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With Christmas fast approaching, there’s nothing guaranteed more to get you in a festive mood than decorating your home, it’s a wonderful way to embrace the holiday spirit and create a warm, festive atmosphere to welcome family and friends. We all know it requires some planning and preparation, but here are some tips and ideas that may assist you in creating a beautiful Christmas and hopefully take a little stress out at the same time.
PLAN AND PREPARE
Start by deciding on a theme or colour scheme for your Christmas decorations. You may be a fan of traditional colours or be ready for a change and choose a more modern colour scheme – or you can mix and match – it’s your Christmas so you can do it your way! Get out your carefully stored decorations, see which ones will suit this year’s scheme, and decide what else you’ll need to complete your tree and home.
CHRISTMAS TREE
Choose a Christmas tree that fits your space. You can plan to buy a real tree and enjoy the scent of pine throughout your home or pull out your faithful faux one. There are companies that deliver and take away real trees, which makes life a lot easier – so investigate these and order early.
Decorate the tree with a mix of ornaments, lights, and garlands. Start with the lights to ensure even distribution, add ornaments, and then garlands. For the perfect finishing touch – add a tree topper.
WREATHS AND GARLANDS
Nothing says “Christmas” as much as a beautiful wreath on your front door to welcome guests and Christmas to your home. Don’t stop at one wreath on the door – hang another one (or more) inside on a wall, in front of a window – group a few together for a real statement. Place a fabulous Christmas doormat at the front and back doors – they’ll add some extra impact.
Decorate staircases, mantels, and doorways with garlands of greenery, fairy lights or both and for some good measure and a little bit of excess – add some baubles or other ornaments.
INDOOR DECORATIONS
It’s not all about the Christmas tree – if ever there was a time to forget minimalism – it’s Christmas! There are so many places around your home to add some Christmas cheer or sparkle! The flickering of candles in decorative holders is perfect for consoles, coffee tables or dining tables and sets a beautiful scene. Our decorative ceramic houses and churches are wonderful, start a collection of different sizes and colours, pop a tealight inside and you’ve created a twinkling Christmas village.
Don’t forget to hang stockings on hooks by the fireplace for Santa to fill – they’re not just for the kids!
LIGHTS
These are not just for the tree - string Christmas lights inside and outside your home. They can be used on trees, along tables, and on windowsills. Ours are battery-operated so you don’t even have to be near a power point – let your imagination run wild.
WINDOW DECORATIONS
Stars and wreaths look amazing hung in windows. This year we have some stars that light up to make an extra special display at night.
TABLE SETTINGS
Whether you host Christmas lunch or dinner, and whether it’s casual or formal – set the dining table accordingly. You can go all out with fabric tablecloths, placemats and napkins or for the easy, casual option with a paper table runner and serviettes – or a mixture of both! You can make it beautiful and easy to clean up!
Create your own centrepiece – a combination of garlands, candles, villages, trees, and baubles always looks wonderful, or you can opt for seasonal flowers or greenery. Think about the food you’ll be serving - if you’re putting platters in the middle of the table – take this into consideration, a centrepiece may not work but you can always put a small decoration on each setting.
Whatever you do – don’t forget the Christmas bonbons! Each year we design new ones to match our current themes and each year – they sell out quickly! They look beautiful and complete the table but they’re also a lot of fun!
GIFT WRAPPING
You’ll want all your presents to look good under your beautifully decorated tree, so stock up on gorgeous wrapping paper, ribbons, picks, gift tags, gift bags and bottle bags. Wrap presents as you buy them so there’s no last-minute panic wrapping on Christmas Eve.
CHRISTMAS SCENTS
There’s nothing quite like the scent of pine to evoke Christmas memories, and if you’ve got a faux tree, you can add a pine-scented candle or diffuser to your room – then who will know your tree isn't real. This year we have some gorgeous Christmas pine candles, diffusers and even small candles in bonbons to choose from. Buy some for your home – and some extras for gifts!
CHRISTMAS PLAYLIST
Put together a Christmas playlist. Include some old favourites – Christmas carols that everyone knows and can sing along with to create a festive atmosphere, and plenty of laughter.
So, get planning, shopping and decorating and when Christmas comes, you’ll be ready to enjoy it. Remember that the most important thing about decorating for Christmas is to have fun and create a cosy, welcoming home for you and your loved ones to enjoy during the holiday season.
