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It’s December, and it’s therefore officially the Christmas Countdown! Which means our Christmas home decorating ideas can begin!
Have you started to think and prepare for it all? If I’m honest I’ve been pretty proactive this year; buying Christmas presents in advance (normally I’m a week before Christmas kinda gal…believe it or not), getting our home ready for the Festive season and even …
WITH MYSELF GETTING MY HOME READY FOR THE FESTIVE SEASON I WANTED TO SHARE WITH YOU MY TOP 3 CHRISTMAS HOME DECORATING IDEAS.
1. Top Tips for having Guests round at Christmas
With only 25 days until Christmas Day is here, are you ready for your guests to arrive?
It may not be in the forefront of your mind just yet, but I wanted to share with you my blog ‘Easy decorating tips for Christmas at home (with guests)’, which I wrote last year about preparing for your guests (and yourself) to stay over during the Festive Season.
With this I wanted to revisit a couple of top tips to make sure you feel in control of things, whilst having a full household.
GET ORGANISED, CLEAN AND TIDY
Before the madness begins, why not use the build up over the next few weeks to do a small ‘Spring Clean’ around your home. For me there’s nothing more satisfying than knowing your house is clean for when your guests come over for the day, or to stay.
It doesn’t have to be the whole house, just in the main areas where you will be entertaining.
Top Tip: if you spring clean your home before you put all your decorations on display, it means you then don’t have to clean around these additional items as well. Which of course creates extra work that, let’s face it, we really could do without.
CREATE AN INVITING HALLWAY
After you’ve done the boring basics of getting your home clean and tidy, the fun can then start. Whilst having your spring clean phase, it’s also a great time to freshen up the areas that guests with a) first walk into, and b) relax in.
TAKING YOUR HALLWAY AS AN EXAMPLE, THIS IS THE FIRST PART OF YOUR HOME FRIENDS AND FAMILY STEP INSIDE.
One great way to create an inviting space is scents. Seasonal scents from candles and essential oils from diffusers are an effective way to refresh the smells in your home.
TOP TIP: YOU CAN EVEN HAVE A GO A HYDRATING FRUITS TO CREATE YOUR OWN POTPOURRI STYLE DECORATION.
Try and opt for scents that are in keeping with this time of year, to make everyone feel Festive and happy; cinnamon, orange citrus, mulled wine smells are all brilliant ones to seek out.
You can read more easy decorating tips for Christmas at home (with guests) on my previous Blog post here.
2. Make your home warm and cosy (blog revisit)
You’ve hopefully read my Autumn/Winter Interior Trends Blog, as well as the John Lewis Pastel Punch Interior Trend Blog this October and November.
From both of these you may have gathered that Interior Styling during these seasons for me is all about making your home feel warm and cosy.
And these blogs aren’t the only time I’ve mentioned it. A couple of Christmas’s ago I wrote a blog dedicated on how to make your home feel warm and cosy.
OUT OF THE TOP TIPS FROM THIS PREVIOUS BLOG, I WANT TO SHARE TWO OF MY FAVOURITES THAT REALLY WELL HELP WITH YOUR CHRISTMAS HOME DECORATING IDEAS.
Whether you have family and friends round, or are hibernating away these are great ways to keep the cold out of your home through your interior styling.
Lighting for me is important when it comes to creating a cosy and warm environment.
DIMMER LIGHTING, WALL LIGHTS AND SIDE TABLE LIGHTS ARE ALWAYS GREAT TO CREATE THIS ATMOSPHERE.
However have a think about involving fairy lights as well.
You can get really creative with where you place these around your home; around door frames, shelves and mirrors as standard. However adding fairy lights within glass vessels, such as hurricane glass candle holders are equally as stunning. You can then style as table features, inside your (closed up) fire place, and on your window sill.
THEY REALLY DO CREATE A MAGICAL TOUCH, AND ARE WORTH ADDING AS PART OF YOUR WARM AND COSY LIGHTING STYLING.
