Neutral Rustic Christmas Decor (Budget Cozy Cottage Home Tour)

Are you looking for a little budget-friendly Christmas decor inspiration? In cozy neutral farmhouse style? Come walk through my house and see how I did it this year – cheap rustic Christmas decorating ideas, room by room!

Cozy Neutral Farmhouse Christmas Decor

Another year of decorating the house for Christmas. Ya know, when I first started being intentional about decorating for each season, I thought I needed to do something totally different every year. Sisters, that is so much work. And Christmas really is not supposed to be that much work!

So last year, I did a ‘rustic glam’ Christmas style – which I loved. This year, I didn’t change everything out – just added a few new DIYs, shopped my home, and reinvented and rearranged a few pieces. And that, my friend, is really the way to go, unless you want a totally different look (which I think I do next year? Lord, help, lol).

So this year, I continued with my neutral rustic Christmas decor – very little red – and this year, I just added a few cozy cottage pieces to warm it up.

Do I Need a Specific Decor Style for Christmas?

Short answer, no.

I hate classifying a style – vintage, cozy cottage, cabincore, neutral, rustic, rustic glam, modern farmhouse … honestly – I feel like I’m an eclectic mix of all of them.

I would say that more than a style, you just need cohesion: grouping like items and styles in small vignettes (this is a post detailing vignettes for fall decor – same principles apply for any season). For each vignette – stick with a similar style and color theme. If you can extend that to an area or a room, even better.

Maybe you want a neutral rustic tree, but not really for the rest of your house. Totally OK! Allow some space for the differing styles or colors and you’ll be fine.

The only real mistake you can make is trying to do too much in one area. No matter what season, that’s not the way you want to go.

If you have some decor you love but feel like it just doesn’t fit, see if there’s a way you can upcycle or repurpose it. I do that all the time.

And sometimes a simple DIY is just what you need to bring a little life (Here are 21 of my easiest Christmas DIYs – most of them thrown together at the last minute on a whim!).

I usually try to have some kind of vision or idea for what I want in a certain area – a look, a feel. Then I just try to pull pieces together to create it. A lot of trial and error. And honestly, sometimes, it’s not perfect – but that’s OK.

In perspective – it’s really just Christmas decorations, not anything that should have a major impact on your quality of life or the important things.

How to Decorate for Christmas in Farmhouse Style on a Budget

As I walk you through my home, I’m going to point out some ways that I decorated on a budget. And to fully disclose, everything I do is on a budget.

Whether you see the wisdom in being frugal or money is just super-tight for you, there’s always a way to find cheap ways to decorate without looking cheap.

I’m pretty sure frugality is in my blood at this point, but I’ve learned to take it as a challenge.

If you want to see all the tips I use to decorate on a budget spelled out, be sure to look at these two posts – one is a generic post on decorating your house on a budget, the other is how to specifically decorate for Christmas on a budget.

But generally speaking, I typically do the following:

Shop My House

First I see what I already have and use it as Christmas decor. Many items (baskets, buckets, vases, jars, etc), can be used as Christmas decor as well. Sometimes an old item in another location seems novel, new, and fresh.

Upcycle and Repurpose

Not only will I use what I have on hand, I see if there are items that can be upcycled and repurposed as Christmas decor. It might require a little crafty project, but usually it’s just a little adaptation or two.

DIY

Lots of DIY decor! If I see something in a store that I love, I’ll first see if I can make it before I buy it. Instagram also gives me a lot of inspiration, whether through reels or just something I see scrolling.

Shop Clearance Sales and Thrift Stores

Stores like Hobby Lobby are 50% almost all season long. Mid-December, Joann’s is 60% off. Usually, the week before Christmas, the deals are even steeper. That may not help you this season, necessarily but it will give you a head start for next year.

Thrift stores tend to have some kind of Christmas decor out all year long. You can look for actual decorations there or items to upcycle as well.

One word of caution here: it’s tempting to grab all the things when they are so cheap. Refrain! Really try to think of what you need and how you’ll use it. Otherwise, you may end up with several uncoordinated pieces and a lot of wasted money.

