Carole Middleton’s care-free Christmas tree is inspiring us to throw the decorating rules out of the window

Carole Middleton’s Christmas tree from 2019 is inspiring us to forget about the traditional festive decorating rules and focus on joyful elements.

Each year different Christmas tree themes rise and fall in popularity and it can often feel a bit overwhelming when it comes to decorating our own. So much of what we see on social media are immaculate, colour-coordinated Christmas trees or those with very stylised decorations, however it doesn’t have to be this way. We think it’s great to have fun with your festive decorating and we’re still inspired by Carole Middleton’s approach with her office tree in 2019. A photo and video were shared on the Instagram of her former business, Party Pieces, that year and showed Carole decorating the tree as well as a close-up glimpse of the process.

Whilst her Christmas décor might be very different at her home in Berkshire, this office tree was the epitome of care-free and we couldn’t love it more for this. It reminds us that Christmas decorations are all about personality and don’t have to rigidly follow what’s on-trend.

Shop Decorations Like Carole's

Carole’s Christmas tree was covered in so many stunning ornaments and she and her Party Pieces team didn’t stick to particular colours or materials. There were understated wooden decorations that brought a traditional feel to the Christmas tree and these were contrasted against more eye-catching glittery baubles.

In the caption these sparkly metallic decorations were described as "ever-important" and they did bring a touch of festive magic to the overall design. There were also plenty of cranberry-red baubles for a pop of colour and several of the wooden ones had white detailing too, whilst there was even a "sneaky elf" hidden in the branches as a surprise decoration.

The best Christmas decorations can be enhanced further by the twinkling glow of fairy-lights and Carole and the team opted for a rather retro set of lights for this 2019 tree. Rather than decorating with the always-popular warm-toned white lights, they chose multi-coloured ones that featured pink, blue, yellow and green bulbs.

They have a wonderful, nostalgic feel to them and woman&home’s Digital Lifestyle Editor Tamara Kelly believes they’re the stand-out decoration on the Party Pieces tree.

"Eclectic is the theme of this tree, there's no one definitive standalone decorating scheme from traditional wooden decorations to glittery baubles and a novelty Elf; it's a real mix," she says. "The standalone decoration for me is the retro-coloured Christmas lights with large bulbs, they certainly add an element of fun and a dash of nostalgia."

The nostalgic Christmas decoration trend is huge for 2024 and Carole Middleton was well ahead of the game with these retro multi-coloured fairy lights. However, the beauty of her 2019 Christmas tree was precisely that it wasn’t about trends - it was all about decorating in the way that makes you happy and forgetting about styling rules.

This is a lesson we can all learn when it comes to festive decor and although you might not be a fan of the specific decorations Carole and her team used, you can take inspiration from her approach. Perhaps consider adding a few more novelty decorations into your tree and home or else move away from festive red, gold and green and embrace your favourite tones more - even if they’re not considered "Christmassy".

Whichever approach you take, mixing and matching is the name of the game and it makes a lovely change from perfectly on-theme Christmas decorations.

Tamara Kelly

Tamara is a highly experienced homes and interiors journalist, with a career spanning 20 years. Tamara has spent the last 17 years working with the style teams at, Woman & Home, Country Homes & Interiors and Ideal Home, and it’s with these award-winning teams that she gained a wealth of knowledge and honed her skills and passion for shopping, styling and writing about every aspect of lifestyle and interiors.