Images: © just_belle
How do you begin setting the tone for a cosy Christmas at home – what are the first small rituals or touches that make the season feel special to you?
Christmas decorating does not begin until December in this house. However, one exception is indoor bulbs. In October, I plant up tureens and pottery with hyacinths and narcissus for Christmas to fill the windowsills and tables around the cottage. As December approaches, the decorating is a gradual process. I make my own wreath garnished with dried flowers, velvet ribbons and bells. We have a rather large front door so I can make the wreath as big and extravagant as I like. love to bake throughout December whether it be gingerbread to hang on the trees or mince pies using mincemeat made by our sweet neighbour. The orchards down our lane are filled with mistletoe, so we hang bunches from gates and doors outside the cottage. Candles are a ritual in the cottage, and it wouldn’t be December without a glow and twinkle from windowsills and shelves.
Your style is so beautifully textured, nostalgic and warm – how do you bring those elements into festive decorating?
A cottage setting lends itself to a charming Christmas scene. Christmas is a perfect excuse to add a layer of the whimsical, like a dusting of icing sugar on top of a delicious cake – and that’s how I see my decorating. I don’t tend to have a tidy up before decorating and I never put anything away to replace with Christmas decor. Our treasures come out and adorn our everyday scenes. There’s no rules for Christmas colour schemes, no dos and don’ts. It’s a time of excitement and storytelling and a layer of love and joy.
What are the simplest, most charming details that instantly transform a space into something magical?
I am always looking for ways to bring outside inside. I love being outdoors, whether that’s in the garden or on walks with my dog, Pep. Anything from outdoors will always bring a natural feel to decorating when accompanied with Christmas decorations. I forage from the lane hedgerows, especially in November and December when I can pick Old Man’s Beard, bracken and holly. Natural is always best, but I do love to incorporate our vintage finds and handmade treasures too. It’s the stories behind these objects that bring the Christmas nostalgia for me.
Can you talk about the role of handmade or vintage pieces in your Christmas scheme?
Alongside my foraged greenery which adds the texture, I love to incorporate the vintage decorations which we’ve found on our travels. We have a collection of vintage baubles that have been collected at markets and antiques shops. There have been a few breakages over the years too as they are extremely fragile. I think there is something so special about decorations which have had past lives and brought joy to others. We have a retro pink bottlebrush tree which takes centre-stage every year. It’s rosy pink with white dusting and it always looks delightful. We have a collection of vintage Putz houses which sit along the mantle shelf. Every one is different, either a house or a church with a bottlebrush tree alongside it. They are made from cardboard, painted in pastel hues and lightly glittered like gingerbread houses.
How do you approach decorating the table to create something beautiful but still relaxed and inviting?
I always find the Christmas table the most difficult area to decorate for Christmas Day. Of course I want it to look beautiful, but it also needs to be functional for my three big brothers, my parents and friends to be able to sit round and enjoy the meals. We don’t have the largest table either – it’s a small cottage – so space is very important. The table is always dressed with a large linen tablecloth with delicate ruffles. It is then dotted with jam jars of paper whites which look and smell beautiful but are also easy to move around once the food appears or we want to play board games. I love a collection of candlesticks along the table, which give an instant cosy glow to mealtimes. We have a collection of quilted table mats and mismatched cotton napkins which are alternated throughout Christmas. I think all these small but important decisions make the table looks simple and functional, yet still very beautiful.
What are your favourite ways to make the season feel cosy for guests?
We decorate the cottage with fairy lights on the lollipop bay trees and a trail of lights over the front door. The Christmas tree sits proudly in the sunroom at the front of the cottage, so the glow of the tree and lights greet guests as soon as they arrive. My mama is the best tea maker in the world so guests will always be greeted with mugs of tea and mince pies and gingerbread. Mama is also known for her sweetie tray which is overflowing with tins of chocolates and lebkuchen cookies to tempt you. We love scented tea lights from St Eval to put in jam jars – they infuse the house, as well incense sticks and incense holders from Astier De Villatte to waft through the cottage with woody smoky scents. We have two wood burning stoves from Charnwood and they are not only the most efficient heat wise but so cosy and atmospheric to warm up the sitting room and barn.
Which traditions or personal touches do you return to every year?
When I was younger, my Mama gifted me a very special handmade advent calendar from Rachel Ashwell Shabby Chic. It’s a textile piece with an embroidered Christmas tree and each day of advent you hang a felted decoration onto the tree. It’s a lovely ritual to fill the tree as December days go by. Another treasure is my Christmas stocking which is by Shirley McLauchlan and it has my name embroidered onto it. It was from The Cross Shop in Portland Road, Notting Hill. I have a handmade Christmas fairy from Made in Hastings by Clare Fletcher – she is the sweetest cherry on top to the Christmas tree. We have Christmas charm garlands from Sam Mckenzie – The Magpie and The Wardrobe – which are chains of ribbons and lace filled with vintage decorations, tinsel and objects. All of these treasures make the house feel completely magical when they come out each year and remind me of special Christmas times.
