House and garden christmas decorations
Joyful Christmas decoration ideas for 2022
Decoration
Christmas decorations for every room of the house. From elegant Christmas trees, to tables & wreaths for door decoration. Deck your halls with these stylish ideas to steal
By Emily Senior
The festive season is looming cheerfully on the horizon, and here at House & Garden our thoughts naturally turn to Christmas decorations and all the ways to bring a little extra joy to our homes, particularly after last year's strange hiatus on celebration. Mince pie and mulled wine in hand, we've been looking back over our absolute favourite Christmas decorating ideas for living rooms, dining rooms and beyond and we think the ones we've found are rather special.
Our archive is full of elegant Christmas wreaths to greet your guests as they arrive, opulent table settings, and of course the jolliest baubles and Christmas tree decorations to set off those carefully collected Christmas gifts. Whether you're planning a traditional festive season full of red, green and gold, or prefer something a little more contemporary (we do love a tree full of kitsch ornaments), our gallery of inspiration is sure to have something you can bring to your own house. And if this really isn't your style, then we do have a rather lovely gallery of Christmas decorating ideas for minimalists that might just do the trick...
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Christmas decoration ideas for 2022
- Native Share
Taking inspiration from the soft colour palette, folk art influences and natural elements of Nordic style, Ruth Sleightholme and Rémy Mishon have added decorative festive details to elegant rooms furnished with antiques for their latest Christmas shoppable scheme. The bespoke garland made from winter ivy costs from £25 a metre, from Poppy Sturley.
Owen Gale
Native ShareAmanda Brooks got her Cotswold farmhouse ready for Christmas with a garland framing the mirror, tall candles along the mantelpiece and stockings hanging in front of the fire.
Lisa Flood
Native ShareA pine garland wraps around the beam in this cosy cabin. The whole space is lit only by the lit-up Christmas tree with its twinkling fairy lights, and the crackling fire in the log burner.
Owen Gale
Native SharePomegranates are a quick and easy way to give the festive table some colour.
Mark Fox
Native ShareDuncan Campbell and Luke Edward Hall opt for a more-is-more approach when it comes to decorating their Cotswold cottage. Silka Rittson Thomas of TukTuk Flower Studio added foliage to the mantelpiece, with two wreaths on either end. The couple adorned the greenery with baubles in all shapes and sizes, collected over the course of their relationship.
Michael Sinclair
Native ShareAt this former rectory in the West Country, foraged Christmas decorations and salvaged materials enhance the sense of a house that has been made suitable for modern family life, while retaining its Victorian character.
At Christmas, the family gathers pine cones and branches of old man’s beard to decorate this room at the front of the house, which has walls painted in Farrow & Ball’s ‘Setting Plaster’.Owen Gale
Native ShareNo need to wire in chandeliers – hang some candelabras up with ribbon and give them some (LED) candles to create mood lighting in an instant.
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Andrew Montgomery
Native ShareThe tops of cupboards, cabinets, bookcases and wardrobes are fair game for draping foliage and garlands over.
Lucas Allen
Native ShareThe hall in print maker Cameron Short's restored Georgian home leads to the back office with the workshop on the left. The hall itself is eclectic and full of vintage accessories such as the 'Bonfield' sign which is an original from the shop which Cameron has turned into a workshop. The bunting hanging across the hall is perfect for vintage style Christmas decorations.
Make your own using a craft punch like this one from Woodware.Michael Sinclair
Native SharePedro da Costa Felgueiras, an expert in historical pigments, uses sparse holly branches to decorate the mantelpiece of his East London house.
Mark Fox
Native ShareThe dining room is a kaleidoscope of colour, with more foliage by TukTuk Flower Studio, arranged in drapes with glittery mushrooms nestled below.
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Christopher Horwood
Native Share‘Lichen’ by Farrow & Ball provides a lovely backdrop for subtle metallic decorations, including tin decorations and a garland made of spoons. In the foreground, a candlestick holder from Jess Wheeler adds a golden note.
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Give traditional Christmas decorations a colourful twist. Gabby Deeming creates a scheme inspired by the holiday season, using this year's most stylish decorations paired with patterned textiles and hung with garlands of origami stars.
Martin Morrell
Native ShareWalls in ‘Chocolate’ by Edward Bulmer Natural Paint provide a muted backdrop for the natural greenery of a Christmas tree and mantlepiece foliage in Jeremy Langmead and Simon Rayner's 17th-century farmhouse. The gold decorations on the tree highlight the frame of the portrait behind, while the foliage above the fire is kept undecorated and natural.
Martin Morrell
Native ShareGarlands of fresh seasonal greenery decorate the chimneypiece in this oldest part of the house, where a carved oak spice cupboard dated 1715 is set into the thick stone wall. The greenery is abundant, with pops of red from seasonal berries.
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Paul Raeside
Native SharePaper stars (white), large, 60cm diameter, £8.60 each; medium, 45cm diameter, £6.13 each; and small, 12cm diameter, £16.15 a set of three. All from House Doctor. Wrapping paper, £2.
