Red and Aqua Christmas Shelf Decor

Red and aqua Christmas shelf decor may not be the most traditional way to decorate for the holidays, but it can add a beautiful and cozy cottage feel to your home! Get inspiration for using a non-traditional Christmas color palette in your own decor!

Red and Aqua Christmas Shelf Decor

Red and Aqua Christmas Shelf Decor

This post contains affiliate links. For more information, see my disclosures here.

I’m the first to admit that I have a hard time making up my mind… especially when it comes to decorating! (Just ask Donnie how many times he has hung and re-hung the art on our walls…oops! 😉 )

Take this year’s Christmas decor, for example. At first I was positive that I was going to go with a neutral color palette. Red really isn’t a color I use in our house much, so I figured that the neutrals would more naturally fit in with the rest of our home.

But then I kept seeing traditional Christmas decor everywhere on Instagram and on Pinterest, and it just looked so beautiful and festive! So I changed my mind and thought I’d go with classic red and green.

I started decorating these shelves with the traditional color palette in mind, but when it was all decorated, I couldn’t help but feel like something was missing. Some of my aqua jars and decor were sitting on the coffee table, so I thought, “What could it hurt to try them out with the red?”

Red and Aqua Styled Shelves on an IKEA BESTA Entertainment Unit

Well, you know me and aqua.

Once it was up there, I definitely wasn’t going to take it down! So, surprisingly to me, an aqua and red Christmas it is this year!

Styled Shelves with Red and Aqua Christmas Decor

I have never done such a non-traditional palette before and I worried that it would end up looking too whimsical for my taste, but I think with little touches of black included, it gives a bit of a cottage vibe, which fits in easily with the rest of our house.

Red and Aqua Christmas Living Room with Styled Shelf Decor

(Can you spot the red and aqua art peeking in from the door in Donnie’s office? He made those pieces as a child– I didn’t even plan that!)

The nice thing about incorporating the colors we typically use in our house is that I had plenty of items to fill the shelves easily– I didn’t have to buy anything new!

IKEA BESTA Entertainment Unit with Red and Aqua Holiday Decor

You can see how we created this entertainment unit with pieces from IKEA in this post.

I love “decking the halls” for Christmas, but I was already feeling like the storage bins we have for keeping our decor when it’s not the holiday season were taking up plenty of space, so I knew I didn’t want to add too much extra this year.

How to Style Shelves for Christmas with Red and Aqua Decor

With the entertainment unit taking up the front of the living room space, there’s not a great place to put the tree here, so I think I will end up putting it in the sunroom (which is just off this room) like we did last year.

Living Room Christmas Decor in Red and Aqua

Typically we put the tree up early (that’s blogging life for you!), but with a recent trip, I haven’t gotten around to it yet, so my guess is that it won’t go up until after Thanksgiving. (Are you an early decorator? Or do you prefer to wait?)

IKEA BESTA Entertainment Unit with Red and Aqua Holiday Decor

If you’re looking for tips and tricks for styling shelves, these posts can help:

How to Decorate Shelves

How to Style Floating Shelves

Styling a Dining Room a Hutch

Shop Our Living Room

You can see the rest of this year’s Christmas decor in these posts:

Our Christmas Home Tour- Part 1

Our Christmas Home Tour- Part 2

Christmas Porch Decor

How to Hang Christmas Wreaths on Exterior Windows

Have a wonderful week!

This post contains affiliate links. For more information, see my disclosures here.

22 Comments

  1. It absolutely looks amazing. You can pull anything off! I’m scared if I did that, it would just look horrible. Lol. I usually start decorating Thanksgiving Day. That is my tradition. This year’s theme is farmhouse and rustic (the same as last year). That is what everyone voted on. I have 4 themes to choose from: farmhouse, turquoise and silver, purple and silver and traditional. I would have to say the farmhouse theme is my favorite. Most of my ornaments I made myself along with the Garland and bow on top. Anyway, I hope you and your family have a wonderful Thanksgiving.

    1. justagirlabby says:

      Oh, it sounds like it will be beautiful, Julie! Happy Thanksgiving to you and your family! Enjoy! <3

      ~Abby =)

  2. Tanya Patrice says:

    I love the red and aqua + it’s like an updated take on traditional!

    1. justagirlabby says:

      Thanks so much, Tanya! I’m loving it! 🙂 Hope you’re having a wonderful week! <3

      ~Abby =)

  3. Lolly Jane says:

    So pretty, Abby! Happy Thanksgiving 🙂

    1. justagirlabby says:

      Thanks so much, friend! Have a wonderful Thanksgiving! <3

      ~Abby =)

  4. The red and aqua look so cheerful together.

    1. justagirlabby says:

      Thank you! Definitely different for me, but I’m loving it! 🙂 Hope you’re having an awesome week! <3

      ~Abby =)

  5. April N Hoff says:

    So beautiful, Abby! I love the bright colors! So cheerful and holiday-ready! xo

    1. justagirlabby says:

      Thanks, sweet girl! Happy Wednesday! <3

      ~Abby =)

  6. Lucy AKINS says:

    Red and turquoise is such a classic look. I love it.

    1. justagirlabby says:

      Aw, thank you, friend!! Hope you’re having a great week! <3

      ~Abby =)

  7. Love that it has blue and who says you have to be traditional? Gorgeous Abby. Thanks for sharing and being a part of the blog hop.

    1. justagirlabby says:

      Thanks so much for having me, friend! Hope you’re having a great week! <3

      ~Abby =)

  8. I’m in love with your color scheme, Abby! So fresh but still perfectly festive and cozy!

    1. justagirlabby says:

      Thanks, sweet girl! Hope you’re having a wonderful week! <3

      ~Abby =)

  9. Your shelf decor is so pretty, Abby! I love the pops of red with the aqua, so beautiful.
    Hugs, Jamie

    1. justagirlabby says:

      Thanks so much, sweet friend! Have a wonderful Thanksgiving! <3

      ~Abby =)

  10. Kristin salazar says:

    It looks so beautiful and cheerful!

    1. justagirlabby says:

      Aw, thanks so much, Kristin! Hope you have a great week! <3

      ~Abby =)

  11. Alix @A Hedgehog in the Kitchen says:

    The red and aqua work so nicely together, Abby! Never would have thought to pair those two colors but they look really beautiful.

    1. justagirlabby says:

      Aw, thanks so much, Alix! Definitely different for me, but I’m loving it! 🙂 Hope you had a wonderful weekend!

      ~Abby =)

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