How to Decorate Your Home with Retro Christmas Decorations

From the first signs of snowfall to the last "ho-ho-hos," the holidays are the perfect time to decorate your house to the nines. From the once-a-year serveware you take out for Christmas Eve dinner to the collection of ornaments you and the kids hang on the tree each year, there are countless ways to elevate your holiday décor. Our favorite? Finding unique vintage and antique Christmas decorations that suit your style.

If you're searching for ways to make every room of the house feel extra festive, you're in luck! With a little help, you can use retro Christmas decorations to make the season merry and bright.

Why Do People Love Retro Christmas Decorations?

The number one reason retro Christmas decorations remain one of the most popular antique mall collectibles year after year is nostalgia. Whether they're yearning for simpler times or certain styles of décor remind them of their beloved parents and grandparents, it seems that vintage holiday décor warms just about everyone's hearts. When you fill your home with hand-chosen pieces that evoke the earliest memories of your childhood, the entire season feels extra special.

Retro Christmas decorations are completely timeless. If you take a walk around your local retailer, you'll see that the previous season's designs are somehow already out of style. If you want to invest in décor that will stand the test of time and bring the holiday spirit to your home each year, you have to opt for vintage pieces.  

Some people exclusively shop for retro Christmas decorations as an act of sustainability. According to the latest studies, purchasing new holiday décor can harm the environment in many ways, with the majority of it ending up in landfills in the next couple of years. When you shop secondhand, you're giving a vintage design a second chance at life and protecting the Earth at the same time!

Where's the Best Place to Find Retro Christmas Decorations?

If you're hunting down specific and rare retro Christmas décor, an online forum or auction site is a great place to start. In a few seconds, you'll be connected with collectors and sellers around the world who specialize in your niche interest. Just type in the brand or year of your desired design and start scrolling!

If you prefer a more hands-on experience when buying retro Christmas decorations, there's no better place than your local antique mall. With hundreds of vendors selling curated collections all under one roof, every visit is completely unique! Walk the organized aisles to find retro décor of all shapes, sizes, and styles to fill your home for the holiday season.

How to Decorate Every Room with Retro Christmas Decorations

You don't need an interior design degree to transform your home with vintage décor—with a little help and a few stylish pieces, anyone can do it! We've broken down our recommendations for retro Christmas decorations room by room to make it even easier as you shop at an antique mall near Orlando:  

Invite Your Guests in With a Retro Decorated Porch and Foyer

Anyone can tell you that people’s first impression of your home starts at the front door. This season, welcome them into your winter wonderland by featuring a few classic and retro Christmas decorations on both the porch and the foyer.

Feature Vintage Blow Molds on the Porch

Blow molds were a common lawn decoration over fifty years ago, but for vintage lovers, they never went out of style! The popular retro Christmas decoration is known for its bright colors and charming light-up depictions of iconic holiday figures, including Santa, Mrs. Claus, snowmen, candles, penguins, the Nativity Scene, and more. While there aren't many manufacturers anymore, you can find vintage blow molds at an antique mall near you to welcome your guests in with style.

Celebrate the Season with Ceramic Christmas Trees

Ceramic trees are one of the most popular retro Christmas decorations—and they're the perfect size for a smaller entryway table! Many people grew up surrounded by these cute trees in the '60s and '70s, but they never really go out of style. Set one next to your catch-all dish for keys for a subtle pop of seasonal décor for all to enjoy.

Set Out a Christmas Village

If you have a bigger foyer, consider setting out one of the most collectible retro Christmas decorations—a Christmas village! Whether you've been collecting the Department 56 series for as long as you can remember or are just starting out with your first Lemax house set, your guests are sure to be wowed by the miniature festive scene. Add a few layers, some fake snow, and your favorite houses to your table, and plug them in for a touch of Christmas magic!

Focus on The Family Room

As one of the main common spaces in the home, the family room (or living room) deserves to be spruced up as much as possible for the holidays. Whether you intend to host Christmas movie nights all season long or adore snuggling up under a fuzzy blanket and a home-for-the-holidays romance novel, retro Christmas decorations can help create your ideal winter wonderland.

Decorating the Christmas Tree with Retro Christmas Décor

Build the retro Christmas tree of your dreams from top to bottom by finding one-of-a-kind and rare decorations at our Highland antique mall. With decades of design styles to choose from (or mix-and-match, if that's your speed), there are countless ways to personalize the look of the most popular seasonal décor. As you shop, look for vintage designs that fall under each of these categories:

Find a Unique Tree Skirt

No Christmas tree would be complete without a tree skirt around its base! The tree skirt does more than act as a mat for fallen pine needles and space to corral the presents as you gear up for the big day—it's an opportunity to make a stylish statement.

When you shop for vintage tree skirts at an Illinois vendor mall, you may find that many of them are handmade or from long-gone companies and feature reds, greens, snow scenes, reindeer, sleds, and more festive illustrations. Scoop these up! While they may not grow in value, they're sure to give you a one-of-a-kind foundation for your vintage-inspired tree.