50 per sheet, at Smug. Velvet ribbon, from £2 a metre, at MacCulloch & Wallis. Pressed-metal swags (over door), large, £40 each, and small, £18 each, at RE. Punched metal tea-light holders, £30 each, at Caravane. Soapstone reindeer candle holder (on chimneypiece), £265 a pair, from Otago Design.Rachel Whiting
Native ShareHanging birds, cut from watercolour paper, £2.35 for an A2 sheet, from Paperchase. Paper stars, '11-3009E-1', e14.20 a pack of four, from Livingly. Tablecloth, 'Large Spot' (ivory), by MYB Textiles, cotton voile, £48.22 a metre, from Tissus d'Hélène. Linen napkins, £16 each, from Volga Linen. Glass bottle shades, £4.50 each, from RE. Silver-plated plate domes, £70 each, from Hilary Batstone. Dinner plates, 'Bowsley', £78 for six; stainless-steel cutlery, 'Stuart', £275 for a 36-piece set; both from Neptune.
'Marbled Enamel Dishes' (navy), £7.50 each, from Labour& Wait. Christmas crackers, £35 for six, from Toast. Foliage garland, from £82.50 a metre, from Achillea Flowers. Faux Christmas tree (with added foliage), 'Albert', £355 for 2.5-metre, from Neptune. Connectable fairy lights (warm white), £12.99 for a 10-metre string, from Lights4Fun. Hand-carved and gilded wooden animal decorations, £7.50 each, from Rococo Chocolates. Paper snowflake tree topper, '07-2425-1', e12.70 for two, from Livingly. Wrapping paper (gold, silver and brown kraft), £2.50 a 3-metre roll, from Paperchase.- Native Share
Christmas at her restored farmhouse in Cumbria provides Annabel Lewis, owner of specialist haberdasher's V V Rouleaux, with the perfect canvas on which to display her talent for artistic embellishment and dazzling decoration. In the hallway the red-berry and faux-fruit garlands, both from VV Rouleaux, add cheerful colour.
See the rest of her Christmas scheme here.here Paul Massey
Native Share"Greenery is a wonderful way to add to your Christmas decorations," says interior designer Carlos Garcia. "The tradition of decorating with foliage is intended to ward off evil spirits, so deck your halls, mantelpieces and staircases or place greenery above tapestries and paintings. Use branches of varied conifers, holly and long strands of ivy to create a wonderfully festive environment, and add fern leaves and dead tree branches to create a realistic woodland still life. They are sustainable, and you can either add them to your compost heap or burn them in the fires after using them, which releases a beautiful scent."
See Carlos' guide to decorating your house for Christmas, along with the full feature on his Norfolk manor house.
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Rachel Whiting
Native ShareForties glazed Fulham Pottery vases, by Constance Spry, £2,450 for a set of nine, from Quindry.
Floating plinth shelves, £11.95 each, from The Good Shelf Company. Foliage garlands, from £82.50 a metre, from Achillea Flowers. Poppy seed-head garlands, threaded and sprayed with gold paint by House & Garden.Paul Raeside
Native ShareA well-stocked drinks trolley dressed for Christmas provides a joyful centrepiece to the celebrations in this scheme by Gabby Deeming. Old fashioned crepe paper streamers give an instant pop of colour.
Dean Hearne
Native ShareIn December, Lulu Benson welcomes her extended family to Neidpath Castle in the Scottish Borders, where they celebrate the season with reeling and feasting in the vaulted medieval hall. In keeping with the vast setting, huge candlesticks and hanging arrangements of greenery set the scene for dinner.
Anders Schonnemann
Native ShareChristmas decoration for the minimalist. In this sitting room designed by Rose Uniacke, floral designer Nikki Tibbles of Wild at Heart has created arrangements to complement the simplicity of the interiors.
'We incorporated elegant statement arrangements, that were clean and sophisticated,' says Nikki. 'For both arrangements, we've used a base of Scots pine, soft grey pine, soft grey eucalyptus and asparagus fern. On the mantelpiece we've added flowering white jasmine and white euphorbia, while the grey vases have been padded out with lichen branches and eucalyptus buds.'
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Paul Raeside
Native ShareCrepe-paper streamers are an affordable and effective way to add festive cheer to walls and furniture. Here House & Garden decoration editor Gabby Deeming has twisted them round the posts of this eighteenth-century Spanish daybed. Decking its canopy with a bushels of fir and multi-coloured baubles.
Michael Sinclair
Native ShareA traditional Christmas scheme from our decoration team:
Thirties brass starburst lights, from £660 each, from Carlton Davidson.
'Seven-arm Bronze Candelabra', £378, from Manufactum.
'Taper Candles', £9.50 a pair, from The Conran Shop.
Antique silk cushions, tasselled, £190; square, £220; from Robert Kime.
Silver-plated metal flutes, £950 for 6, from Hilary Batstone.
'Large Tray' (warm grey/orange), by Pentreath & Hall, £750, from The Lacquer Company.
Nordmann fir 10ft Christmas tree, £84, from Kingswood Christmas Trees.
On tree: Brass 'Pendulum Candle Holders', £11.50 each; 'Red Beeswax Christmas Tree Candles', £18.80 for 26; all from Manufactum.
'Clear Antique Red Balls', £4.20 each, from Gisela Graham. Tin heart decorations, from £2 each, from Milagros.
Rainbow pom-pom crackers, £55 for 6, from Selfridges.
Wrapping paper, £1.20 a sheet; ribbon, £2 for 3 metres; all from Paperchase.
Rachel Whiting
Native Share'I have always favoured traditional but pared-down schemes that look natural, light and fresh,' says Ben Pentreath. 'For me, the most important thing is to bring greenery into the house. I don't believe in buying lots of shiny, glittery imported stuff that's just going to end up in the bin.' On the chimneypiece of his Dorset home are holly and ivy that gathered from nearby woods.
