If you’re looking to create a few festive ideas to dress your home into a cosy, Christmas haven, here’s what I suggest:
1. First Impressions: Greet all who come to your home with a beautiful wreath adorning your door. There are so many beautiful options out there: from the simple and traditional holly wreath, to a more jazzy, all-singing, all-dancing, glitzy bauble number – there is a wreath out there for everyone!
2. Putting on the Glitz! What better excuse than Christmas to glitz up your home. Feature gold or silver accents throughout …..after all this year I have been obsessed with the metallics, as have a lot of the venues I have been dressing across London. The colour of Christmas this year has been ‘winter gold’ and it definitely has a warming effect. Try massing stems of painted gold or bronze Ilex together in a vase for a simple and striking, statement arrangement. Quick, easy, unusual, lasting and beautiful!
3. Tree Time: The focal point of any home at Christmas is the tree! Lighting can play a huge role at Christmas in creating mood and festive feeling, so start with the tree. Choose the biggest, bushiest tree you can find and then fill it with loads of fairy lights…the more the better! There is nothing worse than a sadly lit up tree, so go to town and put a couple of sets on. For a six foot tree, I tend to put three or four sets of 140 bulb lights on it, making sure I wrap the lights around every single branch, starting from the top down. This takes time, but it is worth the effort. I also nearly always go for warm white, as it adds a cosy glow to the room much more than the bright white or blue bulbs. Then just add your decorations. Pick a colour scheme and go to town. The more you add to the tree the more interesting, juicy and lush it will look – and of course, let the kids get involved. A homemade touch melts the heart much more than a picture perfect, professionally styled one
4. Simple but Effective: For an instant, no-fuss Christmas look, use twigs! Simply take a bundle full of birch or willow, natural, painted or glittered and stick in a large floor standing vase. For extra festive-ness, add co-ordinating baubles to the branches, or little led lights on clear or wire cables, so you just see the twinkle of the lights lost amongst the twigs. Place in the corner of any room or edge of a fireplace for an instant Christmassy room lift.
