Red & burgundy Christmas decorations

Burgundy and red Christmas decorations, shade by shade

Red and burgundy Christmas decorations make up the classic palette of the season, and this collection covers the whole span of it. At the deep end sit the darker reds: mouthblown glass in a wine-dark merlot, cranberry velvet lined with natural linen, and faux berries in burgundy. At the bright end are the reds of the old-fashioned Christmas card, painted, stitched and beaded onto baubles and little figures.

The two ends behave differently in a room. Burgundy is a quiet, grown-up red. It recedes a little, reads as depth rather than colour, and sits comfortably beside oak, stone and soft neutral walls. Bright red does the opposite. It comes forward, catches the eye from across the room and brings the kind of cheer most of us remember from childhood.

Much of the range sits somewhere in between, and a good deal of it pairs red with white, which lightens the scheme and stops a red tree from feeling heavy. Because the shades vary from piece to piece rather than matching exactly, the collection is made to be mixed: deeper and brighter reds together read as warmth and richness, where a single flat red can look like it all came from one box.

Red and burgundy baubles and tree decorations

Red baubles here come in two kinds, and they do different jobs on the tree. The glass baubles are sold in matching sets in one deep red, in round and teardrop shapes, so they set the base colour. A few sets of burgundy baubles spread through the branches give a consistent wash of red that holds everything else together. The papier-mâché baubles are sold one at a time, each with its own hand-painted design. They are the ones people lean in to look at.

Between them sit the red Christmas tree decorations that are not baubles at all: hand-stitched felt figures and hand-beaded wool pieces, including a small red version of the Neptune van. Their flat, characterful shapes break up the rounds of the baubles and give a red tree a sense of story.

A simple way to build the tree is to start with the burgundy glass for colour, then add the painted and stitched pieces gradually over the years. A scheme collected like this keeps growing without ever losing its thread, because the colour does the work of tying old and new pieces together.

Red beyond the Christmas tree

Red carries well away from the tree, which is why this collection reaches further than baubles. Velvet and striped cotton stockings bring it to the fireplace, and a red-and-white striped bow can top the tree or be tied to a bannister.

Faux foliage brings red in more gently, through berries set among sage leaves and pinecones, in a wreath, a swag and a pre-lit garland. Used together, they let one colour run from the hallway to the sitting room, so the tree feels part of the house rather than apart from it. For more designs, see our Christmas wreaths and garlands and our Christmas stockings and sacks.