Christmas Decorating Ideas for Warm Climates

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Christmastime is one of the best seasons of the year. Friends and family draw together to celebrate and take time from their busy lives to intentionally engage with one another in settings decked out for a holiday. 

Many families will start their decorative celebrations with the purchase of a tree, some even venturing out to Christmas tree farms to hand-pick a live tree to cut down and bring home. The decorating continues with evergreen wreaths and garland, hand-cut snowflakes from the kids, and cute little Christmas villages being set up with careful hands out of reach of adorably tiny but highly destructive hands. 

Once everything is finished, fireplaces will be lit, mugs of hot cocoa passed around, and the newest Hallmark movie turned on as everyone snuggles down together.

But what if your Christmas doesn’t take place in a stereotypically snow-ridden environment? What if your Christmas is much more sand-filled and sunny? Well, if that’s you, don’t despair! There are a ton of fun, warm climate options for sprucing your home this holiday season. 

Our friends at NovaofCalifornia.com are experts at lighting and holiday decorating for warm weather climates, especially theirs on the California coast! Here are some of their ideas to help you get inspired. For more holiday decorating ideas visit the NOVA blog

Don’t Hesitate to Use Ocean-y Colors 

Using ocean-themed colors is a great way to invite Christmas into a tropically located home. They tend to compliment a more beachy vibe a lot better than traditional green, red, and gold decorations, which can feel more substantial and warm by comparison.

Blues, teals, silvers, and whites are all excellent choices for your décor. Their icy tones bring a coolness to your spaces and invite a certain airiness by their lighter nature.         

Experiment with Ocean-themed Ornaments

Instead of trying to force your home to conform to pre-established norms for Christmas décor, try to spice the traditional ball ornaments and candy canes up with beach-themed options. You can create a real ocean oasis with your favorite movies like Moana and The Little Mermaid to bring the Disney themed Christmas tree to life. 

Seashells, starfish, and sand dollars are great ornament choices that can easily be focal points or neutral eye-candy, depending on how you use them. Each easily exaggerates a warmer environment and invites the outdoors in.

You can also find tropical-themed Santas in Hawaiian shirts, more neutral nautical ornaments like buoys, boats, and anchors, and cute little sunburnt elves to show off your sense of humor and holiday spirit.

Buy a Tropical Tree Topper

As the focal point of your tree, the topper you choose has a lot of impact on your home’s aesthetic. Lots of people choose angels, stars, or ribbons to top their trees, but mixing it up a bit with oceanic alternatives is a great way to bring the season and your home’s warm climate into harmony with each other.

If you’re feeling adventurous, pineapple tree toppers are a great way to bring more flavors from your home-town into your holiday decorations. Many of them come in uniform gold or silver colors, but colorful pineapples are always a good option.

Another fun way to bring Christmas to your tropical tree is by topping it with a more oceanic approach to the angel. Otherwise known as “Angels of the Sea,” mermaids are a great beachy substitute for the stereotypical white-clad angels you see. 

They can come in more neutral silver, gold, and white tones, but using a mermaid tree topper gives you a unique opportunity to explore color on your tree topper. Try mermaids in shades of blue, green, or purple to help tie in the tropics to your Christmas decorations.

But if you’re wanting to keep everything a bit more classic while still tying into your climate, you can’t go wrong with a starfish tree topper. They’re very similar to the more traditional star toppers. They also generally come in more muted, neutral tones, so you’re not overwhelmed with a bunch of colors—starfish toppers work well for more minimalistic decorating tastes too.

Try a Different Kind of Tree

Traditionally, various pine, fir, and spruce trees are chosen as the centerpieces for family celebrations during the Christmas season. They fit well aesthetically in colder environments, and they lend a certain warmth to spaces with their natural, deeper green coloring. 

These kinds of trees may still be a good option for you and your family, but if you’re looking for something a bit different, there are a couple of different options available to you.

Artificial Trees

Using artificial trees is a great way to preserve both the environment and your budget year after year. They’re relatively easy to set up, weigh a lot less than live trees, and require no maintenance after being set up. Sticking with white, silver, or pale blue trees will help preserve that warm-climate vibe throughout your décor–something that’s especially important with a tree as it’s such a big focal point in your room. Decorator’s Warehouse has a wide variety of artificial trees, and many ornaments to choose from to suit all tastes, styles, and budgets.

Non-Traditional Trees

If you’re looking for a way to go off-book this Christmas while still celebrating the season and your home, using a smaller palm tree or similar tropical foliage as your decoration’s centerpiece is a great way to do so. They’re easy to decorate and certainly fit with the tropical vibe you’re looking for! Try decorating them with seashell strands, lights, and fun, beachy ornaments.

Dress Up Your Yard 

Decorating the outside of a home for Christmas has become a time-honored tradition, and there are a bunch of fun ways you can celebrate the season even if you don’t have a bunch of snow handily falling from the sky to lend aesthetic appeal.

  • Wrap your trees in Christmas lights! Whether you have a Douglas Fir in your front yard or not, wrapping lights around the trees in your front yard is a beautiful way to welcome the holidays. 
  • Palm trees and similar plants hold lights exceptionally well, and they don’t take nearly as many strings to be fully lit, so you’ll be saving a bit of money on your electric bill!
  • Build a “Sand-man!” Using sand to create versions of traditional snowmen is a fun way to get kids involved with the spirit of the season. And when you’re decorating it, before reaching for a scarf and toboggan, try some sunglasses and a tropically patterned button-up to bring more of your home to the décor.

Decorating for Christmas is always a fun way to invite the holiday season in. So, whether you roll out the fluffy blankets, fireplaces, and snowmen or the Hawaiian shirts, starfish, and sandmen, be sure to invite your friends and family around to take time to spend time together!