I know it’s mid-November, but our colorful Christmas tree is already standing proudly in our family room — bringing lots of joy, sparkle, and of course, rainbow colors to the space.
As a blogger, I always decorate for holidays earlier than the average person — it’s almost a requirement for us home decor bloggers.
But this year? Even if I didn’t have a couple of Christmas-themed posts to write, I probably would’ve gone ahead and made my space all holly jolly this month, anyway.
I know that some people have strong opinions on when it’s appropriate to break out the garland and mistletoe.
But it’s 2020, and I firmly believe that this year you should do what brings you joy, whether that’s decorating now, later or not at all.
Today I’m thrilled to share our colorful Christmas tree with you as part of the My Home Style: Christmas Tree Hop that my friend Stephanie at Casa Watkins Living hosts annually.
The tour is five days long and features over 30 unique trees to inspire you!
Our Colorful and Eclectic Living Room Christmas tree
The Christmas tree I’m sharing with you today is in the heart of our home — our family room.

Because of its location, it’s a tree that the entire family decorates.
In short, it’s never an overly themed or exotic tree.

It’s the one that holds all our family treasures — from the ornaments we received the year my husband and I got married, to the handmade ones the kids craft each season at school.
And of course, it’s colorful and fun, because that’s what our home is all about year-round.
Related: more Christmas trees and home decor!
- Our Sweet Treats Kids’ Christmas Tree
- 15 DIY Christmas Ornaments for Kids (SO Easy to Make!)
- Our Colorful, Whimsical Christmas Decor
- A Fun and Colorful Kids’ Christmas Table
This post contains affiliate links — if you click a link below and make a purchase, I’ll receive a small commission at no extra cost to you. Thanks for supporting the brands that make my small business possible!

That said, even though every member of my family pitches in to decorate the tree, there is a method to the madness.
My Favorite Tips & Tricks for Decorating a Living Room Christmas Tree
After taking our tree down from the attic, I secure it in our tree collar (we bought this gold Christmas tree collar this year), and then I spend about an hour fluffing it.
That’s just a fancy way of saying that I separate each branch and make the tree look like, well, a real tree — not something that’s been smashed in a box for 11 months.
Now I’ll walk you through exactly how we decorated our tree, and I’ll break down my own decorating process into easy tips and tricks that hopefully will help you when you’re decorating your own!

Step 1: Choose the “base” of your Christmas tree decor.
First things first: Choose your “base,” or the things that will be in the “background” of your tree. I chose this glittery gold leaf garland for our tree this year:

Thick wired ribbon can serve as your first layer, too.
Personally, I like to choose one or the other — garland or ribbon — although some people like adding both to their tree. It’s really up to you!
Go with what looks beautiful to you.
Step 2: Add a layer of tree picks, bows, or … disco balls.
Okay, so maybe “disco balls” won’t make everyone’s list — but they sure rank at the top of mine!
When it comes to adding this next layer of decor to your tree, you can get creative. Maybe you love tree picks, maybe you want to add plaid bows.
Again, choose something you love and you can’t go wrong.
In my case, I found 6.5″ disco ball ornaments at my local Christmas Tree Shops store, and bought a handful. They turned out to be the perfect tree accent!
See how they’re tucked into our Christmas tree branches?

Step 3: Time for the ornaments!
Welp, here’s where the “family decorating” thing sometimes gets tricky.
In years past, the kids and I have placed any ornaments we have on the tree in any spot we want. (Check out our family room tree from last year right here!)
And don’t get me wrong — it looked beautiful — but I wanted to try a new strategy.
First, the kids and I picked out all the ornaments we wanted to use, including some of the standard shatterproof balls we always add.
Second, I grouped all the ornaments we chose by color.
And finally, we added the ornaments to the tree in ROYGBIV order, leaving out the hues of the rainbow that we don’t have ornaments for.

The result? A tree full of meaningful ornaments, arranged in a way that makes Decorator Mom happy.

In short, it’s a win all around!
Create Your Own Colorful Living Room Christmas Tree: Shop the Post
If you loved the garland, tree collar, and other items we chose for our Christmas tree this year, this is for you! I’ve pulled together all the sources for our Christmas tree decor, all in one spot.
For the items that are no longer available, I tried to choose similar substitutions for you.
Happy tree trimming!
How to Decorate a Colorful Living Room Christmas Tree

Want all the details on how we decorated our whimsical, colorful Christmas tree? In this tutorial, you'll find supply links to all my favorite pieces and step-by-step instructions telling you exactly how we achieved this colorful Living Room Christmas tree.
Materials
- Glittery gold garland
- Colorful bauble (globe) ornaments
- Red and white candy-striped ornaments
- Disco ball ornaments
- Ribbon
- Gold tree collar
- Gold tree topper
- Note: some of these products linked are similar to the products I detailed in the post above.
Instructions
- Choose the “base” of your Christmas tree decor.
- Add a layer of tree picks, bows, or … disco balls.
- Time for the ornaments!
And don’t forget to check out all the other amazing trees that are part of this tour! Here’s the full list of participants:

Monday:
Casa Watkins Living // Up To Date Interiors // Taryn Whiteaker Designs // Cherished Bliss // Thou Swell // Cassie Bustamante
Tuesday:
The DIY Mommy // PMQ for Two // Jeweled Interiors // Kate Decorates // Banyan Bridges // Making Home Base
Wednesday:
Monica Wants It // House of Hipsters // Cuckoo 4 Design // Delineate Your Dwelling // Lolly Lane // Mango Manor
Thursday:
Two Twenty One // Lemon Thistle // Iris Nacole // Au Petite Salon // Setting for Four // Whispering Pines Homestead
Friday:
The Handmade Home // Our Fifth House // Tag & Tibby // Daly Digs // House Homemade // Love Your Abode
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Ashley Mills
Sunday 22nd of November 2020
Your rainbow tree is the BEST! And i love the little pickle! Too adorable.
Kate
Monday 23rd of November 2020
Thanks, Ashley! Funny enough, my daughter chose that because she is obsessed with pickles. She didn't initially know the story behind it. :)
Julia Fain
Friday 20th of November 2020
So fun to see the up close shots of your ornaments. They have so much personality!
Kate
Monday 23rd of November 2020
Thanks, Julia! We loved using all the ornaments we already owned. My kids especially enjoyed putting all their most-loved items on the tree.
Iris
Wednesday 18th of November 2020
I love your tree! So colorful, and tastefully done!
Kate
Thursday 19th of November 2020
Thank you so much, Iris!
cassie bustamante
Tuesday 17th of November 2020
totally obsessed with your fun tree- it's so you, too!
Kathryn Baugher
Tuesday 17th of November 2020
I love all of it!! The gold twig garland, disco balls, and color -coded ornament arrangement!