Christmas door decor ideas to dress entranceways with festive cheer

Welcome guests in style with a thoughtful Christmas door decor idea. From traditional door wreaths to on-trend balloon arches, there’s a seasonal decorating idea to suit all homes.

Making a festive first impression is a great way to set the tone for the rest of your Christmas decorating scheme. Decorating the exterior of a house also extends festive cheer to neighbours and those who passing-by, an ideal way to offer season’s greetings to the wider community.

Christmas door decor ideas

Christmas ideas to dress the outside of your home will offer festive cheer for all who see it. Door provide a blank canvas to add festive floral wreaths, twinkling fairy lights and characterful Christmas characters to welcome happy Christmas spirits to the everyone who crosses the threshold.

1. Set the scene

Christmas front door with wreath paper pom poms and dressed console table

Image credit: Future/ Dominic Blackmore

Create a festive showcase at your front to fully embrace seasonal decorating. Add lanterns to window ledges and steps to add ambience after dark. Dress the front door itself with a generous Christmas wreath, in a colour that coordinates with the rest of your chosen decorations. Decorate the windows either side of the front door with stickers or faux snow to add a whimsical touch to the setting.

Hang simple yet captivating paper ball decorations beside the front door to add an element of fun to the festivities.

2. Get creative with a balloon arch

Front door with balloon arch

Image credit: Ginger Ray

The mighty balloon arch has become THE must-have detail for any well-dressed party. It may look like a lot of effort, but it’s actually a fairly simple thing to make – all your require is a balloon pump and a whole lot of patience. This quirky kits comes with 240 balloons in total, plus everything you need to make your front door balloon arch.

Top tip: probably best saved for the days when you know you have guests arriving, less chance of deflating balloons ruining the look.

Buy now: Christmas Door Balloon Arch Kit, £24.99, Ginger Ray

3. Add ornaments to a seasonal wreath

Green fron door with christmas wreath with car ornaments and baubles

Image credit: Future/ Simon Whitmore

Cement the feeling of Christmas decorating by adding quirky ornaments and baubles to your front door wreath. Choose to brighten up a plain foliage wreath with decorations of your choosing – providing a great opportunity to add bold accent colours.

It also allows homeowners to tie a decorating scheme together, from inside to out. Simply coordinate the decorations with those inside on the Christmas tree to create a flow for your decorating scheme.

4. Wrap the door with a bow

Blue front door wrapped in red ribbon

Image credit: Future

A growing trend is the vision of the front door wrapped in a giant bow, as if being finished in the style of a perfectly wrapped present. It started as a popular celebrity trend but has now swept the nation as one of the most on-trend decorating practices for festive front doors.

All you need to wrap your own front door is two wide lengths of fabric, which you attach securely on the bottom and top, then both sides of the door – drawing pins should do the trick, or a staple gun. Bring the ends together in the middle on the front of the door and tie a bow.

5. Go oversized to add impact

Front door with Christmas wreath

Image credit: Future/ Rachel Whiting

It tis but once a year, so why keep it tame?! Go for a dramatically oversized wreath to fill the front door to really make a statement with your decorations this year.

The only thing to consider if you’re going bigger with the wreath, especially if it’s real, it will weigh more – so ensure your source of hanging it can take the weight.

6. Wrap and top with a wreath

Ribbon wrapped Christmas front door

Image credit: Max Attenborough

Wrap the door but in a more understated way than a giant ribbon and bow, adding a wreath as a ‘present’ topper. Make the bow less of a main attraction and opt for a simple wide ribbon to dress the door from top to bottom, left to right. Place a beautifully made wreath on top, adding streams of ribbon to it to coordinate with the door ribbon.

7. Adorn the door with alternative foliage

Festive foliage wreath on dark blue front door

Image credit: Future/ David Parmiter

There’s nothing quite like the look of a fresh foliage wreath, starring as the main attraction on a front door. This seasonal wreath filled with hearty hydrangeas and artichoke flowers shows how impactful real foliage can be – even when it’s not your typical spray of seasonal flowers.

Be aware that a fresh foliage wreath will be heavier than a faux design, because the foam will need to be damp in order to keep the flowers looking fresh for the duration it’s. on the door. We recommend spritzing the flower heads with a light water spray throughout the duration of Christmas, to keep it moist.

8. Welcome Christmas characters to the doorstep

light up reindeer family beside front door

image credit: Light4fun.co.uk

You can’t go wrong when you welcome cheerful Christmas characters to dress doorsteps. Although not technically a door decor detail, a light up figure will enhance the front door from by illuminating the doorstep or path leading to it.

