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Apartment Therapy reports that soft, cornflower-like Cotswold blue is emerging in this year’s Christmas decor, alongside the traditional red, green and metallics. McGee & Co. and several major retailers have included blue pieces in their holiday collections, though how widely the color will spread remains uncertain.
Cotswold-inspired blue is appearing in Christmas decorations this season, according to a recent report by Apartment Therapy, which points to holiday collections from McGee & Co., Anthropologie, Terrain, Balsam Hill and Crate & Barrel. The color is a softer, cornflower-like blue rather than the icy blue-and-silver palette often associated with winter, and its growing presence offers shoppers an alternative to traditional red and green.
Apartment Therapy’s Executive Home Director, Danielle Blundell, said she noticed the color in brand look books and designer selections while tracking holiday decorating ideas. She described the shade as an English Cotswold blue, close to cornflower, and linked its appeal to renewed interest in classic English country style. The report presents the trend as an emerging direction, not a replacement for familiar Christmas colors.
Designer Shea McGee’s “English Country Christmas” tree setup for McGee & Co. uses blue bows, ornaments and trimmings. The report also names Anthropologie, Terrain, Balsam Hill and Crate & Barrel among brands incorporating blue into holiday offerings. One example is Crate & Barrel’s faux juniper berry wreath with a blue bow, listed in the report at $139; the article cautions that prices were accurate at the time of publication.
The palette can include darker accents as well as pale blue. Apartment Therapy says navy appears in items such as stockings and tree skirts, while orange details, including old-fashioned citrus garlands, can provide contrast. The report also suggests pairing blue with snowy whites or using it in smaller accents rather than applying it throughout a room or tree.
A New Option Beyond Red and Green
For shoppers, the development means blue is available as a holiday decorating choice across several retailers, from a single wreath accent to a coordinated tree look. Its combination with greenery, white, navy or orange gives decorators ways to adapt the color to existing ornaments instead of replacing a full collection.
Apartment Therapy also describes blue as suitable for more than Christmas settings, noting its compatibility with Hanukkah decorations and snowy whites. That is the report’s design assessment, rather than a claim that blue is becoming a dominant holiday color. The practical significance is that retailers are presenting it alongside established seasonal palettes, giving customers another option without requiring them to abandon traditional decor.
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English Country Style Shapes the Palette
The report connects the color’s holiday appearance to the broader popularity of English country and cottage-inspired interiors. It points to traditional blue-and-white decorative references such as Delftware, Chinoiserie pottery and antique Chinese porcelain. These are the design associations offered by Apartment Therapy; the report does not provide sales figures or survey data measuring consumer demand.
Blundell also notes that blue has been receiving attention in wider interior design. The article cites Valspar’s 2027 Color of the Year, Cottage Door, a mid-tone denim-like shade, and Glidden’s Artifact, described as a warm, smoky mid-tone blue. Those future-facing paint selections provide context for the color’s broader visibility, but do not establish that the same shades are driving holiday purchases.
Blue has appeared in holiday decorating before, including as a tree color. The article mentions designer Jennifer Acito of Dama & Wood Interiors, who spray-painted a tree teal the previous year. Its current observation is narrower: this season, the report sees Cotswold-like blues in multiple commercial holiday collections, often used with traditional motifs and familiar seasonal colors.
““What I’m seeing a lot of this year is an English Cotswold blue that’s close to a cornflower color.””
— Danielle Blundell, Apartment Therapy’s Executive Home Director
How Far Blue Will Spread
The report does not quantify how many products or retailers have adopted the palette, nor does it include sales data, consumer surveys or a market-wide count. Its examples show blue appearing in named collections, but do not establish how popular the trend is among shoppers or whether it will reach mass-market stores at scale.
Blundell expects more blue in next year’s market, but that remains a forecast rather than a confirmed outcome. The article also does not give a single standardized color specification: the examples range from cornflower-like Cotswold blue to navy and teal. Availability and prices may change after publication.
Retail Collections Will Test the Trend
Shoppers can compare the current holiday ranges from the brands named in the report to see how much blue is available and whether it appears as a small accent or part of a fuller collection. Apartment Therapy’s next suggested indicator is next year’s retail assortment: broader participation would support Blundell’s prediction, while limited offerings would suggest the color remains a smaller design trend.
No specific launch date, sales milestone or retailer expansion has been announced in the source material. For now, the confirmed development is the presence of blue in several current collections, with its longer-term reach still to be seen.
Key Questions
What shade of blue is appearing in Christmas decor?
Apartment Therapy describes it as English Cotswold blue, close to cornflower. The collections discussed also include darker navy accents; the report does not name one standardized shade for all products.
Which brands are using blue in holiday collections?
The report names McGee & Co., Anthropologie, Terrain, Balsam Hill and Crate & Barrel. It gives a McGee & Co. tree setup and a Crate & Barrel wreath with a blue bow as examples.
Does the blue palette replace red and green?
No. Apartment Therapy says retailers are offering blue alongside traditional red, green, burgundy and metallic accents. It can be used as a small detail or as part of a larger decorating scheme.
Is blue expected to become more common next year?
Apartment Therapy’s Danielle Blundell predicts that more blue will appear in the market next year. That is her forecast; the report provides no sales data or confirmation of future retailer plans.
Source: apartmenttherapy.com