Paul Raeside
Native ShareOur decoration editor Gabby Deeming hand-painted the patterns on to these plain cardboard baubles from RE, mixing them on the table with coloured-glass 'dew drop' baubles from The Original Pop Up Shop.
Handmade origami stars (find out how to make them here) and crepe streamers finish the look.
The 'Da Terra' plates from Unique & Unity are combined with pink glasses and Stamperia Bertozzi 'Blue Waves' linen napkins from Summerill & Bishop
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Michael Sinclair
Native ShareACCESSORIES Thirties painted steel chandelier, by Jean Royère, £30,000, from Howe.
Tablecloth, 'Marrakech', silk, £610 a metre, from Robert Kime.
Brass and pewter 'Shelf Sconces', by Malin Appelgren, £140 each, from The Shop Floor Project.
Pillar candles, £44 each, from Cire Trudon.
Gessoed card shapes, by Bridie Hall, £265 for 4, from Pentreath & Hall.
Wood manger figures, from £29.50 each, from Manufactum.
Glazed stoneware plates, from £65 each, from M Charpentier Antiques.
'Pulcinella' tumblers, £54 for 4; and wine glasses, £64 for 4; 'Wood' cutlery, £24 for 4; all from Oka.
'Selena Napkins' (indigo), £10 each; 'Embossed Metal Candles', £37 for a set of 3; all from Caravane.
Tissue paper (sweet wrapping), £3.75 for 30 sheets; wrapping paper, £1.20 a sheet; ribbon, £2 for 3 metres; all from Paperchase.
James Merrell
Native Share'I decided to avoid the traditional green garland here,' explains florist Silka Rittson Thomas of her pomegranate mantlepiece. 'We wired together the pomegranates and lit them with tea lights. It looks like an old Spanish still-life.'
James Merrell
Native ShareSilver vases of red anemones, hellebores and eucalyptus pods decorate the table of Silka's dining room at Christmas. She also uses her best china and silver table accessories to make the day feel special.
Michael Sinclair
Native ShareA traditional Christmas scheme from our decoration team:
Lampshades, £530 each, from Robert Kime.
Hand-printed Japanese woodblock wrapping paper, £12.50 a sheet, from Liberty.
Ribbon, as before. Silver-plated cake stand, £580, from Hilary Batstone.
Twenties mouth-blown Egyptian glasses, £15 each, from Pentreath & Hall.
'Isphahan' porcelain serving bowl, £86, from Oka.
Hammered iron 'Nox Candleholders', £45 for 3, from Caravane.
'Madeleine' dinner candles, £18 for 4, from Cire Trudon.
Glazed stoneware bowl, from £120, from M Charpentier Antiques.
Foliage arrangement, from £245, from Pulbrook & Gould.
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Sarah Hogan
Native ShareThis cosy living room decorated for Christmas features many stylish details. Paper and cotton garland, 'Vintage Music', at The Original Pop Up Shop. Paper bunting at Toast. Pine-cone garland, at Anthropologie. Nineteenth-century French mirrors and mercury-glass candlesticks at Maison Artefact. The bespoke garland of eucalyptus, holly, snowberry and conifer from Interflora.
- Native Share
A ribbon bow is a fun alternative to a star, while fabric offcuts can be made into decorative present bags to be used in place of traditional stockings.
WALLS Paint (on skirting and window frames), 'Jack Black', £37 for 2.5 litres matt emulsion, from Little Greene. Bespoke hand-painted chicken and flower motifs, from £100 a square metre for similar, from Annie Millar.
FURNITURE Wool-upholstered slipper chair with beech legs, 99 x 60cm square, £2,154, and Swedish painted pine chest of drawers, 90 x 118 x 70cm, £2,580; both from Irving & Morrison.
ACCESSORIES 2.5-metre faux Christmas tree, 'Albert', £355, from Neptune. Tree topped with giant metallic present bow, £5.99, from Paperchase. Handmade present bag in fabric, 'Bataille de Fleurs' (bougainvillier), by Christian Lacroix for Designers Guild, cotton with viscose embroidery, £164 a metre, from Harrods.
Metallic gift wrap, £7.96 a 10-metre roll, from The Conran Shop. Grosgrain ribbon (on presents), £1.75 for 3 metres, and present bows, 50p each, all from Paperchase. Carved resin baubles (on chair), £22 for three, from Toast. Brass camel bell, £10.50, from Rowen & Wren. - Native Share
At her restored farmhouse in Cumbria Annabel Lewis, owner of specialist haberdasher's V V Rouleaux, has festooned her front door with pine boughs and bows, which lead down to two giant log baskets hung with ribbon.
- Native Share
Christmas at her restored farmhouse in Cumbria provides Annabel Lewis, owner of specialist haberdasher's V V Rouleaux, with the perfect canvas on which to display her talent for artistic embellishment and dazzling decoration.
In the sitting room, the chair in front of the fire has been reupholstered with antique millinery velvet and trimmed with vintage ribbon fringing. Annabel made the garland above the fire from a cluster of light bulbs salvaged from Parsons Green station in the Eighties, which she painted with bright coloured stripes.
On the mantlepiece are an array of brilliantly coloured Mexican tin ornaments. See the rest of her Christmas scheme here.here
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Michael Sinclair
Native ShareAt Christmas, Studio Indigo founder Mike Fisher thinks nothing of entertaining 50 people at Ven, his eighteenth-century country house in Somerset. The grand entrance hall has a suitably huge tree, and the gallery is decorated with swags of foliage - an idea that can easily be applied to bannisters as well.