‘Add festive figures such as show-stopping light up reindeers or sliding penguins! Perfectly on trend this season and are sure to take centre stage in your display’ says Amy Mason. director of product at Lights4fun.co.uk

‘New for Christmas 2021, our reindeer family features an exclusive functionality, illuminating in 3 different shades of white. Dress your enchanting display for a Christmas to remember.’

Buy now: Harewood Reindeer Family, £359.99, Lights4fun.co.uk

9. Coordinate a colour scheme

Green front door with green Christmas wreath

Image credit: Annie Sloan

For a sophisticated approach to seasonal decorating stick to one colour palette, matching the colour of your Christmas door decor with that of the front door. This elegant green front door is painted in Annie Sloan Chalk Paint in Amsterdam Green. The green colour is then echoed within a simple yet stunning rustic Christmas wreath.

The subtle decorating approach suits the house, showing that you can still create a stunning Christmas door decor idea without going OTT.

10. Decorate the porch with lights

Porch with net of fairy lights

Image credit: Lights4fun.co.uk

Shine a light above your front door by dressing the porch with a net of fairy lights, to offer full coverage. The smart web-like wire is easy to hang on the underside of a porch to create a blanket of lights, like stars, above to beautifully illuminate the front door.

Buy now: Essential Connect 280 Warm white Connectable Net Lights, £38.99, Lights4fun.co.uk

11. Wrap garlands to frame the front door

Christmas door decorations

Image credit: Future/ Debi Treloar

Create a sense of symmetry to balance your decorating scheme for the front door. Drape or wrap garlands either side of the front door to frame it with seasonal foliage.

Copy this homeowner by attaching bundles of tied cinnamon sticks to add aroma to the garland – this can be done whether real or faux. The use of a seasonal scent will alert the scenes as it gently wafts in the air as you pass by.

12. Dress both sides of the door

hallway with yellow front door

Image credit: Future/ Colin Poole

Don’t leave Christmas out in the cold, decorate the inside of the door as well as outside. Whether you choose to hang wreaths on either side to mirror the look, or bring the wreath inside and stick to lights outdoors – ensuring both sides are covered will offer festive cheer to guests as they arrive and leave during the festive period.

13. Stick with tradition for a classic look

Red rose traditional Christmas wreath

Image credit: The Real Flower Company

Fresh foliage is simply stunning for front door wreaths, offering colour and fragrance to greet guests. Choose traditional red roses to celebrate the classic colour of the season and to welcome a beautifully sweet scent.

Fresh wreaths are an investment but a professionally made design will last for weeks if cared for properly – with a gentle water spritz every few days to revive the flowers.

14. Redecorate with a splash of colour

Red painted front door with Christmas wreath

Image credit: Sadolin

It’s commitment, but perhaps you’ve been toying with the idea of repainting the front door for a while – Christmas might just be the perfect time!

‘When picking a shade for your door, consider the existing surrounds. If you a simple porch, why not consider going for a bolder colour,’ suggests Matthew Brown, Sandtex Technical Consultant. ‘Yet it if your door is surrounded by foliage or rustic stone opt for a subtler hue to blend in with the space.’

‘At Christmas Sadolin’s natural wood stains are perfect for creating a timeless backdrop for the greens and reds in your wreath.’

15. Keep it in character

Entrance with pinnk front door and Christmas wreath

Image credit: Future/ Polly Eltes

The pretty painted rubble and cob cottage has a pretty pink front door dressed with a rustic Christmas wreath to add to the element of country charm. A natural wreath of firs and eucalyptus is a subtle way to welcome a classic touch of Christmas to a front door when you want to keep the scheme understatedly chic.

How do you decorate a Christmas door?

You can decorate a Christmas door in a number of ways. Firstly with a simple festive wreath, the icon of  festive door decor. Lights are a brilliant way to add festive sparkle to front doors, to extend a warm welcome to guests.

Balloon arches are the decorating trend of the moment, adding wow factor to front doors in an instant.

How do you hang Christmas decorations on the front door?

The best way to hang Christmas decorations on a front is firstly by doing so without marking or damaging the paint or door itself, because after they come down the door still needs to look good. A wreath door hanger is the best way to hang a wreath without causing damage. The design clips over the top of the door frame and provides a sturdy metal hook.

I personally fix mine with doubled up garden twine, to reinforce the strength to take the weight, then secure a drawing pin into the top of the wooden door frame. Push it in enough to be secure but lease enough pin exposed so you can wrap the twine around the pin head – to hold the wreath in place.

The post Christmas door decor ideas to dress entranceways with festive cheer appeared first on Ideal Home.

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