Wrap the Tree with Lights, Tinsel, Garland, and More

Before you place any ornaments on, consider bulking up the branches of your tree with retro Christmas decorations! Adding thick red or gold ribbons, vintage lightbulb strings, or strands of tinsel can solidify the vintage theme you're going for. For a more homemade look, make a classic cranberry and popcorn garland with the kids! Once you're satisfied with the foundation you've created, you can move on to the finishing touches.

Collect Stylish Antique Ornaments

No retro Christmas tree is complete without a collection of vintage and antique ornaments. The baubles on your branches are more than a stylish way to personalize a tree - they tell the story of you and your style. Curating a collection of ornaments from different decades will make decorating the tree extra special year after year.

Antique ornaments are known for being colorful, shiny, and lightweight, with most being crafted out of metal, paper, hand-blown glass, or porcelain, complete with glitter and tinsel accents to give them that signature shine. Researching ornaments from specific decades will help set the styles apart as you shop so you can grow your collection.  

Look for these Popular Vintage Ornament Brands

As you shop for rare ornaments at an Algonquin, Illinois, antique mall, keep a look out for these popular brands:  

• Shiny Brite

• Lenox

• Hallmark

• Coby Glass

• Delta

• Fantasia Brand

• Paragon Glass Works, Inc.

Find the Perfect Retro Tree Topper

The tree topper is the final step of decorating the tree, and plenty of families make it extra special by having an assigned family member place it (most often the youngest of the bunch). When it comes to choosing a vintage tree topper, the options are endless. The design you use can tie the look of the entire retro Christmas tree together, so you better choose carefully! Keep a look out for:

• Traditional stars

• Religiously affiliated angels

• Colorful glass-blown shapes

• Indented mercury tree toppers

• Whimsical fairies (to match a fairycore style)

Don't Forget to Hang the Vintage Stockings With Care

Make Christmas morning extra special for the whole family by investing in retro stockings! Hang them with a set of vintage stocking hooks above your fireplace, on the bookshelf, or anywhere within reach for the kiddos to grab their tiny treats to kick off the present unwrapping.

Deck the Dining Room with Retro Christmas Décor

The dining room is the hub of the holidays, whether you're in charge of serving the Feast of the Seven Fishes on Christmas Eve or hosting a gift-wrapping party. Retro Christmas decorations make every gathering feel extra festive—so you might as well stock up!

Set the Table with Vintage Holiday Serveware

When the holidays roll around, swap out the everyday dinnerware and serveware with antique designs to bring a retro seasonal style to the table. Even if you don't use the dining table every day, leaving a few signature pieces as a centerpiece or on display in the China cabinet is a great way to feel holly jolly whenever you walk through the space. Shop around at the Indiana antique mall to find vintage dinnerware sets, beautifully themed serving dishes, and even a tiered cookie tray to leave out treats for Santa the night before!

Vintage Tablecloths and Napkins

There are plenty of vintage table linens available at antique malls—especially during the holidays! While some avid collectors will only buy linens from specific time periods (something most clearly identifiable by the label and design itself), others purchase any design that interests them. From handstitched snowflakes to adorable illustrations of Santa printed directly on the fabric, many of these linens were built to stand the test of time without losing any style, making them perfect for your collection.

Charming Tabletop Accessories

The dining room is the perfect high-traffic room for featuring all those tiny retro Christmas decorations and trinkets you buy but aren't quite sure where to put. Festive figurines of Santa, ornaments in a bowl, and any other antique accessories can be used as a centerpiece or set out on a shelf or bar cart for seasonal décor. Take a look in the locked showcases to find collectible figurines and other small retro Christmas décor!

Don't Forget About Decorating The Bathroom for Christmas

Too many people forget to spruce up the bathroom with retro Christmas decorations, but as one of the most visited rooms in the house, skipping the bathroom means missing out on the chance to feature some amazing holiday collectibles! Search for a holiday version of these common bathroom designs at an antique mall in Melbourne to complete the look of your powder room:

• Soap dispensers

• Trays and small dishes

• Hand towels

• Bathmats

• Shower curtains

3 Bonus Tips for Decorating with Retro Christmas Decorations

Once you've started your collection, it's almost impossible to stop! As you decide what priceless artifacts go where in your home, consult our expert tips for making it look the best it can:

Tip 1: Bring an element of cohesiveness to a room by featuring a smaller, specific collection on a shelf, table, or mantle. Something small, like a bowl of antique ornaments from an out-of-business brand on the dining table or snow globes, can bring the space to life.

Tip 2: Don't be afraid of homemade items! While there are plenty of designs manufactured by antique companies and labels available for purchase at Melbourne vendor malls, the one-of-a-kind handmade items can be just as (if not more) stylish. The same goes for your own family-made décor—don't forget to feature that wherever possible.

Tip 3: Stick to the same colors in each room, if not the whole house. Whether you collect the traditional red and green designs or lean towards popular metallic rainbow hues is up to you, but when you buy items in one color palette, you can mix and match what goes where each season without fear of clashing!

This holiday season, make your home the most festive it can be with retro Christmas decorations. Stop by one of our antique malls to start curating your collection today!