18 Blue and Red Christmas Decor Ideas With Nautical Stripes

Forget candy-cane red and forest green. This house runs on navy blue, cherry red, crisp white and warm brass, the sort of combination you would find on a deck chair or a sailor’s jumper rather than on a department-store aisle. The stripe is the thread that holds it together: painted on a bauble here, woven into a napkin there, tied into a bow somewhere else entirely.

Every room below wears the same three colours and the same stripe, just in a different material each time: ribbon on the stairs, knit on the stockings, linen on the table, icing on the cookies. That repetition is what makes the house read as one decorated whole instead of a dozen separate Pinterest boards stitched together.

It suits a grown-up Christmas: the kind hosted for people who will notice if the red is too orange or the blue too babyish. Nothing here needs new furniture or a repaint, just ribbon, paint and a few brass pieces you will use again every year.

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The Rooms That Welcome Everyone First

These are the spaces a guest sees before she has even taken her coat off, so they carry the widest, warmest version of the scheme. For more ways to dress a sitting room without touching the walls, the Christmas fireplace decor guide is worth a look alongside this one.

The Living Room, Dressed Around a Tree in Candy-Striped Ribbon

The tree stands dead centre of the room, strung with navy and cherry glass baubles and streamed through with wide candy-striped ribbon run top to bottom rather than wound round and round. A brass star sits at the top instead of the usual gold spike, picking up the metal that runs through every other room.

Around it, a navy velvet sofa holds cherry red cushions and one white faux-fur throw folded over the arm. This is the only tree in the house, and the only wide shot that shows it, so it earns the room’s best light.

The Mantel, Hung With 5 Striped Stockings and a Brass Garland

Five knit stockings in alternating navy and cherry stripe hang from brass hooks along the mantel shelf, backed by a plain evergreen garland pinned at intervals with small brass stars rather than anything clustered or jingling. Striped taper candles sit either end in brass holders, lit low.

It is the one surface in the house doing the most visual work, so it stays simple: one garland, one row of stockings, no extra clutter competing for the eye.

The Window Seat, Piled With Striped Cushions and a Cherry Throw

A deep window seat takes bolster cushions in breton stripe cotton, piled against the glass with a single cherry red wool throw folded at one end. A brass lantern candle holder sits on the sill, lit for the hours the room goes dark early.

It is the kind of corner a guest actually sits in, so it stays soft rather than ornamental: no breakables, just fabric she can sink into.

The Side Table, Set With a Cluster of Striped Pillar Candles

A small side table beside the armchair holds a cluster of pillar candles in varying heights, each hand-dipped or painted with a single cherry or navy stripe round the base, grouped on a brass tray. A sprig of fresh rosemary tucked beside them stands in for greenery without needing a whole arrangement.

It is the smallest scene in the room, there for the lamp-off hours when candlelight does the actual decorating.

The Stairs and the Front Door

The staircase and the entryway do double duty: they are the first thing a guest walks past and the last thing she sees on her way out. If a wreath in this palette does not feel like enough on its own, the colourful Christmas wreaths roundup has more shapes to borrow from.

The Banister, Wrapped in 9 Feet of Candy-Striped Garland

Nine feet of evergreen garland runs the length of the banister, wrapped through with wide candy-striped ribbon rather than tucked flowers or bells, finished with a single oversized bow at the newel post. Small brass anchor charms hang at intervals along the ribbon tail, the only hint of the nautical motif showing up as hardware rather than fabric.

It is the first thing a guest’s hand touches on the way up, so the ribbon stays smooth and wide rather than fussy.

The Front Door, Hung With a Striped Bow Wreath

A plain boxwood wreath hangs on the door, but the real decoration is the bow: a wide candy-striped ribbon tied low and left to trail rather than clipped short, with a small brass door knocker polished up beneath it. No berries, no figurines, just the stripe doing the talking.

It is the last thing a guest sees leaving and the first thing she sees arriving, so it works from a distance as well as close up.

The Console Table, Set With a Row of 3 Striped Hurricane Lamps

Three glass hurricane lamps stand in a row on the entry console, each holding a thick striped pillar candle, flanked by a low dish of fresh cranberries in cherry red. A brass tray underneath keeps wax drips off the wood.

It greets a guest at eye level the moment she steps in, before she has even reached the stairs or the door of the main room.

The Table Everyone Sits Down To

This is where the stripe gets its most formal outing: ironed linen, polished brass, a runner laid dead straight. It rewards the only part of the house a seated guest actually studies for an hour.

The Table Runner, Laid in Bold Navy and Cherry Stripes

A woven runner in bold navy and cherry stripe runs the full length of the table over a plain white cloth, ironed flat rather than ruffled. Brass candlesticks sit directly on the stripe rather than a separate mat, letting the pattern show through underneath everything else.

It sets the whole tablescape’s tone before a single plate goes down, which is exactly why it goes on first.

The Place Setting, Laid With 12 Striped Linen Napkins

Twelve linen napkins in a fine navy and white stripe sit folded flat at each place, each one tied with a slim cherry red ribbon rather than a napkin ring, a sprig of rosemary tucked under the knot. Brass flatware picks up the metal from the rest of the house.

It is the detail a seated guest studies longest, so it gets the finest version of the stripe in the whole room.

The Centerpiece, Clustered With Brass Candlesticks and Red Amaryllis

A cluster of brass candlesticks at varying heights anchors the centre of the table, filled in around the base with stems of red amaryllis and a few sprigs of blue-tinted eucalyptus rather than typical holly. One striped ribbon trails loosely from the tallest candlestick to tie the cluster to the rest of the table.

