Chinoiserie Christmas Tree with Dried Hydrangeas

A chinoiserie Christmas tree decorated with dried hydrangeas, glittery poinsettias and ginger jars proves that blue and white is always right, even at the holidays!

My decorating style is traditiional, but my color palette is not — especially when it comes to Christmas decorating.

I’ve been a fan of traditional toiles, blue-and-white pottery, vintage brass and chinoiserie motifs since before House Beautiful gave grandmillennial style its name. I’m always sharing chinoiserie-inspired crafts and projects, like these decoupaged oyster shells, metallic foiled ornaments or homemade dragon soaps.

Today, I’m excited to share my chinoiserie Christmas tree as part of the Celebrating Seasons Christmas Blog Hop, hosted by Leen of Sand Dollar Lane. If you’re coming from A Life Unfolding, welcome!

Fifteen of us are sharing our Christmas decor today. Be sure to visit Lindsay from Aratari at Home, who is next up on the tour, and all the participating bloggers. You’ll find all the links at the end of this post. So much beautiful holiday inspiration!

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Jump to:

• Keeping Decor Fresh Without Buying New
• How to Decorate a Chinoiserie Christmas Tree
• More Christmas Decorating Inspiration

I’ve used chinoiserie elements on Christmas trees in the past, but this year’s version is definitely my favorite.

The tree is simple yet elegant, glittery and glam, but with a nod to nature. It’s the perfect addition to our formal dining room with its statement wallpaper. And I love how the tree looks with my collection of blue-and-white tea sets in the china cabinet.

Keeping Decor Fresh Without Buying New

I’m not the type of person who buys all new Christmas decor every year. But I do like to switch things up, using what I already have in different ways.

This helps me keep my decor fresh and allows me to use some of my sentimental favorites year after year. Please don’t think you have to buy new decor every year for the holidays.

You can have a beautiful tree using well-loved ornaments and leftover ribbon. With the exception of the hydrangeas, which I grew and dried myself this summer, everything on this chinoiserie Christmas tree is something I already owned.

Buy New or Reuse?

I doubt I’ll ever go a Christmas season without buying anything because I am a maximalist who is easily seduced by glitter and sparkle. But I am trying to be more deliberate in what I do purchase. I’m trying to reduce the number of bins in the attic, not add to them!

If I don’t think I will love it in five or 10 years, I’m not buying it.

Rather than buying dozens of new ornaments, I may only buy a few special vintage keepsake ones that I know I will use again and again. The same goes for ribbon, garland and floral picks.

You can see that I used some of the same elements on the dining room tree in my 2019 Christmas Home Tour, but the look is totally different. (If you come back later for my 2021 Christmas Home Tour, you’ll see where I used the gold tree this year.)

When I shop for new seasonal decor, I also look for things that I can use in different rooms in my house. For example, anything chinoiserie would work in my dining room, keeping room or bedroom — and I could probably get away with using it in the living room, too.

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You can see from the photos above how I have used some of the same decorations — and even the tree itself — in different ways through the years.

I also make an effort to buy things secondhand and from small businesses whenever possible. I love the vintage look, and I’m able to stretch my budget by shopping at thrift stores, flea markets, yard sales and Facebook marketplace.

How to Decorate a Chinoiserie Christmas Tree

This year, I swapped out the gold tree that I normally use in the dining room for a more traditional artificial Belgium fir. (I used that tree in our living room last year.)

The chinoisiere Christmas tree sits next to my china cabinet. It is filled with our wedding china and crystal, as well as some thrifted silver and blue-and-white tea sets.

Once again, I used my mother-in-law’s vintage brass planter instead of a tree collar or skirt. (To see how we secured the tree without damaging the planter. read this post.)

To decorate the tree, I started out by adding ribbon to the tree. I tucked dark blue velvet wired ribbon into the tree and added long curls of a lighter blue ribbon. I chose colors from our wallpaper.

Next, I tucked in dried hydrangeas and glittery floral picks to fill any bare spots on the tree. I also clipped on some poinsettia flowers. (At Home carries the poinsettia clips in a variety of colors every year, so you don’t have to buy them all at once.)

I used mostly inexpensive, shatterproof ornaments in varying shades of blue on the chinoiserie tree. This is a great way to keep your budget in check.

Next, I added a few statement ornaments — blue-and-white ginger jars, a chinoiserie pagoda and a couple of pretty glass ornaments.

As the final touch, I added some glittery birds that look a lot like the ones on my wallpaper.

As my husband was helping me add the birds to the tree, he said, “Oh, I see what you did there.”

He hadn’t realized until that moment that the tree uses the same motifs and colors as the wallpaper — birds, florals, blue, aqua, gray, silver.

Pin This! Beautiful Chinoiserie Christmas Tree

More Christmas Decorating Inspiration

Be sure to visit the other bloggers on the Celebrating Seasons tour for more Christmas decorating tips and ideas.