Blue and silver are gorgeous winter colors that are perfect for Christmas decorations.
The timeless and elegant combination of blue and silver complement many Christmas color schemes.
Here are some designer tips and tricks to elevate your Christmas decorating this year.
Gather Your Supplies
Before starting to decorate your blue and silver Christmas tree, make sure to gather all of the items that you will need. You might have these items already at home, or you might need to go shopping.
You don't want to start decorating and then figure out that you are missing something, do you?
Make sure to get an artificial or real Christmas tree (either green, flocked, or white), blue & silver ornaments, ribbons, a tree topper (which is optional), string lights, and any other decor items that you want to incorporate.
Choose quality materials for the best result. Glass ornaments are preferred for beauty, however plastic might work best if you have pets or small children.
Consider purchasing more Christmas decor than you think you will need and returning the unused items to the store once you are done decorating so you don't have to make a trip to the store for more before your Christmas tree is finished.
Designer Tip: Use a mix ornaments with different textures and finishes (matte, shiny, and glittery) for added visual interest.
Do You Want a Theme?
Deciding on a theme will guide your decorating choices and bring a cohesive look to your Christmas tree, however having a theme is optional.
For a classic and sophisticated appearance, consider themes like "Winter Wonderland," "Frozen Elegance," or "Midnight Magic."
If you decide to use a theme, the theme will help you focus in on specific color schemes and decorative elements when shopping for Christmas decorations and deciding on which items look best on your Christmas tree.
For a sophisticated look, avoid themes with cartoon characters, trendy items that look similar to stuff sold at discount stores, and other juvenile themes (unless the tree is going in a kid space).
Designer Tip: Incorporate natural elements like frosted pinecones or branches from your garden spray painted in metallic paint to enhance the wintery feel of your theme.
Fluff and Shape Your Tree
If you're working with an artificial tree, take the time to fluff & shape it properly for the best result.
This step is extremely important to make your Christmas tree look more real.
Fluffing your Christmas tree could take as long as one hour for a standard size tree, depending on how smushed it got in the box over the past 10 or 11 months.
If your Christmas tree does not look as full and fluffy as you like, you can add an evergreen garland wrapped around it to fill in the gaps. Ideally, you should not be able to see through your tree.
If you are using a real Christmas tree, rotate it so that the best part is facing forward in the most visible area. Make sure that it is watered regularly to keep the needles from turning brown and falling off.
Designer Tip: Consider adding a Christmas tree collar #ad or a Christmas tree skirt in shades of blue or silver to complement your overall design. Since your Christmas tree skirt will soon be covered with gifts, consider using a blanket, sheet, tablecloth, or other large piece of fabric that you already own draped around the tree instead of a single-purpose Christmas tree skirt.
Illuminate with String Lights
String lights are very important on any well-decorated Christmas tree.
Choose white or clear LED lights to enhance the blue and silver color palette.
Even if your Christmas tree is pre-lit, you can add more lights for extra sparkle.
If you are using a green tree, then use lights with a green wire. If you are using a white tree, use lights with a white wire.
Make sure that all of the string lights that you are using are the same color temperature since many come in either warm (yellow) or cool (blue) light.
Most designers agree that you should use a minimum of 1 string of 100 mini lights per foot height of Christmas tree, so a 7 foot tall Christmas tree should have 7 strings of lights (but feel free to add more).
Start at the bottom back trunk of the tree and run the lights on top of one branch to the front tip and back to the trunk. Repeat the process for every branch.
Designer Tip: consider adding one or two strings of slow twinkle string lights #ad for a magical effect, however avoid traditional blinking or flashing lights that tend to be too harsh. You might also want to add one or two strings of lights with a larger bulb for more lighting dimension.
Add Ribbon
For a designer look, decorate your Christmas tree with several different blue and silver ribbons.
Weave them in and out of the branches, allowing them to cascade naturally.
You might choose to use the ribbon as one long piece or cut the ribbons into 1-3 foot long strips for easier handling.
This step not only adds color but also provides a sense of movement and flow to your tree.
Wired ribbon is preferred because it allows more control over the positioning of the ribbon.
You can use thinner ribbon and/or wider ribbon or thinner ribbon stacked on top of wider ribbon.
Wider ribbons can fill in any empty spaces you may have in your tree which will require fewer ornaments to fill your Christmas tree.
If your Christmas tree is against a wall, you might choose to not decorate the back.
Designer Tip: Choose ribbons with varying colors, patterns, and textures to add dimension.
Hang the Ornaments
Now comes the fun part – hanging the ornaments!
For a standard size 6-8 foot tall tree, use ornaments that are no larger than a cantaloupe and no smaller than a golf ball. Larger Christmas trees can use larger ornaments and smaller Christmas trees can use smaller ornaments.
Start decorating your Christmas tree by adding the larger ornaments one by one.
Stand back away from your tree every few minutes and ensure that the ornaments are placed where you want them.
After adding the large ornaments, fill in the gaps with the smaller ornaments.
Once you have added all of your ornaments, stand back from the Christmas tree once more and look at it from different angles. Check to make sure that the bottom and top of the tree have enough ornaments. Move ornaments around to fill in any holes and decide whether you need to remove ornaments or get more to fill in any empty spots.
Designer Tip: Hang ornaments at varying depths within the tree to create a layered effect, which adds visual interest.
Does It Look Too Boring?
Silver and blue are a gorgeous color combination, but sometimes it might feel a little sterile & bland.
You can add more texture or pattern (such as pine cones or a velvet ribbon) to make your Christmas tree feel more warm and welcoming, or you can add an additional color.
Colors that complement silver and blue Christmas tree decorations are gold, white, teal, purple, gray, green, black, or pink.
Instead of adding an additional color, you might want to add a small amount of darker or lighter blue or silver Christmas ornaments to add contrast.
Designer Tip: consider hanging chandelier crystals, either new or vintage, as ornaments to add a sparkle to your Christmas tree.
Crown Your Tree with a Stunning Topper
Christmas tree toppers have traditionally been an angel or a star.
In more recent years, decorators have used a large collection of floral picks to add interest to the top of Christmas trees.
Some modern Christmas trees do not use a Christmas tree topper at all.
If you choose to use a Christmas tree topper, make sure that it complements your theme and color scheme (which might not be the hand-me-down Christmas tree topper that you have used for the last 10 years).
A silver star, a blue bow, or a glittered snowflake are popular choices for blue and silver Christmas trees.
You could even use something a bit more unconventional, such as an oversized ornament.
Designer Tip: Consider personalizing your tree topper, such as using a monogram letter of your last name, to make your tree special and unique to your family.
Showcase Underneath the Tree
Don't forget that your Christmas presents are a part of your Christmas decor, so make sure that your gift wrap complements your silver and blue color scheme and Christmas tree theme.
When shopping for gift wrap supplies, select 3 or more colors of wrapping paper and 3 or more colors of ribbons to wrap your gifts that complement your Christmas tree color scheme. The wrapping paper might be a solid color, have a pattern, or have a texture.
Mix and match the ribbons and papers to create many different gift wrap combinations.
For a sophisticated and elegant look, avoid wrapping paper with cartoon characters, words, and juvenile prints - opt for solid colors, stripes, and simple patterns. Also avoid plastic ribbons, however choose unique fabric ribbons that might be found in the fabric section of your local store instead of the Christmas section.
Designer Tip: Use metallic, glittered, or flocked wrapping paper in silver or blue tones for an extra touch of glamour.
