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Christmas Wall Decor DIY: Lit Greenery Panels for Every Wall

Updated

This is an article about Christmas wall decor DIY.

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The lit leaf panels from our fall DIY were a board, a faux garland, a strand of fairy lights, and a staple gun. This is the same project for Christmas. Swap the leaves for fir, add pinecones and berries, and the panel goes on the same nail. It takes about an hour, and most of that is arranging the greenery before you staple anything.

We love vintage decor and the boards are the vintage part: old fence pickets, a chippy cabinet door, a shelf from a piece that didn’t survive. The rest is a garland and lights you can order and have at the door this week. Below are versions for the living room, the powder room, the wall behind the TV, a blank wall, a half wall, brick, a large wall, and a bedroom, each with a different color story on the same build.

How to Make a Lit Christmas Wall Panel

The build is the fall one with different greenery. Full steps, board options, and the paint prep are in DIY Fall Wall Decor: Lit Leaf Panels. The short version:

  1. Lay the board flat and arrange a faux fir or cedar garland on it. Leave bare wood showing; the board is part of the look.
  2. Weave a strand of battery fairy lights through the greenery. Put the battery pack where it will sit behind the board.
  3. Staple the garland and the light wire to the board. Staple over the wire between bulbs, never through it.
  4. Hot glue pinecones, berries, ornaments, or whatever the version below calls for.
  5. Hang or lean it.

Use a timer battery pack and it comes on at dusk all month.

Order it now: faux garland, 6 ft · battery fairy lights with timer · staple gun

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Christmas Wall Decor for the Living Room

Three boards of the same height, hung with a two-inch gap, and one continuous garland running across all three so the line connects. Fir, brown pinecones, red berries, warm white lights. This is the fall entryway set with Christmas greenery on it, and it goes on the same nails.

Hang it where the fall one was, or above a console or sofa. A lantern on the floor or the console underneath finishes the vignette the same way it did in October.

From the shop: vintage lanterns

TV Wall Christmas Decor

The TV wall wants one long board, not three tall ones. Run it horizontally above the screen, or stand a single tall board beside it. Fir, pinecones, and warm lights only. Skip anything reflective, because ornaments and mercury glass bounce the screen back at you.

Keep the lights on a timer so they’re on when the TV is, and off when the room is dark.

Blank Wall Christmas Decor

This is an easy place just to go classic — especially if it’s a high traffic area so you don’t get tired of it. Simple green, silver and white. So natrual it’s easily just winter and not Christmas specific.

A blank wall takes the full three-panel set and can carry more than the living room version. This one is white and gold: white flocked branches instead of green, gold-leafed pinecones, and a few of the gold leaf ornaments wired on. Warm white lights. Same concept as above, just a bit more wintry gold.

You can gold leaf ornaments by the way. How we do them is in DIY Vintage Christmas Ornaments. Do a box, hang some on the tree, and wire the rest onto the panels so the two match.

Half Wall Christmas Decor

A half wall or pony wall gets one square board, the same size as the fall bathroom panel. Blue spruce or eucalyptus, white berries, silver-leafed or white-painted pinecones, and cool white lights. Blue, grey, and white reads modern and stays out of the way of the red and green happening in the rest of the house.

Lean it on the ledge of the half wall instead of hanging it if you want to move it.

Brick Wall Christmas Decor

Brick already has color, so the panel goes neutral. Raw or grey boards, bleached pinecones, dried orange slices, and warm lights. Cedar if you want some green; leave it out if you don’t.

The bleached pinecones are super fun and also easy to make, and you could swap those in. Hang the panel with a brick clip or lean it on the mantel.

Large Wall Christmas Decor

A large wall can take one big panel instead of three. This one is a wide whitewashed board with a raw wood frame, the garland running in a drop from the top center, pinecones and mercury glass ornaments through it, warm lights. Lean it on a console rather than hanging it; a board this size is easier to move than to hang, and leaning keeps it off the brick. Votives on the console in front finish it.

Powder Room Wall Decor for Christmas

I’d go one board, square but with impact. Small spaces that are not seen frequently can carry a punch that would fatigue. I’d go full press on this one and maybe fill the board, like a wreath but a full circle, on a board.

white washed board with christmas wreath style decor in a full circle on board above a rustic sink in a small half bath

Christmas Bedroom Wall Decor

Over the bed, three boards the same height, hung above the headboard. Fir, red berries, pinecones, warm lights. Same panels as the entry, and the red reads right with a plaid blanket. Nothing that sheds. Timer set for evening only, so it isn’t on when you’re trying to sleep.

Timer set for evening only, so it isn’t on when you’re trying to sleep.

Simple Vintage Christmas Wall Decor

One board, one garland, a handful of vintage glass ornaments wired on, and a red velvet ribbon tied at the top. Warm lights. Old ornaments in mixed colors on green look right; new ones should stay to one color.

Small Space and Apartment Version

Two narrow boards above a small console. Fir, pinecones, silver ornaments, warm lights, and nothing on the console under them so the wall does the work. If you can’t put nails in, lean one tall board on the console instead, the fall small-space panel with Christmas greenery. Either way it stores flat behind a door in January.

Ready to Style? More for small rooms in the Apartment Decor Guide.

FAQs About DIY Christmas Wall Decor

Q: Can I use fresh greenery on the panel? A: Yes, but it dries out in about two weeks indoors and drops needles. Fresh cedar lasts longer than fir. Faux garland stays up all season and comes back next year; fresh is for the week of the party.

Q: How do I hang the panel without wrecking the wall? A: A sawtooth hanger and one nail per board, or lean it. Heavy boards get two D-rings and picture wire. On brick, use a brick clip that grips the mortar edge, no drilling.

Q: How do I take it down without wrecking the board? A: Pull the staples with a flat screwdriver, lift the garland off in one piece, and store it flat in a bin. The board goes back in the garage for fall. If you glued ornaments on, leave them; the panel stores as is.

Q: Can this go outside? A: On a covered porch, yes. Seal the board with exterior polycrylic, use outdoor-rated battery lights, and check that the garland is labeled for outdoor use. Same rules as the fall panel.

Here’s More to Read

Making more? Keep going:

And be sure to check out our Etsy store if you’re looking for vintage decor on demand!

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