Kitchen Cabinet Christmas Wreaths

When you think about which room of your house in which you spend most of your waking hours, especially during the holidays, there is a good chance that it will be your kitchen. Yet, the extent of most people’s Christmas decorations in their kitchen is probably a few red and green dishtowels, or perhaps a sugar cookie scented candle. However, in just a few minutes, you can completely transform your space with kitchen cabinet Christmas wreaths.

Growing up, my family would decorate the living room and den for Christmas. We never decorated the kitchen, most likely because counter space was at a premium. We would have more company in December than at any other time of year. Which meant more dishes, platters, and utensils on the counter, so the last thing we needed was clutter.

A few years back, I had refaced my kitchen cabinets to extend them up to the ceiling. I loved the look of the white cabinet doors topped by crown molding that went up to the white ceiling. It made my kitchen look so much brighter without that dead space between the top of the cabinets and the ceiling.

With the layout of my home, my front door enters right next to the kitchen. So when I get home from work I tend to go right into the kitchen to prepare dinner. My living room is at the rear of my home. While the Christmas tree in the corner by the fireplace looks beautiful, I do not spend as much time there as I do in my kitchen.

That same year that I redid the kitchen, I saw a photo of a kitchen with white cabinets, with simple green wreaths hung on the cabinet doors. I saved the image on Pinterest, and over the months that followed, my eyes kept going back to that pin. But I figured it would be tricky to do or would involve installing hooks inside the doors. I did not want to do this on my brand new cabinets.

But then I read about using painter’s tape to attach the ribbon to the inside of the doors. This seemed like a relatively easy and safe option that would not damage the doors.

The Search for Supplies

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So I figured I would head to the craft stores to pick up some basic, small wreaths. Little did I know how tricky these would be to find. There are sixteen upper cabinet doors in my kitchen, so I was looking for simple wreaths that would not look too fussy in multiples. I could not find enough of any one style in stores, so I gave up after a couple of weeks. I made a mental note to try again the next year as soon as decorations were put out in stores.

The following year I lucked out at Target, in Bullseye’s Playground. (This is also known as “The Dollar Spot. This is really a misnomer because most things cost more than a dollar there!). I spotted a few at one Target and then went on a quest to several other Targets within a couple of days to score enough to do all my cabinets. I even offered to help the team member at one Target go through a whole stack of cases that had not been unpacked yet. She was so sweet to offer to go through the pile when she heard why I need more than just a couple of wreaths.

This year, I only spotted one of a similar style of wreath in Target. It was in the Bullseye’s Playground, so it is worth looking through there to see if you can find enough for your kitchen. They have this slightly larger cypress wreath with red berries that would look great with a red ribbon.

If you have a larger kitchen, you could consider using candle rings. These tend to be more ornate and dense than the wreath I used. Just make sure to measure the width of your doors. Be sure that you will have sufficient space on both sides of the wreath to allow for easy opening and closing of the doors. Also, if a cabinet door opens up towards a perpendicular wall, you want to consider the depth of the wreath as well.

You could also use simple garland to make wreaths, such as this berry and pine leaf coiled garland or icy pine and red berry coiled garland. You can then adjust it to make the diameter bigger or smaller. Use floral wire to secure the wreath once you get it the diameter you want.

Finding ribbon was much easier. I wanted a red ribbon with a subtle design to coordinate with my red stand mixer and toaster. Michael’s always has a great selection of ribbons. I decided on this 7/8 inch wide grosgrain ribbon with a white and silver stripe running through it. Since I was not making bows out of it, I choose a ribbon that is not wired. That way, it was less bulky and would drape more naturally.

I did not want a wider ribbon because I would be repeating this design sixteen times around my kitchen. I felt that if I used a ribbon with too many colors, or something too “chunky” looking, it would make my kitchen feel smaller.

Michaels does not carry the same ribbon that I used anymore. But they have a similar taffeta red and white glitter ribbon. They also have this whimsical red satin ribbon with green pompom edging.

How to Hang the Wreaths

I have four different lengths of cabinet doors, so I started with my longest doors to decide how far down the door I wanted the wreaths to hang. I did not bother with measuring out the ribbon with a measuring tape. Instead, I simply doubled the length of ribbon around a wreath, wrapped it up and over the top of the door, and extended it about 3 inches down the back. Once I found the length I liked, I used that piece to lay next to the spool to cut that same length for the rest of that size cabinet. I then repeated the process for the other three sizes of doors.

To prevent the ribbon from shifting once hung, I stapled to the two ends the ribbon together. The ends of the ribbon are on the interior of the door, so no need to get fancy here.

While I had seen some websites suggest using a command hook on the back of the door, the requires precise measuring. Instead, I opted to use painter’s tape, because it is easily moved to adjust each wreath to make them even. I used the standard blue tape. Even after it was stuck to the inside of my cabinets for more than six weeks, it peeled off easily. It did not leave any residue or marks.

The entire cutting, stapling, and hanging of the ribbons and wreaths took less than half an hour for the whole kitchen. In the subsequent years, it only takes a minute or two per door to put them back up again.

I have never had an issue with a wreath falling off the door even after repeated opening and closing. If your cabinet doors are more than a few years old, wipe down the interiors to degrease the surface. That way, the tape will stay secure through the holiday season.

My wreaths are very lightweight, so I don’t feel the need to secure them to the outside of the door. But if you use heavier wreaths, or have family members that tend to slam cabinet doors, you might consider using a piece of painter’s tape that has been rolled sticky side out. Attach it to the underside of the ribbon, slightly above where it loops around the wreath. This will help anchor the wreath. Depending on how thick the foliage is on your wreath, you could also put the tape on the lower edge of the back of the ring of the wreath.

End of Season Storage

At the end of the season, when I take the wreaths down to put into storage, I group them together by length of ribbon. I then use one of the strips of painter’s tape to bundle each set together. I label the tape with the doors that they were on (e.g. “above fridge,” “pass-through,” and “above sink”). Since I did not use bows, I am able to stack these wreaths pretty compactly. They are stored in a plastic tub with my other kitchen decorations.

I have seen wreaths like these hung on cabinet doors throughout the year using a more neutral ribbon, such as plain burlap. You could also hang the wreaths on just some of the doors during the “off-season.”

Now, whenever I walk into my kitchen during the holidays, I love how cheerful the wreaths make it look. They add a festive pop of color that I notice as soon as I walk in my front door. It really is an easy way to transform a room for the holidays!

If you can’t find small wreaths, the coils of garland sold at craft stores also work well. My mother’s kitchen cabinets are tall and narrow. Since they are a darker wood, I wanted something bright to show up against the doors, so I chose red and white candy garland. I used a sparkly red and white ribbon to hang them.

Looking for gift ideas for the home baker on your list? Check out my recommendations for the best gifts for bakers.

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