Kitchen island Christmas decor ideas have a problem a mantel never faces: the island still has to hold breakfast, cookie dough and homework all December. A tray of little trees, a bowl of clementines or a wreath on each stool back can make it feel like Christmas and still leave room to work.
These eighteen islands, from a 6 x 7-foot farmhouse top to a small table on casters, were styled and photographed by the people who wrote about them, with what sits on each one and what it sits on.
1. A Scalloped White-And-Gold Tray Of Mini Christmas Trees
Best for: A white kitchen with gold accents
Base: A white and gold scalloped tray
Materials: Gold checked trees, white trees rimmed in gold, white glass trees
Difficulty: Beginner, styling only
Randi Garrett’s island at The Wren holds a small forest on one scalloped tray: gold checked cones, white trees rimmed in gold and white glass trees, all standing together on the white top.
Beside it, a five-wick white cypress candle sits on a marble tray inside a ring of gold garland bent into a wreath. A single white and gold glass tree on its own little scalloped marble tray keeps the faucet company.
2. Frosted Trees In A Vintage Wooden Box On A Farmhouse Island
Best for: A busy family island
Base: A vintage wooden box
Look: Farmhouse, cozy and on the minimal side
Difficulty: Beginner, styling only
With a bunch of kids in her kitchen all the time, Kierste Wade balances decor with function. A few frosted trees stand in a vintage wooden box in the middle of her long wood-topped island, and several smaller trees sit on the counter instead.
She reuses the same decor year to year, for budget and for looks.
3. Large Bottle Brush Trees In A Vintage Dough Bowl
Best for: A long island with room down the middle
Base: A long vintage wooden dough bowl
Materials: Large frosted green bottle brush trees in graduated heights
Difficulty: Beginner, styling only
The dough bowl holds a cluster of large frosted green bottle brush trees in graduated heights. Jamie Lundstrom bought the extra-large ones at HomeSense the year before and has not found that size online.
Her challenge every year is to decorate a little differently using the same decorations. The same island has held oranges and evergreen, a vintage sled with candles, a sled with gingerbread houses, and antlers with candles.
4. A Vintage French Cheese Board Centerpiece Ringed With Dried Orange Garland
Best for: A large island, this one 6 x 7 feet
Base: A vintage French cheese board
Materials: Antique copper, foraged cedar, dried oranges, white jingle bells, repurposed Dollar Tree ornaments, a faux mini tree
Difficulty: Beginner to intermediate, with a DIY orange garland
Rachel’s DIY island has a generous 6 x 7-foot surface, and the round cheese board fills the middle without crowding it. Heirloom brass bird salt and pepper shakers, antique copper containers and a faux mini tree stand on the board.
Around its base, foraged cedar stems hold a garland of dried orange slices and white jingle bells, restrung on jute twine from an old banister decoration. Almost everything had been used before or repurposed.
5. A Little Tree, A $5 Poinsettia And A Candle Corralled On A Chopping Board
Best for: An island used for cookie decorating and candy making
Base: A large chopping board or platter
Materials: A small tree, a potted poinsettia, a holiday candle or a small bouquet
Cost: $5 for the poinsettia, from Walmart
A small tree tied with burgundy velvet ribbons and gold ornaments stands in a copper pot, next to a red poinsettia in a white hobnail pot and a candle in a gold glass jar.
Deeply Southern Home groups the three pieces on one large board, which makes the whole scene easy to slide out of the way when the island is needed for baking.
6. Glass Cloches Over Little White Houses On An Oversized Bread Board
Best for: An island with spare length
Base: An oversized vintage bread board
Materials: Large glass cloches, little white houses, faux snow, white frosted pinecones
Light: Remote-controlled battery tea lights in warm white
Three glass cloches cover little white houses in a bed of snow on the big round board, tied together with white frosted pinecones, cedar and red berries.
The tea lights inside the houses run on batteries and switch on by remote, so the cloches never have to come off. She ordered the white, not the cool white. Everything on the board was already in the house that year, and the only new thing was a printable.
7. DIY Mini Rosemary Christmas Trees On Cheese-Board Risers
Materials: Fresh rosemary, a small dowel, a wooden thread spool, a flat wooden washer, hot glue, velvet ribbon
Time: A few minutes per tree
Keeps: Fresh for several weeks away from sun and direct heat
Difficulty: Beginner, with a glue gun
Each tree stands on a wooden thread spool with a washer glued underneath for balance. A dowel goes into the spool hole, 5-inch rosemary stems are glued on tips-down from about halfway up, a row of 4-inch stems overlaps them, and upright sprigs make the top.
A green velvet bow held with a twist tie finishes each one. Rachel says they are the perfect size for the cheese board vignette on her island.
8. A Ginger Jar Of Greenery Tied With Plaid Ribbon, Plus Gold Ornaments On The Stools
Best for: An island that is mostly for show or for hosting
Base: A gold tray
Materials: Pine, glitter pine and Norfolk pine stems, blue and red berry picks, plaid ribbon
Look: Classic blue-and-white with plaid
An oversized blue-and-white ginger jar holds a lush mix of pine stems and berries, tied with a plaid bow, on a gold tray. A Christmas house that twinkles when lit, vintage candleholders, a scented candle and a small lidded jar gather around it.
