Lifestyle: Switch on to Christmas
Upgrade your fairy lights with these glow-getting ideas
MERRY CHRISTMAS SIGN, £32.50, Festive Lights, festive-lights.com. FOX, £90, Paperchase, paperchase.co.uk. CHAIR, £84, the Conran Shop, conranshop.co.uk. SILVER TREE, £65, the White Company, thewhitecompany.com. WHITE TREE, £65, Next, next.co.uk. BAUBLES, £4 for 12, Christmas Time UK, christmastimeuk.com. Kitty wears: T-SHIRT, £18, and BOOTS, £30, both Boden, boden.co.uk. TUTU, £35, Angel's Face, angels-face.co.uk. TIGHTS, £9.99, Luna & Curious, lunaandcurious.com
MERRY CHRISTMAS SIGN, £19, B&Q, diy.com. MULTICOLOURED BALLS, £30, the Conran Shop, conranshop.co.uk. JOY NEON LETTERS, £45 each, and CHRISTMAS TREE CANVAS, £49.95, both The Letteroom, theletteroom.com. DEER HEAD, £45.99, and FAWN, £66.99, both Little Lamp Company, littlelampcompany.com. WRAPPING BOW LIGHT, £149, Rockett St George, rockettstgeorge.co.uk. RABBIT, £37.99, Lights 4 Fun, lights4fun.co.uk
STARS (5m), £24, Festive Lights, festive-lights.com. BULBS (5m), £24.99, Lights 4 Fun, lights4fun.co.uk. ROPE (10m), £19, Very, very.co.uk. INDOOR WATERFALL (5m), £75, John Lewis, johnlewis.com. BALLS (1.5m), £22.95, Cable and Cotton, cableandcotton.co.uk
JARS WITH LIGHTS, £18 each, Heal's, heals.co.uk. GOLD HOLLY (4m), £7.99, Argos, argos.co.uk. EXTRA LARGE BAUBLES, £15 each, Next, next.co.uk. BELL STAR, £12.50, B&Q, diy.com. NAKED WIRE LIGHTS (5m), £15.50, Cox & Cox, coxandcox.co.uk. BONSAI GARLAND (7.5m), £25, Habitat, habitat.co.uk. SPHERE, £25, Next, next.co.uk. Vincent Van Dog wears COLLAR made from ribbon and BAUBLES, £4 for 12, Christmas Time UK, christmastimeuk.com. VINTAGE APPLE CRATES, £36 each, Homebarn, homebarnshop.co.uk
Home in on...
New alternatives to the trad Christmas tree.
'TREE FOR LIFE' WALLPAPER, available in two designs (four trees or one central tree), £195 for a 200cm roll, Deborah Bowness, deborahbowness.com LAMPSHADE CHRISTMAS TREE (above), from £195, Sarah Moore Vintage, sarahmoorevintage.com
Left: Don’t fancy wrestling a six-foot spruce through the door this year, but can’t bear to fake it? The next best thing is a ‘Tree For Life (not just for Christmas)’ panel from wallpaper designer Deborah Bowness. Simply roll it out and pin it up (we love the idea of adding decorations). Or try this wire tree made out of lampshade frames.
Right: A stylish solution to that perennial problem of how to dress the base of your Christmas tree, the ‘willow skirt’ is a simple woven circle that will camouflage even the ugliest of metal stands, tree stumps or plastic pots. You won’t see them everywhere (yet) but a few high-street stores have started stocking them. Next sells white and dark brown designs (£22, next.co.uk) and John Lewis has a choice of natural or distressed finishes (£30, johnlewis.com). We like this rather chic tapered design in limed wood from Cox & Cox (£24, coxandcox.co.uk).
Without a real tree to give your home that characteristic Christmassy scent, you’ll be needing one of these…
PINE CONE HOME SPRAY, £15, The White Company, thewhitecompany.com
PINE, CEDARWOOD AND EUCALYPTUS candle, £39.50, Neom Luxury Organics, neomorganics.com
PINE AND EUCALYPTUS CANDLE, £49.99, Diptyque, diptyqueparis.co.uk.
PINE AND MOSS ROOM DIFFUSER, £30, Dr Vranjes, senti.co.uk