Rachel Whiting
Native ShareThis delicate over-table decoration is inspired by a humble cafe curtain. Though the one shown is a relaxed and informal arrangement, you could go for a neater, more regimented look with stiffer lace. Cut the lace into strips - sometimes cut straight and sometimes follow the pattern of the lace to form zigzags or scallops. Take metal hoops - used for lampshade-making - and cover them in masking tape to make them white, fix the lace around the outside with strong glue and then spray the hoops with a fabric stiffener to hold it in place.
Metal rings, from 77p each, from Fred Aldous. Cotton lace, from top: 'Veronica' and 'Simone', both £50.44 a metre; 'Large Diamond' (ivory), and 'Elgin', both £100.97 a metre; all from M Y B Textiles. Starch spray, 'Stiffen Stuff', £7.50, from Craftworld Direct. Walnut table, 'Harper', 74 x 240 x 110cm, from £2,685, at Pinch. Steel drinks dispenser (green), £68, at Anthropologie. Wrapping paper, by Esme Winter, £3.50 a sheet, at Shepherds. Ribbon, £1.75 for three metres, at Paperchase. Battery-powered LED fairy lights (warm white), £3.99, from Lights4fun.
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Emily Senior, online editor at House & Garden on her Christmas tree
'I first came across the work of the artist Peter Hone last Christmas. The garden designer Arne Maynard told me that as an alternative to a traditional tree, he commissioned Peter to make 40 plaster leaves, which he hung from a huge bough of hawthorn.
I love the rather pagan idea of using a bare winter branch instead of a fir and have recreated a similar idea here on a smaller scale.The delicate leaves - which are individually cast from real specimens - look beautiful against the spindly, lichen-covered branch. To add extra sparkle we improvised some tiny hanging decorations from star-shaped table confetti hung on 1mm-gauge floristry wire.
Floristry wire is the best kind to buy for Christmas decorating because it is shimmery and supple, and can be cut easily with normal scissors. Create hooks facing in opposite directions at either end of a short piece of wire and hang the star from the bottom hook. They move and catch the light at the tiniest gust of wind. It's an extremely pretty and cost-effective trick.'
Plaster leaves, from £12.50 each, from Peter Hone, available through Pentreath & Hall. Star table confetti (silver and gold), £1.75 a box, at Paperchase. 'Rustic Natural Planter', 20 x 16cm, £39.
95 a pair, from The Balcony Gardener. 'Rectangle Table with Carving and Wood Top', 75 x 87 x 51cm, £757, at Chelsea Textiles. Wrapping paper and ribbon, at Paperchase. - Native Share
Matthew Morris, decoration stylist at House & Garden on making his own baubles
'The marbling itself was a process of trial and error; I ordered a kit online that included everything I needed. I prepared the liquid by dissolving the crystals in boiling water and leaving it to thicken overnight. I then decanted it into four different containers, added the ink, gave it a swirl and dunked the baubles.
You could use just one dipping container, but I wanted to keep the background of the balls bright white and found that, after a while, the water gets quite dirty. The final touch was the decoration of the pot, which I stencilled using white and blue paint before carefully applying marbled wallpaper using PVA glue.'
Ceramic baubles, 5.
5cm diameter, £4.98 for six, from Baker Ross. Marbling kit, £35, from Marbling4Fun. Blue ribbon at Paperchase. Walls, 'Pitch Black', £34.50 for 2.5 litres matt emulsion, by Farrow & Bal
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- Native Share
Alexander Breeze, former wine & food/decoration assistant at House & Garden on his Christmas tree:
'Although I dream of having a forest of huge, silver-blue spruce trees, with glass baubles scattered over them, alas, it is not to be. My boyfriend has a completely irrational dislike of Christmas trees, so I miss out each year. However, the sitting room in my flat has shelves lining the walls, which is why I've chosen something that uses the existing features of the room, but adds a bit of a Christmas flourish.
I've always had a thing for passementerie and trimmings, so chose an orange grosgrain that is folded at the corners and fixed in place with drawing pins.
It's a pretty adaptable scheme. Something in tones of grey and white could look amazing paired with antique plaster casts and fragments of marble sculpture; or a huge version could be interesting if you're lucky enough to have a library.'Ribbon, 'French Grosgrain' (coral), 3.8cm wide, £8 a meter, from Samuel & Sons. Paintable floating shelves, made to measure, £90 each as shown, from Tappin at Bespoke Nature. Walls and shelves, 'Deep Space Blue', £39.50 for 2.5 litres matt emulsion, from Little Greene. Wrapping paper and ribbon, at Paperchase.
Rachel Whiting
Native ShareThis simple, natural arrangement works especially well in a smaller space or above a console table. Tie string around each end of a fir branch and hang it from a central point with twine. After a short amount of time, it will form this lovely relaxed shape. If you find that it falls back like a hammock, an additional length of string running between the two ends to form a triangle should keep it facing forward.