Neutral Rustic Farmhouse Christmas Decorating Ideas for the Whole House

Whatever style you want to call it – call it what you like – this is my home for 2021.

Front Door and Porch

I didn’t change up too much from last year. To be honest, I just wasn’t really inspired to try something new and I was happy with what I did last year, so I kept it mostly the same -a new sign, pampas grass, a jute rug, and a painted black door being the exception.

(I was on the fence about the black door but I’m so glad I pulled the trigger. Never true in real life but totally acceptable in decor – I wanted a little more drama, lol).

If you’re sticking with neutral decor, adding in pampas grass is a great way to add in that soft vibe without being overtly ‘Christmas.’

The mini trees were almost all purchased at 50% off or on after Christmas clearance, as was the wreath on the door. The black jug is an upcycled Facebook Marketplace bargain.

The window pane with the set of wreaths along with the NOEL sign were easy DIYs.

Below, you can see the porch with a little pop of red. I went back and forth about it, but in the end, I decided to leave out the red. But I still love this picture with the night sky and lights.

Entry Way and Wall

I don’t have a large entry way to decorate but I like to do a little something upon entering. To the left, this is a small area I dress up just a bit (and hang something creative over the thermostat). I purchased that hanging from Ross’ this year and felt it fit in perfectly! The white metal vase is an upcycled Kroger bargain.

While we do not have an entryway specifically, below is what you’d see if you were looking in the house from the front door. I had to do a little rearranging this year, so we changed up the living room furniture and added this little tree.

Below are some photos of a close up of that wall. The signs on the table are printables from my Etsy shop (all the same from last year). Printables are a very inexpensive way to add and update Christmas decor – or really any kind of decor. For large prints, I usually go to Walgreens for printing – they have 50% off sales very often!

On the bottom of the table, I created new vignette, different than last year, with a woodland theme.

The garland (purchased on Amazon) is not specifically Christmas, but I adore it with Christmas decor and love that I can use it all year (I ended up moving it to a different area, which I’ll show further down).

The manger scene is an upcycled clearance item from last year (it used to be rust-colored!). The dried orange garland and the rope table tray are both very easy DIYs! Those little trees on the bottom I collected from Target Dollar Spot over the years.

You can see two versions of this table (the second one below is where I ended up).

The story: I wanted to do orange garland this year, like I did 2 years ago. I was testing it out with green garland I had in another area and photographed it. Usually, I’ll cut fresh cypress or juniper branches to supplement the garland (it’s actually 2 strands you see here), so I could separate them.

Well, the place I usually get my greens was fenced off and I never found another place to snip them – so, I just used the orange garland in another area and created this space here. Fine for this year.

The wreath hanging is a new addition, as we had an empty space once we removed the floor length mirror and put the chair there. This was a DIY I never finished last year, and I felt this fit in perfectly with cottage Christmas decor. You can see the inspiration for it in this post with Scandinavian Christmas decorating ideas and DIYs.

This is an extra Christmas tree (because Mommy wanted to decorate her own) and is styled in neutral rustic with a little bit of modern farmhouse and boho. Because they are in a similar color family, it all works together.

Here’s the tree with the lights off, so you can see the ornaments a little better. The sign on the wall is a DIY hanger frame made with a page from a Dollar Tree calendar!

The shelves follow the same theme. Those hanging stars are applesauce cinnamon ornaments decorated with puffy paint.

Living Room

This is a picture of our coffee table, and full disclosure: my sons are CONSTANTLY moving this out of their way to play with their cars. I try but it’s a losing battle. I kept it very simple this year. All inexpensive decor (mostly Target Dollar Spot); the cinnamon candle is an easy DIY! The tray is a thrift store upcycle!

The shelf in the picture below is one that I pretended was a mantel before I had a real mantel! There were a few versions of this before I landed with this sign (another one in my Etsy shop). It’s more minimalistic but I think it suits its purpose.

This is what it looks like below, with the TV stand.

This little area is almost all DIY projects – the candle jars, the stamped books, the beaded riser … simple projects to add a little something! The beaded trees were from Dollar General for $2 each!

Next to this area, on the same wall is a cube cabinet, which you can see below.

