It’s easy to lose that festive mood in the busy routine of December. You have work to finish, personal tasks and finances to sort, next year to plan, and gifts to buy. A whole month can fly by before you notice.
Then, with only a few days left until Christmas, you rush to put up the tree, hang the lights and make the place feel festive — and all you want is to collapse into bed and sleep for days.
Scandinavians do it differently. They start decorating in early December. A few fir branches, soft lighting and natural materials are often enough to make the house feel ready for the holidays. That is the Scandinavian holiday cosy style many people try to copy today.
How do they decorate homes and apartments for Christmas? What holiday decor ideas can you copy in minutes and with little cost? And how do they keep the look festive but not overloaded?
In this piece we show how Scandinavian interiors look in December 2025 and which simple tips are worth trying.
Fir branches in home decor
Ninni Donner and her family live in an old 1900s house in the suburbs of Raseborg (a Finnish town of about 27,000 people).
Their house is special — a documentary series on the Finnish TV channel Yle was even filmed about it. Every December Ninni decorates the house for Christmas. She likes minimalism and natural materials. Her favourite way to create a festive mood is to place fresh fir branches around the home in vases or simple glass jars.
Small bouquets of pine branches sit on almost every table. Ninni also likes tying a few sprigs to door handles or hanging them on hooks.
This look is very pretty and costs very little. Satin ribbon bows and small bells give the hanging sprigs a special charm.
Dried orange and lemon decorations
Jenna Pigg became known across Finland after buying a 100-year-old house and renovating it by herself.
December is Jenna’s favourite month. She always decorates the tree and her home early — about five weeks before Christmas — so the whole month is full of festive spirit.
Jenna usually makes her decorations by hand. This year she made garlands from dried orange slices and a few handmade tree ornaments.
They look very simple — an orange slice on a string.
How to make a dried orange garland
You need 1–2 oranges. Slice them thinly (about 4–5 mm). Lay the slices on a baking sheet lined with parchment. Preheat the oven to 80–100 °C (175–210 °F). Dry the slices for 2–4 hours, checking often so they don’t burn.
Drying time depends on the fruit and your oven. You can use other citrus too — lemons or grapefruits work well.
Decorative boxes (with or without gifts)
Jemina Hakkarainen lives with her husband and two cats in a rented flat in a two-storey wooden house from 1925.
She loves decorating for Christmas but must be careful because the cats play with anything they like.
One idea Jemina uses: decorative boxes under the tree. You don’t have to put real gifts inside — the boxes are a festive decoration by themselves. If you choose wrapping paper with Christmas prints, the whole setup looks even better.
Garland made from fresh greenery
Winter markets already sell bunches of fresh conifer branches. You can use them to make a lush decoration for your entrance.
Every year Juha Koskelo from Oulu weaves a dense, neat garland from fresh branches he gathers in nearby woods.
He decorates the doorframe with this garland and adds a simple electric string of lights. The mix of fresh greenery and warm lights looks especially festive.
You can use a conifer garland indoors or outside — for an entryway, a cottage or an office.
Festive table setting
Scandinavians take family meals seriously — they love a beautifully set table, holiday or not. In December, a festive table setting becomes essential for many families.
You don’t need special dishes or expensive decorations. Any simple items will do — fir sprigs, a tablecloth, candles, napkins and ribbons can all create a lovely holiday table.
Annika Holmberg, 53, and her husband Kalevi live on quiet Kimitoön island in Finland. Every December Annika decorates her home using natural materials she gathered in the forest months earlier.
Annika loves setting the table. On weekends her children and grandchildren often visit; she prepares a nice meal and uses simple items to decorate the table. Over the years she’s collected a whole box of useful objects for styling a festive table.
Items that help: a tablecloth, candles, flowers, napkins, ribbons — and then a little imagination. Try it — it’s easy and fun.