Hang little bud vases at random lengths and fill with tiny berries or winter flowers. Red berries are festive, while bold flowers like hellebores would look very chic. Alternatively, attach brown envelopes with string or tape for a different take on an advent calendar.Nordmann fir branch, £7.50, from Pines and Needles. Plaited twine, £3.50 a metre, at Cloth House. Glass, zinc or brass drop vases, £12 for a set of two, from Rowen & Wren. Vintage elm tabletop, £1,848, at Caravane. Glass goblet, by Côté Bastide, £52, at Summerill & Bishop. Jute twine (terracotta), £4 a ball, at The Conran Shop (also used for hanging). Linen napkin (green), £18 each, at The Conran Shop. Gold-plated floral scissors, by Ernest Wright & Son, £50, from The New Craftsmen. Wrapping paper, 'Jazz' (mustard), by Esme Winter, £3.50 a sheet; and bow, 'Tumbling' (berry), by Katy Goutefangea, £3 a sheet; both at Shepherds.
Sarah Hogan
Native SharePlain paper chains and a traditional Christmas tree keep this neutral space simple, while the brick fireplace creates atmosphere.
Rachel Whiting
Native Share'Your tree should be proportional to the size of your room, yet also significant and impactful,' says designer Francis Sultana of the scheme in his London home which he shares with his partner, the gallerist David Gill. 'The Fredrikson Stallard table used as a plinth adds height, while the moss round the base of the tree disguises the unattractive pot in which it is planted.
At my mother's house in Malta, the decorations on the tree chart 50 years of family history. In comparison, my collection is still in its infancy, but every year I add to it with a new box of ornaments from Fortnum & Mason. My preference is always embellished eggs - there's something refined and Russian about them that really appeals to me. When I was a boy my mother would give us loose beads to string our own garlands for the tree, or would use her necklaces as decorations.
The strings of Swarovski crystals I've used here are a slightly more grown-up take on that. I have a lot of chrome furniture in the room, so for the decorations.I opted for tonal bronze and gold. I really love the festive contrast of the metallics. 'On the tree I use real candles, which give an unparalleled ambience but aren't always practical. Try a combination of electric lights placed discreetly on the inner parts of the branches and real flames on the outer; that way you have the best of both worlds.'
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Sarah Hogan
Native SharePots of greenery and streamers are an easy way to create a festive atmosphere at a party, from our shoppable scheme of party rooms.
Rachel Whiting
Native ShareArchitectural designer Ben Pentreath of Pentreath & Hall divides his time between an eighteenth-century flat, moments from his shop in Rugby Street WC1, and the Old Parsonage, a picture perfect Regency house in a pretty village in west Dorset.
'For me, the most important thing is to bring greenery into the house,' he says. 'I don't believe in buying lots of shiny, glittery imported stuff that's just going to end up in the bin.'
In the dining room Ben has placed holly on the picture frames, and foliage and candles on the sideboard. The table is simply arranged, allowing the food to take centre stage. Holly and ivy gathered from nearby woods, surrounds antique candlesticks holding dark brown candles, and lemons - an original and inexpensive Christmas decoration that provides a zingy contrast to the greenery.
Rachel Whiting
Native Share'I made these arrangements myself very simply using moss and twigs from The Chelsea Gardener, says designer Francis Sultana. 'If you live in the country I recommend gathering your own decorations in the hedgerows. Bare winter branches have a delicate look that is more modern than evergreen plants such as holly.'
Jake Curtis
Native ShareIf your tree is a little more sparse than you'd like, simply pad it out with additional foliage.
Here decoration editor Gabby Deeming has used eucalyptus and snowberry inserted between the branches, pairing with a selection of decorations from Selfridges. A eucalyptus-and-pine banister garland from Jamie Aston, twined with fairy lights from Lights4fun winds its way up the bannister.
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James Merrell
Native Share'I wanted to create a Christmas woodland - silvery, but with bright colours, so I included some anemones,' says Suzy Hoodless of her mantlepiece decoration. 'The florist Harper and Tom's is near my studio on Clarendon Cross, W11, and helped me to make this. I like decoration to be natural and flowers should be fresh'
Anders Schonnemann
Native ShareAt the bottom of this spiral staircase, the floral artist Rebecca Louise Law has created a woodland scene with blue spruce trees imported from Denmark.
'The larger trees were at least 12 years old,' she says. 'I wanted the installation to look as real as possible.
My inspiration came from childhood memories of untouched, snow-covered trees at Anglesey Abbey, near where I grew up.'To create the drifts and undulations of a convincing snow-covered forest floor, smooth domes of wadding have been hidden under the synthetic snow. The trees were sprayed lightly with adhesive to create a fuller, more natural settling of fake snow on their branches.
Rachel Whiting
Native ShareEmbellished Crowns - Christmas Decorating Ideas
While the effect of this particular arrangement is grand and impressive, the idea is a simple one. Choose a pendant light, chandelier or any suitable oversize object, and adorn with decorations and foliage. These crowns have mixed metals and ivy trails for an overgrown, romantic feel and silver thread to add sparkle. Multicoloured baubles and full-on foliage would look equally impressive.
Crowns, from left: iron and giltwood corona, 48cm wide, £2,850, at Josephine Ryan Antiques; rusty metal crown, 49cm diameter, £800, at Maison Artefact; Spanish, gilded-tole ceiling light, 45cm diameter, £594, at Carlton Davidson.