It stays low enough that guests can still see each other across it, which is the one rule every good centrepiece has to obey.

The Chair Backs, Tied With 6 Candy-Striped Bows

Six dining chairs each get a wide candy-striped bow tied to the top rail, the tails left long enough to brush the seat. A single sprig of fresh bay sits tucked into each knot, the only greenery note at the whole table.

It turns six ordinary chairs into part of the tablescape rather than furniture waiting to be noticed, at almost no cost beyond ribbon.

The Food and Drink on Show

Nobody remembers a garland the way they remember what they ate standing next to it, so the cookies, the board and the drinks cart all get dressed in the same navy and cherry as everything else.

The Dessert Table, Set With Striped Sugar Cookies and a Brass Cake Stand

A brass cake stand holds a tiered display of sugar cookies, each iced with a simple navy or cherry stripe rather than an elaborate design, alongside a plate of meringue kisses dusted in the same two colours. A small striped ribbon flag marks the stand, nothing more.

It is the one sweet, unmissable stop on the way to the dining room, built from cookies anyone can ice at home with two colours of royal icing.

The Cheese Board, Arranged in Cherry Fruit and Blue-Veined Wedges

A long brass-edged board carries wedges of blue-veined cheese beside a soft white brie, built out with fresh cherries, dried cranberries and a scatter of pomegranate seeds for the red note. Navy and white striped toothpicks mark the softer cheeses for guests who want to skip the rind.

It is the one food zone that gets the palette almost by accident, since blue cheese and red fruit were always going to sit well together.

The Drinks Cart, Poured With Mulled Wine and Striped Straws

A brass drinks cart holds a pot of mulled wine, a stack of plain white mugs and a jar of navy and white striped paper straws for the cocoa drinkers in the group. A few sprigs of rosemary sit tucked beside the garnish tray, the only greenery at the cart.

It stays self-service, so nobody has to leave the main room just to keep her glass full.

The Quiet Corners of the House

Not every room needs a full treatment. A shelf or a nightstand dressed in one stripe and one brass piece carries the theme into the parts of the house a guest only glimpses.

The Bookshelf, Styled With Striped Spines and a Brass Ship

A single open shelf gets a run of books rebound or simply sleeved in navy and cherry striped paper, propped beside a small brass model ship and one dried orange slice for scent. Nothing else on the shelf competes with it.

It is the kind of corner a guest only notices on the second visit, which is exactly the point of dressing it at all.

The Nightstand, Set With a Striped Candle and a Brass Anchor

A single striped pillar candle sits on the guest room nightstand next to a small brass anchor paperweight and a folded navy flannel throw at the foot of the bed. Nothing else is added, since a guest room only needs one good detail to feel considered.

It is the smallest entry in the whole house, there purely for the person who notices these things when she turns down the lamp.

Wrapping It All Up

The parcels under the tree are the last chance to repeat the stripe, close enough that a photograph of the pile alone tells the whole story of the house. For a broader walk through every room in the house, the room by room Christmas decor guide pairs well with this one.

The Gift Wrapping Station, Papered in 2 Rolls of Candy-Stripe Paper

Two rolls of candy-stripe wrapping paper in navy and cherry cover most of the pile, finished off with plain white kraft paper for the parcels that need a break from the pattern. A reel of narrow brass-toned ribbon and a pair of good scissors sit ready beside the stack.

Shot close, the parcels alone tell the whole story of the house: stripe, stripe, one plain wrap to let the eye rest, repeat.

The Gift Tags, Cut Into Little Brass Anchors

Leftover scraps of the striped wrapping paper get cut into small anchor shapes with a craft punch, each one strung onto the parcel with a loop of narrow ribbon instead of a printed label. A brass paint pen adds the guest’s name across the stripe.

It uses up every offcut from the wrapping pile, so nothing from the station above goes to waste.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is blue and red a good Christmas color scheme?

Yes, and it has a long history in traditional decorating. One home tour describes the pairing plainly: “Blue and red, with a bit of green, are the perfect Christmas color scheme.” Navy and cherry in particular read as rich rather than bright, which keeps the look grown up.

Does red and blue Christmas decor end up looking patriotic instead of festive?

It can, if the blue and red are both primary and flat. Using varied depth helps: one styling tip suggests picking ornaments in different shades of blue, from metallic to glittered to textured, rather than one single tone, and the same logic applied to the red side keeps the whole scheme from reading like bunting.

What accent colour pairs best with navy blue and red at Christmas?

Brass and other warm metals. As one home tour puts it, a navy blue and warm copper combination can read as both elegant and warm, and the same warm metal works just as well paired with cherry red instead of copper, which is why this theme leans on brass throughout rather than silver.

Should I use navy or a brighter royal blue for Christmas decor?

Navy almost always looks more sophisticated indoors, since it sits closer to black in lamplight and lets the brass and cherry do the brightening. Royal or sky blue can work in a sunnier, more casual room, but it needs more white worked in around it to keep the look from feeling cold.

How do I stop a blue and red Christmas tree from looking flat?

Mix finishes rather than just colours: matte baubles against glossy ones, a few mercury glass pieces, ribbon with texture rather than flat satin. One tree tour that combined red, blue, white, silver and gold described the result as elegant and luxe precisely because no single material was repeated twice in a row.

Do I need to repeat the striped motif in every single room?

No, one or two touches per room is enough once the palette itself is consistent. A striped ribbon on the stairs, a striped stocking on the mantel and a striped napkin at the table already read as a theme without needing the pattern on every surface in between.