How to Decorate a Timeless Red, White, & Gold Christmas Tree

Decorating the tree has always been one of my favorite Christmas traditions. And while you definitely don’t need a color scheme, choosing one is a fun way to make your tree feel intentional and special.

If you’re looking for a holiday palette, red, white, and gold is a timeless, festive choice. It’s classy and colorful, and it pairs well with most Christmas decor.

In this post, I’ll walk you through how to decorate a red, white, and gold Christmas tree step-by-step. This approach works with any size tree, real or artificial (although I’m unapologetically team real tree).

This post contains affiliate links that earn me a commission. For more information, read my disclaimer. 

1. Start with Warm White Lights & Sparkly Garlands

The first step is lighting and garlands. 

Warm White Lights

Warm white lights (not cool or multi-colored) are the way to go.

I feel this way about all lighting (you can check out my post on how to use ambient lighting in your home for more of my thoughts). But since a red, white, and gold palette is already warm-toned, warm lighting really complements it best.

You can use LED or incandescent strands. I normally prefer LED for safety, but the tree is my one exception. It’s already something you need to monitor closely as a fire hazard, and incandescent lights are just so magical on a Christmas tree.

But either option works — just choose warm white and use caution with whatever you pick.

I’m firmly convinced you can never have too many lights. If you’re using an artificial pre-lit tree, add more! They never come with enough.

Pro tip: Wrap lights inside the tree, closer to the trunk, as well as around the outside. This adds dimension and creates a “glowing from within” effect. I usually do at least one layer up the center and 2-3 layers on the outside.

Sparkly Garlands

Sparkly garlands are one of my favorite hacks for a gorgeous tree. They reinforce your color palette and catch the light in an amazing way.

I found mine on Amazon — double strands of gold and white. You’ll likely need more than you expect. I used five packs (~80 feet) for a 7.5-foot tree, but you can use more or fewer strands depending on the look you want.

Lighting and garlands anchor your tree and give you a strong foundation before adding ornaments.

2. Add Classic Ball Ornaments in Varying Sizes & Textures

Once your tree is lit and sparkling, it’s time to add the ornaments! Classic ball ornaments are the easiest way to build a framework for your color palette.

I like using plastic shatterproof ornaments (mine are from Hobby Lobby) because they’re inexpensive and still look beautiful. Plus, you don’t have to worry about breaking them. But glass works too if that’s your preference!

I picked up packs of red, white, and gold in a standard size, plus a larger size in gold for contrast. You can mix as many sizes as you like, or stick to one size for a more uniform look.

Personally, I prefer varying sizes — it feels more dynamic and visually interesting.

Regardless of size, definitely mix textures. Most shatterproof packs come with shiny, matte, and sparkly finishes.

I especially love the sparkly ones because they catch the light so nicely. Up close, they might look a little cheesy, but once they’re on the tree, they add so much interest and subtly reinforce your color palette.

Try spacing out ornaments so you get different textures, sizes, and colors next to each other. I usually start with white and gold (mostly gold), then add small pops of red. But you can shift the focus depending on which color(s) you want to emphasize.

And don’t forget to place ornaments at varying depths, not just on the edges. Tucking some deeper inside helps them reflect the lights and adds dimension to the tree.

3. Fill in with Additional/Sentimental Ornaments

Once you’ve built a solid base of classic ball ornaments, I like to layer in sentimental ornaments.

Sentimental ornaments are one of my favorite parts of decorating the tree, but they can create a little tension when they don’t perfectly match your aesthetic. Here are a few tips for incorporating them into a red, white, and gold color scheme.

Collect Sentimental Ornaments That Align with Your Color Palette

If you can, try to collect sentimental ornaments that fit your palette.

We have several ornaments that friends and family have given us over the years, and because people know we love decorating with gold, many of them just happen to match.

We got these the first year we were married and still love them.

When we travel, our go-to souvenir is an ornament, and we always try to find ones that work with our aesthetic. Some of my favorites we’ve collected are from Westminster Abbey in London and Sagrada Família in Barcelona. They’re gold, which fits perfectly, but they’re also meaningful.

Disperse Less Aesthetic Ornaments Throughout Your Tree

If preserving your color scheme is important to you, you can always choose not to include mismatched ornaments. But personally, I think sentimental ornaments are still worth adding, even if they don’t enhance the overall look.

For example, my husband brought a collection of Star Wars ornaments into our marriage. He loves them, and they bring him so much joy.

What I’ve found is that if you disperse these ornaments around the tree, they barely distract from your palette — especially if you’ve already built a strong foundation of red, white, and gold. Smaller ornaments blend particularly well.

See how R2-D2 is just hanging out on the tree? It’s not the most aesthetic ornament, but it makes my husband happy, and from a distance, it’s hardly noticeable.

Of course, a few of his ornaments are a bit too large (and frankly hideous) to place front and center, which brings me to my final point.

Hide Ugly Ornaments on the Back of the Tree

Two of my husband’s Star Wars ornaments are so large and ugly that I refuse to put them on the front of the tree.

Look, one of them is almost as big as my hand!

If you’ve been decorating for years, you’ve probably collected a few less-aesthetic ornaments too.

But here’s the thing: the back of the tree needs ornaments as well. Trust me — growing up, we overloaded the front of our tree, and it actually fell over multiple times before we realized what the problem was.

You’ll want some pretty ornaments back there to keep things balanced, but the least attractive ones can absolutely live in the back.

My husband still gets a kick out of knowing they’re on the tree, even if they’re less visible. And it’s fun to tell guests (especially kids) to try to find the hidden Star Wars ornaments. It’s kind of like a little scavenger hunt!

4. Finish with a Gold Topper

Once you’ve finished adding all your ornaments, it’s time for the topper that pulls everything together.

I love a gold topper for this color scheme. Yes, I’m biased toward gold, but it’s also a natural fit for stars and angels, the two most traditional tree toppers.

I grew up in an angel family, but angels can be tricky to balance on the tree… and sometimes they’re a little, well, ugly. So this year we went with a star. It’s beautiful, and I love the reminder of the meaning behind it: the Star of Bethlehem.

Of course, you can use any topper you like, whether it’s red, white, or gold.

Bows have also become really popular in recent years. A red bow at the top would be such a cute addition and a fun way to tie your color scheme together.

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A red, white, and gold palette makes it easy to create a tree that feels timeless and festive. But the best part of decorating the tree is doing it with the people you love. So go put on some Christmas music and have some fun while you bring your tree to life!

More Ways to Decorate for Christmas

Looking for more decor inspiration? Check out these posts to bring Christmas to your home.