Crown decorations from left: rusty pierced birds, £4.50 each; metal floral drops, small, £6, and large, £8 each; tin swallows, £5 each; rusty metal wreaths and crowns, £3.50; all at RE. Metal crown candle holders, from £24 each, from RE. Glass goblets, by Jerpoint Glass Studio, £32 each, at David Mellor. Snowflake scatters, £3.25 a box, from The Original Pop Up Shop. Walnut table, 'Harper', 74 x 240 x 110cm, from £2,685, at Pinch. Similar linen tablecloth, at Guinevere. Wall paint, 'Stiffkey Blue', £36 for 2.5 litres matt emulsion, at Farrow & Ball.Rachel Whiting
Native ShareThese embroidery-hoop 'baubles' give an instant injection of colour and jollity. The hoops work by clamping paper or fabric between an inner ring and an outer ring, which you then tighten, just like the skin of a drum. The hoops can hold any lightweight fabric or paper, so they can be used to display drawings or pretty wrapping paper.
After the paper is in position, tape a length of ribbon to the back of the hoop and tie a bow to disguise the join. A ball of Blu-Tack inside the bottom of the hoop will weigh it down and help it to hang straight, and you can place two hoops back to back to make the decorations double-sided.Embroidery hoops, from £2, at Hobbycraft. Coloured tissue paper, 15p a sheet, from Craft Creations. Coloured ribbon, £1.75 for three metres, at Paperchase. Painted-wood chairs, 'Orangerie', 86 x 54 x 51cm, £1,512 each, at Howe. Tablecloth in 'Saraille' (noir), linen, £137 a metre, at Designers Guild. Aluminium candle holders, £4 each, at RE. Candles, £3 each, at Heal's. Glass tumblers, 'Clair', £39.95 each, at Summerill & Bishop. Glazed-terracotta fruit stand, by Astier de Villatte, £255, at Summerill & Bishop.
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Rachel Whiting
Native Share'The dining room is my theatre.
' says designer Francis Sultana. 'Christmas dinner should be playful and I like using props. Indoor fireworks make a decadent replacement for crackers - I bought some glorious Hermès ones, made for the company's one-hundred-and-fiftieth anniversary - or try laying your table with a runner of brown paper that your guests can decorate and write messages on.For the centrepiece I painted some twigs red with a flock spray, and fixed them with Blu-tack to a bed of moss scattered with ornamental eggs and crystals. Black candles and the sculpture in the middle by André Dubreuil add a masculine, geometric edge. The overall effect is like gazing through an enchanted forest.' Read the full story here
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58 best Christmas decorations to adorn your house with
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House & Garden editorBy Ruth Sleightholme
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A Christmas dinner by Sally Clarke
Bronze turkey crown and legs with gravy and stuffing
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Spiced apple, mincemeat and marzipan log
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A Christmas dinner by Sally Clarke
Salad of winter leaves with pineapple and pomegranate dressing
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Traditional Houses
A colourful, kitsch and abundant Christmas with Duncan Campbell and Luke Edward Hall
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Photography by Mark Fox
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Spiced pomegranate mojito
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Christmas Cake Recipes
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New Year's holidays in the garden - winter decor ideas for the street
The garden in winter should and can look attractive too. Nature itself has already taken care of many things - the trees are covered with a shimmering snow-white veil, and shrubs, hedges and sculptures have acquired bizarre shapes.
Obviously, snow decoration alone is not enough for a festive mood in the garden. But I don’t want to spoil the natural beauty with multi-colored trinkets from China. In decorating the garden, we suggest not to deviate from its natural beauty - only to emphasize what is available and add a bit of festive brightness.
DMSW landschaft
Austin Ganim Landscape Design, LLC
1. Keep the decor as natural as possible. But if you want to save the bright berries for decoration, offer the birds an edible alternative: install grain feeders on fruit trees and shrubs! The birds are full, the berries are in place, and in the garden there is cheerful chirping and noisy fuss.
Your Space By Design
2. Place a Christmas planter at your doorstep
Garden planters are a great field for decorative experiments in the garden. Your task is to create a New Year's composition from natural materials and decorate the entrance area to the house with it. We have already written about what material is suitable for long-lasting winter compositions in garden pots, how to assemble and arrange it.
SEE ALSO…
Winter decor for street planters: Rehearsal for the New Year
GreenCraft Associates
3. Use window flowerers
In the summer, you used window boxes with flowers to decorate your windows, and for the New Year holidays, instead of earth, put snow in boxes, instead of flowers, stick coniferous branches, cones, intricate driftwood and dry branches ... Bright fruits of hawthorn, barberry and wild rose, straw balls and stars, nuts - in nature you can find a lot of "ingredients" for creating winter and New Year's compositions.
If you didn’t find it or simply didn’t have enough time, make bouquets from Christmas balls.
Envy Decor LLC
3. Decorate your porch
Decorate the outside of your driveway or gate with at least a bow-tied fir branch or a large Christmas ornament. This will immediately set the guests in a festive mood.
By analogy with a wicket or gate, you can decorate the front door of the house into a decorative portal made of spruce branches.
Holly Marder
Your Space By Design
4. Hang a wreath on the door
It is believed that the prototype of the Christmas wreath was ... a wheel. The theologian from Hamburg guessed to put candles in it (they began to be lit a month before Christmas). Over time, paraffin was replaced by electric garlands, and the wheel was replaced by coniferous branches.
Some connoisseurs of historical traditions (like the owners of this house in Calgary) do not deviate from the historical truth - they supplemented the festive decoration of the local area with Christmas wooden wheels.
The formal rules for making a Christmas wreath are as follows.
- The Christmas wreath should be round, symbolizing the circle of the year.
- Historically correct colors are green (life), red (love, hope), white or gold (divine light).