One thing that makes me feel warm and cosy are throws and blankets. Layer up with a variety of them, the more the merrier for this time of year in my eye! Think of combining textures, colours (to suit your room’s colour scheme) an patterns that go well together and really work on making you feel warm and cosy.
TOP TIP: USE A WOVEN BASKET AS A THROW AND BLANKET STORAGE PLACE.
Then when you want to add all the layers whilst snuggling up on the sofa or in bed to get warm you have may options to choose from.
Then when you want them stored away, they look super stylish tidied away in this style of storage solution.
If you want to read more about making your home warm and cosy make sure you read my previous three blogs to help you;
AUTUMN/WINTER INTERIOR TRENDS
JOHN LEWIS PASTEL PUNCH INTERIOR TREND
MAKE YOUR HOME WARM & COSY
3. Table settings for different styles
Setting the table for Christmas can be a tricky one when you really want to make the table look festive, yet in keeping with your kitchen décor.
The beauty about a lot of the interior accessories you can buy for this around Christmas time, is that shops cater for a variety of colour schemes. And this is the key!
Country Living’s Blog has explored 53 Festive themed Table Decoration ideas, that are simply a must read if you are swayed more towards making your table settings feel more Christmas, no matter what your interior style.
THERE REALLY ARE SOME GREAT ONES, FROM TIMELESS CLASSICS, TO ON TREND IDEAS INVOLVING A RANGE OF DIFFERENT ACCESSORIES TO INCORPORATE.
You can read the Country Living blog here for some Festive inspiration.
Going on from these ideas I love to dress up our table to suit our kitchen décor.
I have recently done a couple of DIY ideas to suit our kitchen table, including making our own place mats out of bathroom tiles.
Plus you can read here how eco friendly Christmas Crackers can play a role on your Christmas table. I’ve make some of my own, with my Geo fabric, to compliment the Geo Wallpaper we have in as a feature wall in our dining area of the kitchen.
BOTH OF THESE ARE EASY DIY THINGS YOU CAN DO, WHICH ARE EXTREMELY COST EFFECTIVE, AND IN KEEPING WITH YOUR OWN INTERIOR STYLE.
I also think greenery and pinecones are a beautiful and timeless way to make your Christmas table setting have the real ‘wow-factor’.
For the pine cones, you add a touch of sparkle, by adding a little bit of glitter to the pine ends. I’ve shown you how over on my blog ‘DIY Glass Dome Decorations’, which has a step-by-step guide to creating this.
You don’t necessarily have to spend a fortune on greenery and pinecones. Go out on walks and start collecting amongst the woodland area.
All it means is spending a little time out in the open air, selecting a range of seasonal foliage, and letting it all dry out (especially the pine cones).
LASTLY THINK ABOUT THE FINISHING TOUCHES, INCLUDING CANDLES, AND NAPKINS.
I love a candle (or a few) on the table most of the time, but especially at Christmas.
Select your favourite Festive scent, mine’s Mrs Claus’s Bakery from Willow & Finn, which I have mentioned in my Top 5 Small Business Buys for Christmas blog, and decorate combined with your Festive foliage.
Napkins are also a great go-to when adding a finishing touch to your Christmas Table settings. Again, it’s selecting a colour that suits your interior style, as well as your tableware.
THEN IT’S THINKING ABOUT HOW YOU MAKE THESE FEEL FESTIVE.
A quick, easy and lovely idea is to wrap twine around the centre of each napkin, and take some of your found foliage and smaller pine cones to create a small decorative feature, placed in the middle.
Or even create some mini bunting, to wrap around the napkin, which can then be used for future dinner parties as well.
You can read how to make minibunting over on my DIY Decorations blog, here.
Hopefully this blog has sparked some creativity for your Christmas home decorating ideas.
For further inspiration make sure you head over to my Pinterest Board…to help even more. Do make sure you also tag Laura Felicity in your Instagram photos of the results.
