How to hang a garland without nails for easy, rent-friendly Christmas decor

Garlands are the ultimate Christmas decoration, adding festive glamour to so many different areas of your home, but if you live in a rental property or just don't want to make any holes in your wall, you'll need an alternative hanging solution. Knowing how to hang a garland without nails will preserve your walls or mantelpiece, but also make it much simpler to hang up and remove decor quickly.  

Whether you're trying to get your garland to stay on your staircase or you're trying to find a solution for hanging it under a mantelpiece for a unique look, these DIY methods should make it much simpler to achieve the Christmas decor look you're aiming for, without any damage. 

How to hang a garland without nails

Knowing which products work best for hanging any decor is essential in ensuring your DIY Christmas decor is perfectly executed. From command hooks to creative solutions like a tension rod, your garland will be securely attached with any hooks cleverly hidden from plain sight.

1. Christmas garland wire ties

If the garland you're hanging is green foliage, then using Christmas tree-esque ties is the perfect solution. They'll blend in with the garland so that if they do happen to be on show around the back of a banister.  

If you want an impressive Christmas stair decor scheme then it's essential to ensure you've got all the necessary ties possible so that you can add baubles and extra foliage to a simple garland. 

2. Command hooks

Command hooks are a lifesaver product for any household, and we recommend always keeping them on hand in a drawer for a rainy day. They're great for hanging art without needing to make a hole in your wall, which is essential if you're living in a rented property.  

There are so many command hooks available for different uses too. The clear hooks will make it easy to hang heavier items such as a wreath or garland, without it showing up. Alternatively, the decorating clips will keep each section of a smaller, slimline garland in the exact placement that you desire. 

3. Garden wire

The key to hanging a garland without using nails, and while ensuring it looks as sleek as can be, lies in using garden wire. 

'Garden wire is also what I use to attach a garland to the banister, that way it sits under the banister rather than on it, so you can still use it (and the kids cant pull it down by accident!),' recommends Interior Designer, Francesca Harris.

'I have a large bit of wire at the top that I wrap around the banister and a spindle to ensure it won’t slip, and then I secure again another couple of times along the rest of the garland. With it being green you don’t see the wire in the garland at all, and it's only a very small wire to have on the banister.'

4. Tension pole

This tension rod garland DIY is a must for Christmas as it offers the opportunity to add a garland to an area with nowhere to attach it, such as a walkway between rooms. All you need is a shower tension rod and a garland of your choosing (plus bows, lights, or baubles for added festive glamour), and you simply wind the garland around once the tension rod is in situ between the walls. 

With a thick enough garland you can entirely disguise the appearance of the shower rod, so you won't need to worry about matching the colour to your walls. It's entirely damage free, and you can easily reuse it for a seasonal decoration at other points during the year. 

Whichever nail-free hanging solution you choose, it's good to have it stocked up well ahead of Christmas decorating season.