Usually a wreath is made from coniferous branches and decorated with ribbons or a bow. But what is stopping you from rethinking traditions and adding, for example, dried oranges to spruce branches?
Outdoor Advantage
5. Turn on the lights in the garden
In winter, daylight hours are much shorter, and therefore, properly planned lighting in advance will bring indescribable pleasure.
Create visual effects: directional beams, light grids, garlands, candles in wooden or metal lamps, installed on both sides along the paths.
It is better to install high lanterns on the sides of the main paths: this will allow you to freely walk from the gate to the house without resorting to additional lighting.
Solar lights can be attached to the trees. Wire trees with a luminous garland on a string are completely ready to be "planted" near the doors.
KAMEYA
Tip: Fill buckets with snow (or sand), place glass cylinders in them, and place candles inside the cylinders. A variety of buckets, candles and cylinders will give the whole group a very eccentric look. If you don't have enough buckets of the same color, paint them with spray paint. So you can light up the Christmas tree in your garden or any other tree.
ThisIsKC ThisIsKc
6.
Decorate Trees and Shrubs with Light
If your yard has plants with pronounced contours, you can try to beat them with the help of garlands of multi-colored light bulbs. To do this, a bush, or a small tree, or a herbaceous plant that has left before winter with foliage is cleared of snow, decorated with a thin garland that does not heat up, and then covered with snow again.
Bulbs, by the way, can completely imitate the own color of the plant. The main thing is to choose a garland or duralight cord as light as possible so as not to damage the plant.
If you have a spruce in your garden - just wonderful! But if not, no problem. You can decorate any trees: it is advisable to have larger toys for decorating on the street than for decorating a home Christmas tree.
Tip: By the way, you can decorate trees not only with light garlands, but with the help of wind music or bells that chime beautifully from wind gusts. In addition to them, we decorate the tree with tinsel and rain.
If on New Year's Eve nature treats you with a mild frost, part of the feast can be organized outside. Dress up your summer gazebo in classic Christmas spirit with garlands, candles and fir branches. The main thing is not to forget blankets, warm bedding for chairs and benches, hot food and drinks.
KAMEYA
7. Decorate structures and paths
Any decorative elements of the garden (pergolas, arches, gazebos) deserve their own illumination. In the photo - a garden from Belarus. Facade and yard lighting works on a low-voltage cable through a step-down transformer. This means that the wires do not need to be laid deep into the ground, and their damage is safe for humans.
Lowe's Home Improvement
Clear the paths by creating large soft drifts in convenient places - it will be very convenient to fall into them during the snowball fight. Along the driveway or other garden paths, as well as at the porch, you can install snowmen or fashion other fairy-tale characters and animals.
You can get garden figurines, cleaned for the winter, from the closet and decorate them with tinsel. All this is complemented by various flashlights and garlands. Put a few candles in special street candlesticks (or just heat-resistant glasses) and do not forget to light the extinguished ones and change the burnt candles in time.
John Hill
8. Add themed decor
In this photo, the owners of the yard in Orlando preferred inflatable sculptures to ordinary sculptures - this is a hit of recent years in the USA. Inflatable reindeer, snowmen, carousels and Christmas trees captivate with ease of use: blew it off and put it away until next year.
John Hill
9. Arrange a shadow theater on a free section of the wall
And in this courtyard, the owners staged a real shadow theater: spotlights aimed at carved silhouettes create a spectacular image on the wall of the house.
The biblical story is recognizable from afar.
Westphalen Photography
10. Ice Festival
You can make decorations for the garden yourself from ice, for which various bright elements are placed in containers, for example, plastic cups - tinsel, fruits, pieces of fabric - and all this is filled with water and freezes. Take care of the hanging ropes in advance in order to freeze them into toys in time. To easily remove the resulting toys from the molds, lightly pour over them with hot water. Color the freezing water first.
Fill in a slide for the kids, and if there is a pond in the garden, then it is quite possible to organize a skating rink right on the site. To bring a lot of pleasure and fun to decorating your garden, involve the whole family and children. Maybe all this decoration will not be durable, but it is worth it, because if the holidays had not left us, then they would not have been holidays at all!
YOUR TURN…
How do you decorate your garden for the holidays? Share your ideas in the comments section below the article!
26 photo: New Year's illumination of a country house - how to decorate the outside of the house and the plot for the New Year
It is important to organize the lighting decoration of the house for the New Year to stable sub-zero temperatures.
The fact is that in the cold some types of cable windings tan, it will be difficult to mount them. Street garlands are taken to decorate the house outside - do not use “home” (interior) lights for these purposes. If you buy or rent a set of holiday garlands to decorate a garden or a country house, be sure to check the moisture protection index (ip-44) and frost resistance (up to -40C).
ABOUT THIS…
It's time: How to choose the right garland for the facade
Servicepoint
and above the entrance. 3
Hidden Creek Landscaping, Inc.
2. Garland - fringe
The decorative effect depends on the chosen type of garland. In this photo - the New Year's illumination of a country house according to the "fringe" principle. There are also curtains (item 6), threads and balls (next photo).
Need a repair technician?
Let's find a performer according to your criteria
Nite Scapes
3.
Theater lights
The larger and brighter the lamps, the more theatrical effect they create. Google "retro garlands"). Pay attention to the distance between the lamps in the garland: with the same length, you can get, say, 20 or 25 lamps - more or less lights, respectively.
To decorate the house outside for the New Year, you will need at least 10 garlands of 10 meters each.