This year is the last year that the bottom shelves of this cube cabinet will be decorated. I have already purchased fabric storage bins to go in those spaces for my sons’ toys. It is an ongoing battle to get them out of the living room, and I’m waving the white flag. This will be their new home.

A home needs to be functional y’all. Not just pretty. Especially with little boys. I’m outnumbered.

I went simple and minimalist inside the cube as far as decor. Usually I do little vignettes, but it was just getting to be a lot, lol. Just one statement piece per box – DIY decor (hand-drawn ornaments) and arrangements, printables, upcycles, and bargain decor.

Below you’ll see where the orange garland ended up. It’s on the top of a cube cabinet that is to the right of the TV stand. The tree on the right is a centerpiece from my wedding.

The pictures in the middles are gift bags in frames! I’ve had those for years and still love just as much! Gold votive holders and beaded tree are clearance bargains.

This is the space in between the shelf and TV and the cube cabinet – a fun pallet wood hook board with a DIY wreath.

Kitchen and Dining Area

I scaled down my dining table decorations this year since we use that area for everything – crafts, homework, eating. This display is pretty easy to move on and off – and I recommend keeping it simple if your table a high traffic area. If your dining table is more formal and mainly for decorating, you have more options.

This year, I added some ornaments to our light fixture and paper bag snowflakes to keep it festive.

As we move into the kitchen area, the space above my sink is a new area to decorate this year as we removed cabinets. We are still in the process of deciding what we want to do above the sink and counter (faux beam? pendant lights?), but this year, I hung these ornaments from the frame that was left behind for a little bit of rustic glam, and I really love it. Makes me so happy to walk into the kitchen to see it.

The ceiling ornaments were a clearance item I purchased from Michael’s last year. Ornament sets are so cheap after Christmas! Grab some pretty ones, even if you don’t know how you’ll use them!

In addition to wreaths on the cabinet doors, I decorated my coffee rack wall, which is also a new space this year.

The tag below is a 50% off upcycle from Hobby Lobby. The names of Jesus ornaments were a 12 piece set from Oriental Trading. The two small signs are from Walmart for $1 each!

The kitchen window is filled with a few DIY projects – I love the icy winter feel to it! Those are repurposed food jars painted black! The wreaths are bargain garland I bought ages ago!

Family Room/Den

This is where we keep our family Christmas tree. I’ll share it just to keep it real, but this is all our family and sentimental ornaments and I let the boys decorate this, so you’ll get no decorative advice here.

However, my mantel – this just my 2nd year with it – is my favorite to decorate. No matter the season, I always try to have a statement piece sign on the mantel, and I love the sentiment of this one, big and bold (also in my Etsy shop!). The layered garland with greens, bells, beads, and orange slices was a vision I had since last year and I’m super-happy with how it came out.

The hearth area is simplified this year, and I’m good with that. The luminaries are a very easy mason jar DIY project!

There are a few other areas in this room: a coffee bar, a pub mirror with some festive hangings, and a table with apothecary jars filled with pine cones, berries, and jingle bell.

Here you can see that I strayed from neutral decor and added in some red. Full disclosure: I was running out of neutral decor and had some red items in my inventory, so I just put them to use!

This area is to the side of the fireplace, and this is a DIY pallet board Christmas card holder (just wrapped it with jute string and added Christmas clothes pins).

The apothecary jars were another DIY I did, filled with pine cones, bells, and berries – just to keep it monochromatic, even if not fully neutral.

That little tree was an estate sale find and copper container was a spray-painted upcycle as well.

Cozy Cottage Christmas Decorating on a Budget

I’ve said many times that my home may not be a scroll stopper on Instagram. That’s not what I’m here for.

I hope to inspire and give practical and budget-friendly ways that you can create a home that works on your budget, you love to look at, and a place for your family life to happen in a stress-free and functional way.

I hope I’ve accomplished that today. We all aren’t Instagrammers in new build modern farmhouses (amazing if that’s you! I truly cheer you on!) – but I hope you don’t fell less if your home isn’t that. Your home is for YOU and your family, not for anyone scrolling.

Make it what you love!

{To see what I did for Christmas in 2022, which is a lot different! – take a look here!}