Thanksgiving Décor Styles & Decorating Ideas for Your New Home

With the changing of the season and even slightly cooler temperatures in some regions, can it possibly be time to start planning for Thanksgiving? Yes, it is that time of the year again, and we love it. For those who have just moved into a new home, it’s even more exhilarating!

However, with many options to consider, choosing a Thanksgiving décor style might seem overwhelming. Let us help you get going and perhaps narrow down your choices. Decorating for any holiday can be an exciting interior and sometimes exterior design adventure, so enjoy the process.

Here are 10 style possibilities, along with decorating ideas for each for your consideration:

1. Contemporary Thanksgiving

If your new home is filled with today’s style and trends, then decorating for Thanksgiving can naturally start with the dining table and other decorations to further that gorgeous contemporary look and create an inviting spot for a family feast.

Think light and airy, sleek forms, perhaps a lot of clear glass or crystal and silver, along with color that says fall is here. Set the table with simple but elegant china, silverware, and glassware. When in doubt, choose understated rather than pieces with embellished designs to keep with your contemporary look.

2. Traditional Thanksgiving Decor

For many of us, the look and feel of timeless traditional style Thanksgiving decorations are “the only way” to celebrate this beloved holiday. Think fall foliage in nature’s beautiful hues. Turkeys, pumpkins, and gourds should abound, and if you’re into super-traditional, even Pilgrim figurines are appropriate.

3. Transitional Style for Thanksgiving

If all-out traditional décor for Thanksgiving is just not your style, consider adding more updated decorative accessories and using a new color palette for your table. Adding lighter contemporary items to a more decadent traditional style can create a style called transitional that comes about as a style in the middle where contemporary and traditional intersect in a much more than acceptable compromise. Choosing this style will give you the best of both worlds.

4. European Style for an Al Fresco Thanksgiving Feast

For those who live in warmer climates or have large outdoor heaters for the deck or patio, having a massive alfresco Thanksgiving feast may be just the thing. Take this idea even further with a European style tablescape. Think Italian villa or French chateau, for instance—what a great way to celebrate Thanksgiving or any holiday outside.

European style decorations might include rich wood charcuterie boards piled high with meats, cheeses, fruits, nuts, and bread or crackers. Add sprigs of your favorite herbs and berries for color and you have a gorgeous (and edible) table centerpiece. Other elements to include when decorating European style include fresh pine bough wreaths, wrought iron candelabras, and colorful tapestries.

5. Rustic Thanksgiving Decorating

No matter your new home’s decor, Thanksgiving can be celebrated in an appealing rustic style. Earthy hues of brown, beige, and rust are often used in rustic style. A tablescape that includes all-natural elements will help you go rustic. Your table might be decorated with leaves, branches, pinecones, acorns, rustic candle holders, and a centerpiece of autumn flowers. Add to that table runners, placemats, and fabric napkins for a homespun look and feel.

6. Farmhouse Style – Perfect for Thanksgiving

Farmhouse, whether iconic country or modern farmhouse, is at the top of favorite Thanksgiving styles. You may have fond memories of holidays spent in Grandma’s kitchen. Recreate those memories in your new home for Thanksgiving.

If you go with an iconic country look, you’ll likely find lots of family members who’ll be excited to contribute to your memory-laden tablescape. Along with elements from nature’s bounty, vintage kitchen utensils and tableware are perfect additions for farmhouse tables.

7. Unexpected Décor for Thanksgiving – A Beautiful Coastal Look

If saturated colors and sandy hues will work with your new home’s color palette, coastal themed Thanksgiving décor may be an unexpected choice for you. Consider sea glass and seashells to show off against your table’s seaside colored linens. Watery colors range from pale sea glass to deep stormy greens, while sandy tones come in many shades. These holiday decorations meld beautifully in new homes located in warmer or fairer climates, where cooler fall weather doesn’t speak to traditional Thanksgiving décor.

8. Charming Cottage Style

If you have visions of a cottage style Thanksgiving, bring it to life with a myriad of vintage style elements. There are many nuanced cottage sub-genres from the seaside cottage to an English garden cottage or any other similar looks that suit your dream design.

It’s easy to find images online of cottage interiors from which to draw inspiration. Then, all you’ll need to do is transform your rooms with Thanksgiving decorations. If you love floral prints, here is your chance to use as many prints and patterns as you wish. Be sure your cottage tablescape includes mounds of flowers and vintage china, flatware, and glassware. This is the style to let your inner decorator run wild.

9. Mid-Century Modern – Retro Memories

If you or your older family members are lovers of Mid-Century modern style, you likely already have the makings of a retro Thanksgiving. Mid-Century modern’s iconic wallpaper and fabric designs are readily available online as reproduction fabrics by the yard. These cool fabrics look terrific fashioned into table runners, tablecloths, placemats, and napkins or whatever fits into your retro tablescape plan.

In addition to everything you have access to from family, vintage shops offer troves of Mid-Century furniture and accessories. So, go for your own modern Thanksgiving décor.

10. Eclectic Style for Thanksgiving – A Fabulous Way to Use Your Family Treasures

Does any décor style offer more creative freedom than curated eclectic? Excitingly, eclectic style can mean using the furniture and accessories you love without regard to what specific type of décor each fit. Your eclectic collection can come from diverse sources, including family, antique shops, vintage stores, and even online.

Your job in creating your very own eclectic style is putting all the pieces together in a most pleasing way. We all have special items passed down from generation to generation. Now is a great time to bring them out, clean off the dust, and celebrate with them. Even things that don’t fit into the décor style you’ve infused into your new house can be used at the holidays if you choose an appealing eclectic look.

Decorating your home environment and creating a tablescape with your favorite fall holiday décor style will bring much joy to you (and your family) as you begin the next exciting phase of life in your new home. Now’s the perfect time to decorate with what makes you happy and brings a smile to your face.

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving!