The Ultimate Guide to Decorating with Greenery for the Holidays

Want to add more greenery to your holiday home? You’ll love our beautiful, budget-friendly, easy-to-copy ideas for decorating with greenery!

We’re so happy to be part of the Blogger’s Best Holiday Home Tour hosted by Kelly from The Tattered Pew and Mansa from This is Simplicite! You can find so much Christmas inspiration all week long!

If you’re joining us from Cecilia at My Thrift Store Addiction, or if you’re new to our blog, Hello and welcome to Simply2Moms!

We’re friends who are lucky to live across the street from each other, and we’d love to be friends with you.

After all, if you’re here right now we must have stuff in common!

We love sharing simple (and budget-friendly!) ideas for home decor and DIYs. Plus some healthy meal inspiration and recipes, and tips for raising teens and beyond.

But you’re here for decorating Christmas ideas, right?

We’re gonna share lots of ideas for decorating with greenery in your holiday home today.

But be sure to read all the way to the end of the post for our favorite!

Decorating Fireplace Mantels with Greenery

Anne created this stunning modern traditional look for her fireplace by using a mix of faux greenery on her pretty white mantel.

Adding faux pears and real magnolia leaves from her backyard ties in beautifully with the gold candlesticks and gorgeous new Christmas stockings.

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You’ve gotta go check out how she updated her mantel with trim and how she painted her marble fireplace surround with chalk paint.

It’s quite the transformation!

AnnMarie’s fireplace is a completely different look than Anne’s.

Since it’s more rustic with the stone and wood mantel, she styled it with a simple faux cypress garland, a couple of mini trees, and a wreath.

We both love decorating for the holidays with mini trees and shared some awesome mini tree styling tips here.

Where to Add Greenery to Dining Rooms & Kitchens

We love decorating with greenery all through our homes!

Since we spend so much time in our kitchens, naturally we love decorating them for the holidays.

A pretty garland of greenery with red berries on Anne’s chandelier in her kitchen brings in some traditional Christmas color.

A small fresh-cut sprig tied with a red ribbon around a white napkin for this place setting matches the color scheme of red and white with greenery.

This affordable faux boxwood garland used in the tablescape gets a dressed-up look with a beautiful string of antique mercury ornaments and white candles.

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Apparently we both love a pop of red in our kitchens at Christmas time!

AnnMarie adds greenery to her kitchen window by hanging two 6′ garlands around the window trim.

She adds a few faux greenery stems in a vase on one side of the windowsill. Plus a bit more greenery on the other side of the sill on a little ornament holder shaped like a house.

Chandeliers are a great place to add greenery because faux garlands can easily be draped around the light fixture.

Those mini faux cypress wreaths hanging on the back of each chair really ties her space together, doesn’t it?

How to Dress Up a Staircase for the Holidays

Staircases are another easy place to dress up your Christmas home.

And is there anything better than decorating them with greenery?

We both agree that garlands are the simplest way to style your staircase banisters!

Although we love the look of real garland, we don’t love the mess it brings.

Not to mention how it affects Anne’s allergies.

And how her three cats eat real greenery.

Then puke it up. Ugh.

So she used a mixed greens faux garland with pinecones and red berries on her banister with a few handmade Christmas bows in a pretty plaid.

AnnMarie’s staircase is decorated with a pretty faux pine garland with white berries.

She used black and white striped ribbon that matches the ribbon from her dining room to give her open concept home a cohesive look.

Plus it adds to the modern farmhouse style of her home.

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Gift Wrapping with Fresh Cypress Sprigs

Brown paper packages tied up with strings…

These are a few of my favorite things!

Are you singing now?

Us too!!

A few sprigs of greenery on each package adds a whimsical touch.

For our favorite price: free!

Where You Can Add Stems and Extra Greenery

Adding faux greenery to your everyday home decor is the perfect place to give your house a bit of Christmas magic.

Grab a pretty red bowl and create a beautiful arrangement with your favorite ornaments, grapevine orbs, and a few cuttings of greenery from your backyard.

Add a pillar candle in the middle and you have a simple but gorgeous arrangement that can be used anywhere!

These juniper stems with berries almost look real don’t they?

Whenever we find faux greenery that looks great we grab some because we know it’s a great way to style our holiday homes.

Plus we can use it year after year!

We even add greenery in our powder rooms!

In AnnMarie’s bathroom, she placed a small piece of leftover faux pine garland from her staircase on top of a cabinet.

Then she added some sparkly Christmas pieces and a sentimental stained glass angel from her mom.

Using extra pieces of greenery in unexpected ways is another awesome tip to add greenery while saving money!

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Should You Use Real or Faux Greenery Outdoors

Well, we’ve gotten to our last place to add greenery to our holiday homes!

And it’s our FAVORITE!

Why?

Well, because it’s just as fun to decorate the outside as the inside.

Not to mention, it’s welcoming for our friends, family, and neighbors to create a beautiful front porch!

Front Porches

Should you use real or faux greenery outside?

There’s really not a right or wrong answer here!

We like to use both real and fake greenery in our outdoor spaces.

Anne’s garland around her door is faux but has some fresh clipping tucked in.

And she filled a basket up front with fresh clippings from trees and shrubs in her yard.

This copper container is a perfect place to add clippings from a magnolia tree and a holly bush. Those red berries coordinate with the other red decorations on Anne’s outdoor table.

Look how pretty Anne’s tiered planter is. Just adding fresh greenery to it gives it a festive Christmasy look next to her front porch rocking chairs.

And hello?!

What’s better than free decor?

Just look around your yard…we bet you may have fresh greenery you can use to decorate your outdoor holiday home too.

If you look across the street while rocking on Anne’s porch you can see AnnMarie’s festive front porch.

Talk about a pretty view!

AnnMarie combined trimmings from her real Christmas tree with some fresh greenery from her yard to create winter container arrangements.

Instead of filling large lanterns with ornaments, try filling them with some fresh cuttings for a different and free idea.

The front door wreath and Christmas trees are faux but the garland hung on the porch is real.

It’s okay to mix both together!

We both love traditional vintage Christmas decor and is there anything more classic than an old sled and skates?

Tie a bit of faux greenery to the bow for a pretty front porch display.

Don’t forget about your windows!

Wreaths and window swags can add even more greenery to the front of your Christmas home.

AnnMarie has had these window swags for about 12 years.

She just switches out the ribbons every few years to give them a new look.

Patios

Decorating outdoors for the holidays doesn’t have to be limited to the front of your house.

Look how Anne decorated the pergola in the backyard by their pool!

There’s nothing like sitting outside around the firepit watching a good Hallmark movie at this time of year.

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Don’t you love the garland on the pergola’s posts? You won’t believe Anne’s secret for getting this look!

Some backyard clippings added to a lantern filled with battery-operated candles give a beautiful nighttime glow to the patio.

And here’s another gorgeous free arrangement of magnolia and holly tree clippings.

Aren’t the combination of these two just stunning?

Just add some containers with water to keep them looking fresh all season.

We hope you enjoyed visiting our homes today and got some great tips for decorating your holiday home with greenery!

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And now, be sure to visit our friend Suzy from Worthing Court! Her dining room is so pretty in all its Christmas finery.

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