As most of you will know by now, I’m not much for the commercialised aspects of Christmas (or any other holiday for that matter). But I do love the Christmas spirit, the candles, the good food and treats you can eat with family and friends. And I like the idea of, this one time every year, bringing out your treasure box of Christmas decorations and decorate your home in the name of holiday joy.
I used to love it during my childhood but during my years in London I didn’t actually decorate much. I always lived in flat shares, I was never at home much, and I would always travel to Sweden for Christmas. So I wouldn’t spend much money or time on it, apart from some extra candles and a few minor decorations I’d collected or been given.
Moving to Sweden last year and spending my first December in my own home actually meant quite a lot to me. It meant I could start building something new together with my partner, but it also meant we had to start from scratch in terms of Christmas decorations. Although my mum gave me some stuff from my childhood, like a star lamp for the kitchen window and some wooden Santa creatures I made in primary school.
A Christmas style
When it comes to decorations, there are obviously many different styles to choose from but to keep it simple and avoid trends and consumption, finding your own Christmas style is key. For me, as with my interior design style in general, there’s a bit of midcentury, a bit of craftsmanship, a bit of Scandinavian simplicity, and a bit of fun. It’s rather old-fashioned but I don’t mind a bit of kitsch here and there.
It’s only my second Christmas in a home of my own, so I’m taking it slowly. I haven’t bought loads of stuff and I want to continue developing my Christmas style over time. Only buying things I really like and that can be added to my Christmas collection that I bring out each year, rather than following new trends every year.
My small but growing Christmas collection
I’ve mainly bought second hand and vintage stuff, and some new electric lights. The colour scheme is mainly red, brass and gold but with a few more colourful additions. Christmas is mainly about lights and candles for me though, so I’m mainly just using the candle holders I use all year but I might put green candles in some of them, and of course make a point of lighting them more often than I would other times of the year. And I try to bring in natural materials, like flowers, or Christmassy table cloths (most of them I’ve found at my grandparents’).
I wasn’t able to find an advent candle holder (for four candles that you light each Sunday before Christmas) that I liked last year so I made one, but this year I bought one second hand – a vintage brass one with a bit of a different look to the more traditional ones you find with hearts or stars.
For last year’s candle holder that I made I used some tiny baubles but I didn’t use them this year and as we don’t have a tree I wasn’t sure if to use them this year, but then decided to hang them on the side of our book shelves – a way to be creative with what you have instead of buying something new.
We got slightly carried away buying some indoor lights that were a bit much together with the rest of our mainly second hand, midcentury lighting, but decided they would make the entrance a bit more fun – and the wallpaper is crazy enough to sort of swallow some of the craziness of the lights.
Not loads of decorations but enough to make it feel a bit Christmassy, to add a bit of fun, and to bring in light, lots of light into the flat this very dark time of the year.