Tips for A Moody + Victorian-Inspired Christmas
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Deep rich tones, silk velvet trimmings, vintage brass accents, lush heavy greens, and antique leather books - all the pieces you need for an elegant and moody Victorian-inspired Christmas.
I’m a long-time lover of antique and vintage interiors. I believe that the best interiors are full of cherished pieces that have been collected over time.
This year when it came time to decorate for the holidays, I really wanted to challenge myself. My goal was to elevate my holiday decorating by creating something bold, while staying authentic to the old-world, vintage style interiors that my husband and I both love.
Inspiration. Inspiration for my projects seems to come from a variety of sources. The best way I can put it is like this: you know when you know!
This year as I was prepping for holiday decorating, I found myself continuing to go back to two beloved pieces that I had sourced early in the season - a white porcelain tea-light cathedral and a Victorian-inspired snow globe.
I found the porcelain tea-light cathedral on one of my sourcing trips, and I came back to it three times in the store that day. I was so drawn to its nostalgic and classic look and the ambiance that this piece adds to our space when the candle is lit is truly magical.
The snow globe was also a big win for me. My husband can attest to the fact that I have been hunting for the perfect Christmas snow globe for years - literally years at this point - so I was thrilled when I found the one pictured above. I love the old-world, Victorian style and it was exactly what I needed to start to bring my vision to life.
This moody and Victorian-inspired look is my favorite holiday aesthetic to date and below are my tips for achieving a similar look for your own home.
Color palette. I like to start my planning and prep by considering the color pallet. I love pulling together objects for inspiration to help lay a solid foundation on which to build my design upon.
I am naturally drawn to warm neutral or jewel tones - both in fashion and design! Since I wanted this Victorian look to be on the moodier side, I used darker colors overall, mixing in black, brown, burgundy, rust, forest green, and antique brass/gold.
One of the biggest changes I made to achieve the moody aesthetic I desired was deciding to paint the fireplace from a bright white to a rich, deep chocolate brown. This is a change I have been wanting to make to our fireplace for awhile to bring a moodier vibe to our living room, and this seemed like the perfect time to complete this mini fireplace makeover.
White fireplace (Dec. 2022)
Sabel by Sherman Williams (Dec. 2023)
I ended up painting the fireplace Sabel by Sherman Williams. It took two tries to get the color right. The first color I tried was Garret Gray by Sherman Williams, but with all the natural light we have in our living room it was pulling way too grey for my taste. I then tried Sabel and it was absolutely perfect for the look I was going for!
This holiday look would not have come together in the way that it did if I had left the fireplace white. The moodiness that the darker fireplace added to our space helped take this entire look to the next level in my opinion.
The other update that we decided to make to our living room was purchasing this olive and charcoal rug. This rug is absolute perfection in my opinion and exactly what I was looking for in this space. We needed a new rug for our living room anyway, and I had been eyeing this one for several months.
The dark tones add depth and practicality to our space, while the ornate pattern adds a touch of old world charm - ideal for the moody the vintage-inspired interiors that I love.
This new rug paired beautifully with the new color of the fireplace and provided the ideal backdrop. Now it was time to bring this Victorian-inspired holiday aesthetic to life with just a few staple elements.
Elements:
1. Velvet trimmings.
This year I invested heavily in velvet trimmings and I added them to almost everything - the tree, the garland, decor, furniture - nothing in our home was safe from velvet accents!
Using ribbon is a simple but impactful way to decorate for the holidays. You can easily give everyday decor a festive upgrade just by adding a drapey bow and velvet ribbon in particular is a great choice for vintage-lovers.
Adding all the velvet trimmings around our home helped create a cohesive look and bring a Victorian feel throughout our home.
Pro-tip: Save your trimmings! I never throw away my velvet ribbon at the end of the season because each year I find a new way to use every single scrap. Save all the pieces, and let your creative soar with how you incorporate it into your design the following year!
2. Heavy Greens.
Winter greenery is a must for the holidays in my opinion. Greenery is something I add to almost everything for the holidays - a tip I learned from my mom when I was younger and she would decorate for Christmas.
I love sourcing florals/stems and garland, especially for the holidays and I am definitely particular when it comes to the pieces I put in my home. My goal is always to find the most realistic looking pieces that fit the style I’m wanting.
>> Find out more about my tips for selecting realistic florals/stems and shop some of my favorites <<
3. Natural elements.
Natural elements have always been something I love to incorporate in my decorating, especially for the holidays. For the last couple years, I have loved adding dried oranges, pine cones, and cinnamon sticks to my holiday decor to stay true to the vintage style I love.