The barstools wear gold ornaments tied on with plaid ribbon bows. Nothing here is new except that year’s ribbon and some of the stems and berry picks.
9. Pine Branches In A Green Glass Vase And A Plate Of Pomegranates On A Small Blue Island
Best for: A small island with two stools
Base: A green glass vase and a white platter
Materials: Branches cut in the woods, pomegranates
Difficulty: Beginner
Kelly trudged through the snow to snip a few branches in the woods. Long and wispy in a ribbed green glass vase, they give her small blue island its height, and a plate of pomegranates adds the pop of color.
The pomegranates go into salads and get restocked. She kept the whole season simple to avoid clutter.
10. A Wooden Bowl Of Clementines And Loose Pine On A Marble Island
Best for: An island that stays clear for cooking
Base: The everyday wooden fruit bowl
Materials: Clementines, grapefruit, oranges, a few pine stems and pinecones
Look: Modern and minimal
Sarah Gibson did not want to crowd her countertops, so the marble island got a little greenery and the regular fruit bowl, filled to the brim with clementines, grapefruit and oranges. The family has been happily snacking on it.
The citrus carries through the room, where pine needle garland with dried orange slices frames the windows and a wreath with orange slices hangs by the range.
11. A Matte Black Vase Of Faux Greens With A Little Planter Of Pinecone And Cinnamon
Best for: A modern or Scandinavian-leaning kitchen
Base: A matte black vase
Materials: Three kinds of faux greens, red berries, a pinecone, cinnamon bark, a small candle
Look: Black, white and green with wood tones and gray
Jelica changes the decor on her island every season, and she often starts with a basic vase and builds from there. At Christmas it holds three types of faux greens with a hint of red berries.
A pottery head planter filled with greenery, a pinecone and cinnamon bark sits beside it, with a small “Wish” candle. Simple, natural and non-glitzy.
12. A Pottery Urn Of Fresh Yard Greenery, With Gingham-Wrapped Wreaths On The Stools
Best for: An island used more than any other surface
Base: A blue-gray pottery urn
Materials: Fresh greenery cut from the yard, wreaths wrapped in blue and white gingham
Look: Coastal
Kim uses her island more than any space in the kitchen, so one pottery urn of fresh, fragrant greenery from the yard is the whole centerpiece. Pine, cedar and blue-berried stems rise from it against the sage island and gold orb pendants.
The stools at her separate kitchen bar wear wreaths wrapped in blue and white gingham, and the bar itself is kept clean and clear. The counters stay clear for holiday baking and entertaining.
13. A Low Organic Arrangement In A Wooden Bowl On A Rolling Island
Best for: A rolling island or a small kitchen
Base: A low wooden bowl
Materials: Faux and real stems mixed, white lilies, berries
Difficulty: Beginner
Annie starts every Christmas kitchen with two basics, an island centerpiece and a wreath. Her island is a wood-framed table on casters with baskets on the lower shelf, and the arrangement on top is organic and a little wild.
It stays low profile, so the whole kitchen is still visible across it. A wreath with brass bells hangs on the wall beside it, and that is nearly all.
14. A DIY Christmas Terrarium And A Flocked Tree On A Butcher-Block Island
Best for: A small butcher-block island
Materials: An Ikea terrarium frame, soil, moss, a Christmas cactus, a frosty fern, a lavender topiary, faux snow
Extras: Sparkly branches, a mercury glass ornament, a small flocked tree
Difficulty: Beginner, with live plants to water
The black-framed glass house is planted like a tiny winter garden: moss, a Christmas cactus, a frosty fern and a lavender topiary, finished with a few sparkly branches, a mercury glass ornament and a dusting of faux snow.
A small flocked tree in a basket, bought at Target a few years earlier, stands beside it. The look is neutral with pops of green, in a kitchen that shares its space with the dining room.
15. A Hot Cocoa Bar Built On One Tray In The Middle Of The Island
Best for: A large island the whole family uses
Base: One rustic tray, a cake stand and a small stool as a mug riser
Materials: Cocoa in a lidded jar, mini and pink marshmallows, peppermint crunch, sprinkles, chocolates, meringue cookies, faux pine
Difficulty: Beginner
Jennifer Rizzo styled this for a client’s large island as something cute and functional that would not need constant moving. Most of it sits on one tray, so it lifts off whenever the family needs more space.
Cocoa topped with mini marshmallows fills a lidded jar, with wooden measuring cups for scoops. Red Christmas tree farm mugs stand on a little stool for height, and pink meringues sit on a cake stand beside a wooden house.
16. A Candy Bar Of Apothecary Jars On A Round Board
Best for: Movie nights and hosting
Base: A round black-and-wood board on a jute runner
Materials: Tall apothecary jars, peppermints, marshmallows, chocolates, red candy, gold bows
Difficulty: Beginner
Kelley Nan built four island centerpieces around four holiday candle fragrances, and this is the movie night cocoa one. Tall apothecary jars of candy stand together on a round board, finished with gold bows.
Grouping the glass jars on a board anchors them and makes them look like one intentional piece, with no actual Christmas decor needed. For a family prone to constant grabbing, it works just as well as a hosting moment.
