XMAS TREES
Real or faux, maximalist or minimalist – the choices are vast, with no ‘right’ or ‘wrong’ way to include a Christmas tree in your festive décor.
It’s as simple as a few strategically placed branches in a favourite vase. Or, for a fuss-free break from tradition, try wall art to transform and theme the season. If you have the space, the bigger the better for fresh tree options.
This Christmas, go to town on the decorations – nothing says ‘blah’ more than a tree without personality, so this is the year to let your imagination run wild. Stick to a single colour, or make a beeline for multicoloured chic. No-one is judging anything beyond what makes you happy.
Begin new traditions and extend the season by ordering personalised decorations. Then encourage your guest to come over pre-Christmas to hang their ‘name’ on the tree.
Quality handmade decorations that can be used again and again will always trump cheaper options – your home will feel better for them. Splash out, pile on the baubles and let in the Christmas cheer.
SWEETLY SCENTED
A beautifully scented home is the ultimate luxury. Evoke a sense of place and welcome with room fragrances; from plug-in wall diffusers, to room sprays, and perennial favourite candles.
NOTHING SAYS CHRISTMAS LIKE... Making your own unique Yuletide wreath is not only creatively satisfying and sustainable, it can also hold wonderful festive memories year after year.
Synonymous with Yuletide, festive wreaths date back to the 16th century when excess cuttings from Christmas trees were repurposed to create wreaths. While traditionally crafted from evergreen trees, modern wreath making now embraces a variety of materials, foliage and greenery. When making your own wreath, start by looking at the shape, says florist Beck Keep from Keep & Gather. “If it’s irregular, decide which way you would like to orientate it to best suit your design and materials. Flowers and foliages all have a natural line, so don’t try to fight this.” To create a striking and stylish wreath, sometimes less is best. “The urge to use lots of large focal pieces can be hard to resist, but using less actually makes your focals more of a statement,” says Keep. With a sustainable mindset, there are plenty of ways to hold on to the traditional ‘repurposing’ approach when making your wreath. “I self-dry florals from my garden, such as hydrangeas and hellebores, or flowers I have bought at the markets,” says Keep. “I also use treasures I find on the ground during walks around my neighbourhood. This gives added joy to my wreath as it brings back the memories I have of finding or drying each piece.”
A FABULOUSLY FUSS-FREE FESTIVE SEASON AT HOME
Interior designer Charlotte Coote has made her name by successfully integrating timelessness and classic design with fresh, innovative and unexpected elements in her projects. She has more than 16 years' experience in the industry and worked around the world. We find out where she gets her inspiration when it comes to Christmas entertaining at home.
What does home mean to you?
A sanctuary where my family can relax and recharge. I love being in the garden tending to my vegetables, collecting eggs from the chooks, watching the children play, and time by the pool.
Picnics and lunches outside always bring so much joy. It’s about being around the people I care about in a comfortable environment.
On creating festive tablescapes?
I generally go back to the basics of Christmas with festive colours and textures. Fill massive vases with pine cones, use candles, silver, glass, crisp white linen and Christmas crackers that work with your scheme.
For impact, pick just a few objects and colours and repeat them again and again. Steer clear of miniature Father Christmases and reindeer with snow on their backs. When it is 40 degrees outside, it’s just odd!
How do you use festive colour in your home?
You really can’t go wrong with a good amount of green, and a hint of woody tones. A pop of red is great, but unless you have a room that can take this strong colour, it is best to keep it green. The same goes for gold ... it’s best in small doses.
Quick idea to transform a room for the season?
Greenery en masse in vases, or an oversized real Christmas tree (if it is too big for the room, that’s even better).
Don’t forget music; it doesn’t have to be cliché Christmas music, but it does need to be festive. Scented Christmas candles in fragrances such as sandalwood, cyprus, burnt wood or fig will create a beautiful atmosphere.
Sit candles in little mini wreaths of real holly, and try potted Christmas trees around the house. I love holly as a door wreath, and around fireplaces dripping down to the ground (it doesn’t need to be in water). I also rather like Christmas lilies.
On the art of being a good host?
If the host has fun, the guests will, too. To entertain beautifully and stylishly, the key is organisation and keeping things simple. I aim to have organised 90 per cent of a party prior to guests arriving.
Pre-choose music, set tables, line up glasses, chill drinks, light candles, fill vases with flowers and make as much food as possible the day before – then I can truly enjoy time with my guests.
In my younger years, I may have been guilty of being disorganised and aiming too high with the menu. It was an utter disaster! Keep it simple. Now is not the time to
try that new recipe.
...and guests?