Dried oranges and cinnamon sticks are great to use as fillers in greenery or in bowls, on the tree, or on their own.
This year, I was loving the look of stacks of cinnamon sticks. With just a simple piece of jute cord, you can create a stack of cinnamon sticks to place atop books as a sculptural element (as shown above) or use it in a centerpiece arrangement, like this one pictured below:
This holiday arrangement was created from a thrifted vessel and left over pieces I had from my holiday decorating.
Watch me make this winter arrangement here.
>> Learn how to make dried oranges <<
>>Learn how to DIY your own aged vessel <<
4. Antique + vintage finds.
No surprise here. You simply cannot have a Victorian-inspired Christmas without antique and vintage pieces.
My best vintage holiday find this season was definitely these handmade Turkish Rug Stockings.
Vintage stockings are another piece that I have been looking for for years now, so I was beyond excited to find these this year. I love the way they compliment the rug and bring the perfect touch of old-world charm to the fireplace mantel.
Collected vintage brass accents are always something that I use a lot of in my holiday decorating. This year, I sourced a large brass sleigh, which I added to the mantel and a large brass sleigh with a reindeer, which I placed under the tree.
This was the first year I got to decorate our new antique hutch for holidays and I loved having all the shelves to sh0wcase my favorite vintage finds!
My collection of vintage brass deer are always a staple for me in my holiday decorating, but this year I also incorporated my collection of brass camels, which quickly became one of my favorite parts of our holiday hutch.
Pro-tip: If you have brass animal accents, the holidays are a great time to think of creative ways to incorporate them into your holiday decorating in a way that makes sense. Adding a simple piece of velvet ribbon, can take an ordinary brass swam, for example, and give it some festive holiday flare.
Bells are another beautiful vintage accent to add in to your holiday decor. I love placing larger bells on top of a stack of small books on a side table and using smaller bells to hang on the tree, or use in my tablescape.
I also adore pairing bells with my velvet trimmings. Hanging sets of vintage bells are always something I have my eye out for at antique stores, but they can be difficult to find and trust when I say they can add up quickly if you are attempting to use all vintage bells for this look.
For the last couple years, I have created these string of vintage-inspired bells for a fraction of the cost. Find out more here:
>> Vintage Holiday Bell Hack Under $5 <<
Holiday Tablescape:
A holiday tablescape is essential to complete any holiday look.
I went through a couple versions of this tablescape before getting it just the way I wanted it this year.
I started with my favorite matte black scalloped chargers and then added black and white plates. I absolutely love the classic look of the black and white plate combo.
I used dark burgundy linens, which I actually sourced earlier in the fall and paired cinnamon sticks, a scrap piece of greenery and a small vintage bell to stay consistent with the rest of the space.
For the centerpiece, I needed to keep it relatively simple due to the narrow size of the table. I used my favorite faux cedar stems and dark berry picks. I added two vintage brass candle holder and tied a piece of velvet ribbon around them. I then placed a stack of cinnamon sticks and a couple dried oranges in the center to finish the look.
Bonus tips for leveling up your Victorian-inspired holiday decor ↓:
Leather books. I have talked about books many times on the blog and they are something that most decorators incorporate in one way or another into their designs.
Vintage books always add a subtle touch of color and charm to your shelves, but if you want to really level up your Victorian-inspired holiday decorating, use antique leather books. The history and character is unmatched, and the warm tones are perfection.
Original/Vintage Art - In years past, I have used printable artwork for the holidays - a great budget friendly option to bring a touch of the holidays to your walls.
This year, I really wanted an authentic Victorian-inspired holiday look, so I opted to use original art. I sourced a beautiful vintage oil painting of a winter cabin scene for the master bedroom. I also included personal art. I hung a beautiful original oil painting by my husband that we paired with a heavy vintage ornate frame above our sofa, and placed a very simple oil painting of a pine tree painted by me, which I paired with a small vintage frame on our hutch. There is just something about original art that takes a space to the next level.
Overall, I love the way this moody and Victorian-inspired holiday look turned out and I hope it inspires you to try a similar look in your own home!
Looking for more holiday decorating ideas?
>>> Read more about my 5 Tips to Achieving a Moody + Vintage Holiday Aesthetic.
Visit the shop to browse our entire collection of found vintage objects for thoughtfully curated and collected interiors.
Shop my holiday essentials on my LTK or visit my Amazon Storefront for more of my finds and favorites.
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