Light Up Nashville
4. Front only
Did you know that most users do not decorate the whole tree, but only one side (the other side is pushed against the wall anyway)? The same with real estate - decorating the outside of the house for the New Year is enough only from the side of the facade.
Landscape Illuminations
5. Add sockets
Lots of lights are not always good: modesty and saving electricity are in fashion. Look how effectively this garden plot is decorated - just a dozen large snowflakes on a tree, and a shining wreath as a facade decoration for the New Year.
Of course, it could not have done without a garland along the contour of the roof.
Assiniboine Lights and Landscapes
Assiniboine Lights and Landscapes
6. Cascading Christmas lights at home
This solution came from the world of municipal Christmas decor. But if you live in a townhouse and decorate three floors for you, a similar option for decorating for the New Year is a godsend.
This is how the New Year's illumination of a country house looks from afar from the previous photo.
The Perfect Light
7. For the economical: spruce branches + garlands
Spruce branches allow you to save on lighting - it adds the missing volume to decorations. Please note: two types of garlands are used here at once, as a street decoration for the house for the new year.
8. Sculptural: outlining the roof
An option for minimalists how to decorate a house for the New Year is to decorate only the roof, literally outline it.
ilumus, llc.
9. Not a facade, but not a house either
Garlands on the terrace are perhaps the most common decoration of houses for the New Year. Easy to hang by yourself, no problem with power connection. The main trick is not to save on the number of garlands: there should be several cascades.
The Cousins
10. Budget: Chinese lanterns
If you are looking for a budget decor option for your summer cottage, you most likely do not consider a full-fledged facade decoration for the New Year. But you can definitely stretch a couple of garlands on the terrace. Add IKEA paper lanterns to them: large balls will add the missing volume of light to a modest backlight.
todd hamilton
11. Lamp with shadows
You will need a lampshade with perforations - the sharper the contrast between the outer darkness and the bright light from the inside, the more distinct will be the lacy shadows on the walls and ceiling.
Garden beds and flowerbeds can be decorated with similar lamps.
ABOUT THIS…
Tip of the week (22/52): Replace landscape light
RénoDéco etc.
12. Containers and balls
Another way to decorate your terrace for the new year is to use battery-operated garlands. Wrap balls of rods, place fireballs among containers with spruce branches.
The Perfect Light
13. Fire bowl
Garlands in pots without plants will perfectly complement the decoration of a country house. You can use both plant-free garden pots and options with New Year's street compositions.
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Outdoor Planters Winter Decor: New Year Rehearsal
Neave Group Outdoor Solutions
14. Wreaths with garlands
the outer side of the windows are wreaths wrapped in garlands.
Pay attention, in addition to the stroke along the roof contour, here - the curb in front of the house is glowing.
PollyPapier
Advice: If there is no wreath, but you want to decorate the house outside for the New Year, we wrap the hoop with a garland. Add spruce branches to complete the composition. We recommend installing the composition under the window or near the porch.
Grandin Road
15. Curtains
At first glance, this is an easy way to decorate the front of the house for the new year. It will take 30 short garlands. But think in advance where to connect so many outlets. Therefore, immediately look for such garlands that are connected through a splitter.
Christmas Lights, Etc
16. Spiral
A simple country house decoration is to wrap a garland around the stair railing.
Grandin Road
16.
Poplar scene
You can get by with a small number of light paths that effectively descend from a tree into a snowdrift. The secret of success is luminous stars. And of course the “correct” corner of the garden, which is perfectly visible from the house, but does not interfere with the passage.
Sarah Greenman
17. Н garden building garden lights
Outside for the New Year, not only the house and trees are decorated - a children's complex, a playground, a bathhouse, a greenhouse are suitable ... Fantasize!
ABOUT THE PROJECT WITH PHOTO…
Houzz USA: Magic treehouse with Christmas lights
Brite Creations
basket-manipulator has already entered the site). It is not necessary to use traditional garlands - luminous stars are enough.
Assiniboine Lights and Landscapes
19.
Garland cascade
Good old Christmas decorations for the garden are the best. Hang in a cascade
Smalls Landscaping
20. No Christmas tree - decorate the trees
Illuminated fruit trees look quite impressive. Check if there are adapters and splitters connecting several garlands. Otherwise, it will be difficult for you to achieve a “burning trunk” and a uniform distribution of luminous beams over independent Christmas tree legs.
Traditions Specialty Lighting Professionals
21. Shaping the lower part of the trunk
Why not? Make sure that the backlight ends at least half a meter above your height. Such decoration of the site for the New Year harmoniously works together with the existing landscape lighting - only shining trunks in the middle of the darkness will look strange.
Designs by Sundown
21. Whirlwind Garland
The solution is slightly easier than decorating each luminous branch - wrap the garland in a circle around the crown.
Brite Nits Inc
22 Combine garlands
Along with traditional New Year's garlands based on small LED lamps, you can decorate a street garland with large lamps (
Smalls Landscaping
23. Two tones simultaneously photo shows work in a pair of blue and green street lightsOutdoor Lighting Perspectives of Wilmington
24. Icicles
do not adopt the technique - feel free to decorate the winter tree with them.0003
James Martin Associates
25. Garland Grotto
Try to decorate the lower branches only. And let the lights from one tree smoothly move to the neighboring ones.
McKay Landscape Lighting
26. Doing Nothing
If you have a landscape light on your property, it will work just as well as a Christmas garland.