RSVP immediately to the invitation in the same manner you were invited. For example, if a beautiful printed invitation arrives in the post, you must write and accept or decline the invitation and post your return. The same goes for a text message invitation to a simple kitchen dinner, respond via text message immediately.
It is most important not to sit on an invitation. Thank your host within 48 hours – via text, phone call or hand-written note.
During the party, talk to other guests and make an effort. Have fun and be giving in spirit.
How do you celebrate the festive season?
In our home, Christmas is about children. We sing Christmas carols, and make loads of delicious homemade food – in particular, my grandmother's brandy butter, and glazed ham.
After the meal, it’s carols, then we relax while our labrador, Bobby, cleans up the floor around the Christmas lunch table.
The gifts you love to give?
I am moving away from tangible, sometimes wasteful gifts and more towards experiences. For example, fancy restaurant vouchers or concert tickets, though of course the children still need something fun to unwrap.
THE TABLE HAVE FUN WITH CHRISTMAS
The table is your festive season entertaining centrepiece, a chance to step outside your comfort zone and layer colour, pattern and texture. Be bold, be brave, just don’t be boring!
Try a table runner in a contrasting shade, and scour vintage shops for ‘occasion worthy’ napkin rings.
Make the table styling your own – perhaps use different coloured, mismatched glassware, or source monogrammed linen napkins or placemats that represent your personality, from ornate and colourful to classic and pared back.
If you are still stuck for ideas for your festive table, style icon India Hicks has recently released an incredibly useful book, An Entertaining Story, offering inspiration and advice for celebrations. Consider emulating her style with Christmas-themed plates.
SETTING THE SCENE
Take the advice of Bianca Lorenne, the New Plymouth-based design, bed linen, home textiles and interior products specialists and layer up your festive table with tablecloths and runners, then embellish with placemats and napkins.
GIVING WRAPPING MATTERS
Lovely packaging is entrancing and plenty of savvy gift stores offer an in-house service. If you are wrapping your own, choose an efficient approach, keep to a theme and wrap everybody’s present the same (or use a different colour for each family group).
For an eco-style of gift wrapping that offers an alternative to the palaver of scissors and sticky paper and allows the wrapping to become part of the gift, try Japanese furoshiki. It's a simple knotting method that helps the planet as much as it delivers a glorious present. Use a traditional cotton wrap, a quality linen tea towel or a fabulous designer scarf.
If that all seems too complicated, stock up on festive drawstring bags. They're as fuss-free as popping in the present and adding a card. The gift bag can be reused for the recipients bits and bobs later.
Make your mark with wax seals, and rubber stamps, creating a gift wrapping that is as beautiful as the item it covers.
SWEETLY FESTIVE
If not sweet things at Christmas, then when? Create childhood nostalgia for your guests and thrill them with a ‘dessert’ lolly bar. Let guests 'design’ their own festive lolly bags and bear in mind that it doesn’t have to be a sugar-laden affair. Dried fruits and nuts also look wonderful – just keep to a scheme and your guests will be talking about your treat for years.
THOUGHTFUL PHOTO BOOK
It might be that you are not spending Christmas with loved ones this year. Momento photo books are the gift that gives year round. A photo book comes in many guises, limited only by your imagination or inclination: a storybook of your family’s year for the grandparents, a coffee-table book to recollect a memorable trip with friends, or perhaps a book of favoured recipes.
YULETIDE FINDS FOR (EVERYONE’S FAVOURITE) FURRY FRIENDS
Every family member deserves a Christmas gift. Pets have worked hard to comfort us this year so don’t leave them out. Auckland's Life of Riley has roll-up wool swag beds that are perfect for your pet, with a range of summery colours and removable washable covers.
MINIATURE PRESENTS
For a final flourish to liven up the Christmas table, as an attractive stocking stuffer or a small present to keep on hand for unexpected guests, try small gift boxes with elaborate packaging. They're much more memorable than store-bought crackers on the table, and you can personalise them with presents of your choosing. Simply buy gift boxes and plenty of ribbon or twine and get creative. Fillings can include little homemade sweets, bags of caramelised nuts or Christmas baking. The advantage is these can often be prepared well in advance (unless you want to showcase some festive baking) and brought out at the last minute so they don't use up precious time when you're preparing your festive table and Christmas feast.
THE GIFT OF COLOUR
Bring Christmas joy into your home with handmade treats and favourite colours. Finding the right coloured decorations to suit your Christmas plans can be like trying to find a needle in a haystack. Create new family traditions by gathering up young and old to upcycle old decorations with fresh new paint for memories that will last a lifetime. Hints of Resene FX Metallic paint will amp up the twinkle factor, glistening in the light and making sure that the Christmas spirit shines bright.
Visit your local Resene ColorShop or, for more ideas, visit resene.co.nz