One of our favorite seasonal traditions is hauling our holiday boxes up from the basement and decorating the house with trees, garlands, and twinkling lights as the year’s best new Christmas albums play in the background. And after a year filled with change and uncertainty, we're more excited than ever to bust out the ornaments and start wrapping gifts. Of course, the pandemic has changed how we live, and it's certainly influenced the way we celebrate holidays.
This season we’ll be decking our halls with bright colors and recycled materials in addition to some of our annual favorites (like Grandma’s vintage ceramic Christmas tree). We're also seeing an increase in searches for budget-friendly decor and gifts, as a result of the financial strain caused by the pandemic.
We’ve rounded up data from Pinterest, Instagram and Google to bring you the top holiday trends of 2020. Plus, we'll show you how to blend these ideas with the classic decorations you already have, so you can save most of your holiday budget for stocking stuffers and thoughtful gifts for friends and family.
Recycled Materials
This season we’re embracing going green:
We’re wrapping gifts with fabric instead of paper and purchasing eco-friendly decor items whenever we’re able. Sustainable Christmas products are top of mind this year (searches for ‘eco-friendly Christmas’ are up 150% over the last few years) and an easy way to make an impact is to switch up your traditional wrapping routine. Stay on-trend while supporting the environment by ditching paper and investing in furoshiki wraps or use cloth gift bags.
Inexpensive Decor
For the most part, we set out the same holiday decor every year because it’s easy and practical. But incorporating new holiday decorating trends doesn’t mean you have to do a complete overhaul of your existing decor. This year, we won’t be spending money on new decor pieces—rather, we’ll be repurposing our existing pieces and pairing them with inexpensive DIY Christmas decorations.
Holiday Baking
Pinterest searches for Christmas-related baking ideas have increased by 5 times the normal volume compared to this time last year—and we’re not even fully into the holiday season yet! In a time when it feels like everything is changing, people are really embracing the normalcy of their favorite traditions, like baking Christmas cookies together. It’s an activity you typically do at home with your immediate family members, so this is one tradition that won’t have to change to accommodate social distancing guidelines this Christmas.
Small Scale Celebrations
According to Pinterest’s 2020 holiday report, 7 in 10 people say they’re swapping the big holiday shindig for a smaller gathering this year. It’s totally okay to skip the big Christmas dinner and opt for a more intimate holiday with close family members.
Farmhouse Neutrals
Whether it’s farmhouse whites or mid-century modern blacks and greys, neutral decor isn’t going anywhere this year—which means neutral Christmas decorations are decidedly in. Searches for farmhouse Christmas ideas are up 900% over the last five years, according to Google Trends. The best Christmas decor is the kind that matches your existing color scheme. You don’t have to go all out on red and green if that’s not your normal year-round aesthetic: White, black, navy, natural wood tones, and other neutrals can all look just as festive as more traditional Christmas colors.
Home for the Holidays
Pinterest’s holiday predictions show that people are already searching for ways to celebrate the holidays at home. Rather than going out to holiday parties, cookie exchanges, and other in-person gatherings, Pinterest users are searching for Christmas activities to do at home.
There’s also been a 64% increase in Pinterest searches for Christmas movies, which could indicate that in addition to celebrating the season at home, people are craving the classics they’re used to. After all, it’s not really Christmas until Clark Griswold puts the Christmas lights up!
Nostalgic Decor
Living through a global pandemic has made us appreciate the small things in life, so we’re fully embracing the nostalgic trends, like the iconic ceramic Christmas trees that have made a major comeback over the past few years.
According to Instagram, we aren't the only ones scouring Grandma's attic for vintage holiday decorations: There are more than 10,000 posts tagged #CeramicChristmasTree, and people are already sharing this year's finds.
