How To Decorate With Garland

Do you decorate with garland? It is a great way to add Christmas decor to your home that isn’t in the shape of a Christmas tree and it can help you balance a room and accent beautiful features of your home. It can be as simple or as elaborate as you want. This year I added more garlands than I have in the past years. Let me show you.

Decide Where To Place Your Garland

There are lots of places in and around your home that would look great with a little garland. You just have to decide where those places are. The first thing I would consider is what are the features of your home that you would like to accent? Where do you want to draw the eye? There are the obvious places like mantels and staircases, but think outside the box and see if you can come up with any other more creative places as well.

For example, I have elected not to put any on my staircase because I’m not in love with my staircase. It’s more of a project that I hope to get to one day than a beautiful feature of my home. I did, however, place garland on the wall on my antique bedframe going up the stairs. This required a lot less, for one thing, and I would rather draw the eye to my wall art than my railing. I also placed garland on my dining room table, three mantels, and my windmill. All of these placements were meant to accent those features and spread the decor throughout the rooms.

Protect The Area

Unlike a Christmas tree that is freestanding, garland is going to be attached to your home or furnishings. So, before you attach it, make sure it’s not going to do any damage to your mantel or railing or whatever you are placing it on.

If you are attaching to a staircase railing, you might consider wrapping the parts of the railing where you are attaching the garland with Saran Wrap or green or brown felt. This will hopefully prevent any damage or scratches from the greenery or wire.

If you are placing a garland on a painted fireplace, which I did, you might want to place a layer of fabric down first. I just have some very light fabric that I place on the mantel before I put the garland on there. This helps protect my paint job.

Start with a Base Garland

Start with a base piece of garland. If you are going to cover it in ornaments and decor, it doesn’t have to be the best quality. If it is going to be a featured decoration, you might want something that is better in quality.

For example, the one I used in my dinning room is on the table and you will be pretty close to it and be able to see it close up. That garland could be a little bit higher quality than the one I put far away and high up on my windmill.

I did upgrade some garlands this year on two of my mantels. Since I couldn’t find a really fluffy high quality with mixed tips garland when I started decorating, I went with a good quality tear drop garlands with mixed tips. Two of these together make a perfect long garland across my mantel.

Make sure your base garland is secure and well attached. I just placed my garlands on top of my mantels. They aren’t really hanging down; otherwise, you could wire the garland to screws that you set in to the back of your mantel. I did use wire to attach the garland to the windmill, but it wasn’t necessary on my mantels.

Always Add Lights

Lights are a must. Really, aren’t lights the whole point of Christmas decorations? I would always add lights, even if you have to get battery operated ones. I love the wired fairy lights, the LED cluster lights, and the old fashioned incandescent lights. Whatever you have, add them.

I even added lights to my windmill. I really wanted lights to play off the mirror and bounce around the room.

Add Your Decor To The Garland

Once your base garland is in place and secure, attach your other decor to the base. You can start by adding other garland or greenery and then ribbon and ornaments. Add as much or a little as you see fit. You can coordinate with your tree that might be close by or you might create a whole new look in a different part of the house.

In order to finish out my windmill, I had to rob the garland I had already done in my bedroom. I needed the red ornaments and poinsettias to coordinate with the rest of the room. So, that just gave me the chance to redo the bedroom with my silver decor from our wedding. Here are two looks from my bedroom – red and silver. This base garland came from Hobby Lobby.

Adding garland throughout your house can really compliment your home and help you spread your Christmas decor cheer around the entire house. They are easier to put together than a Christmas tree and add a decor punch to any room. Consider decorating with garland this Christmas.

Decorate With Me Video

If you want to see me decorate my windmill mirror with garland. Check out this video.

Pin How To Decorate With Garland here!

To see my other decor from 2020, check out these posts below.

How To Change Up Your Christmas Decor Without Breaking The Bank.

A Classic Red Christmas Tree

Santa Clause Inspired Christmas Tree

Nature Inspired Christmas Tree