, it had a Frozen aesthetic.

This was another time I used not one, but two trees.

Sources: Chandelier | Rug | Dining Chairs (similar) | Dining Table (similar) | Sideboard (similar)

The first year we had black dining room walls, I used clear ornaments on the same lightly flocked tree…

Sources: Chandelier | Wool Jute Rug | Landscape Wall Art | Dining Chairs (similar) | Dining Table (similar) | Sideboard (similar) | Cement Lamps | Silver Star Christmas Tree Topper | Oversized Lit Bottle Brush Trees (set of 3)

And while not my style currently, back in my 2015-2016 era, I was living for sparkles and glam. You also didn’t see Christmas tree ribbon as much, back in this day.

Silver and Gold Trees

This gold tinsel with gold everything tree was a statement in our bedroom a few years ago. No ribbon — all ornaments and picks.

Sources: Rug | Lidded Baskets (set of 2) | Bird Art 1 | Bird Art 2 | Side Table (similar)

And I remember creating this tree from “leftovers” that year but loving the champagne end result.

I love siliver in a heavily flocked tree — especially paired with white.

Purple Trees

One of my favorite creations ever was Eliza’s purple tree last year. This year’s tree MAY just have taken the top spot for me, though.

Sources: Nightstand | Table Lamp | Wooden Nativity Set

Multi-Color Trees

Without rhyme or reason, I used a bunch of punchy primary and bold colors together, along with different patterns, in Eliza’s nursery.

Sources: Gold Starburst Christmas Tree Topper | Song Lyric Wall Art (similar) | Song Lyric Wall Art Frame | White Cane Crib | Cuddle & Kind Mermaid Dolls | Nursery Rocker

And I also created a butterfly garden on her tree in her nursery one year. That year, there wasn’t a thing on her tree that actually came from a Christmas department.

Sources: Butterflies Assorted 12 pcs | Vibrant Multi-Colored Butterflies 12 pcs | Blue Butterflies 12 pcs | Monarch Butterflies 12 pcs | Assorted Monarch Butterflies 12 pcs | White Cane Crib | Song Lyric Wall Art (similar) | Song Lyric Wall Art Frame | Antelope Pillow