If you love Christmas but don’t have the space for a beautifully decorated tree then don’t despair your home can still look stunning. We’ve pulled together loads of tips for decorating all the other little spaces in your home, when added up they will make your home look magnificently ablaze with Christmas cheer.
You don’t have to spend a fortune just take a walk in the countryside or around your garden and see what’s available. Click here to read the blog post giving you tips for Christmas easy on your wallet but packed with oomph!
Besides front door
Here you can make a fabulous first impression to your guests. Just position a small standard tree either side of the door and decorate with bows, shatterproof baubles and battery operated LED lights. The battery operated lights work on a timer so you don’t have to remember to turn them on and off and being LED they use very little power so won’t cost a fortune in batteries. Most reputable brands should last the whole of the festive season on one set of batteries. Make sure you buy lights specifically for outdoors. If you can position your trees out of the worst of the weather your baubles will last a lot longer. There are lots of standard trees available in garden centres; holly, bay, olives and conifers. If you opt for bay or olives you have to make sure you protect them with horticultural fleece if frost is forecast. Pyramids and balls are also available if you don’t want a standard tree.
On the front door
The traditional wreath always brings the front door to life and there are masses of alternative wreaths out there; think rags, crochet, dried vegetation, baubles. If you love the traditional holly, conifer, berry and fruit creations there are wreath making classes aplenty at this time of year so why not learn a new skill and make new friends at the same time. Click here to see how to make a simple door wreath.
Path to the front door
This can be as simple as just laying a string of lights on each side of the path or you can get illuminated figures which make a humourous addition to your home, especially if you have children. Reindeer, santas, snowmen, penguins, candy canes and polar bears are all popular Christmas figures. Make sure any lights or figures you buy specifically state that they are suitable for outdoors. Battery operated lights do away with the need for having wires trailing across paths which could prove a serious trip hazard. If you want to have mains lights consider having an outdoor socket installed, it can be used to power a fountain or garden tools when not used over the festive season.
Porch
There are lots of opportunities for decorating your porch, lights around the frame or tableaus of lighted figures. If you want a simple stylish look just put some bows or lights onto a pair of structural bushes.
Hallway
The hallway is often a narrow space where no-one lingers but there is still an opportunity to achieve a festive vibe without a tree or space to put an arrangement. If you look on the social media platforms there are plenty of ideas for making a tree silhouette to put on the wall. This can be really budget friendly using pieces of pallet wood or sturdy sticks foraged on a walk in the country. Decorate simply with some battery operated lights and small baubles or some homemade dried fruit decorations. Click here to read the blog post giving you some ideas on how to make your own decorations out of fruit.
Stairs and landing
Stairs can look fabulous bedecked with a decorated garland or just a string of lights wound around the spindles of the bannister. Cluster or compact lights are a lot of lights on a short wire so make a fantastic ‘wow’ factor. Always leave the handrail free as if someone trips and makes a grab for the handrail a garland or string of lights will give way. If you’re putting lights on your garland make sure they are battery operated as you don’t want wires trailing across stairs.
Children’s bedrooms
Nowadays the trend is to decorate every room in the home in a different colour scheme but the kids bedrooms can be the place to release your inner child and really go wild with a colour scheme; think, gingerbread, anything goes or a tropical scheme of turquoise, pink and orange. Always use low voltage, cool LED lighting to avoid any accidents. Battery operated illuminated snow globe ornaments are bang on trend and come in Santas, snowmen, trains, tractors, sleighs and lanterns. They make a fantastic night light.
Mantlepiece
You can make the mantlepiece as stunning as the tree as, depending upon the size, you can pile on as much as you can fit onto the mantlepiece. Start your showpiece with an artificial garland or if you’re doing fresh, a lot of evergreens and conifers. Add florals, baubles, candles, fresh fruit and berries, lights and Christmas ornaments. Click here to watch Yvonne create an exquisitely decorated mantlepiece. If you don’t feel that you have the artistic ability to create a sumptuous mantlepiece you can make it simple with just some greenery and church candles or a ready made Scandi scene of birch houses and some fake snow.
Sideboard
As with the mantlepiece you can really go to town on the sideboard, putting as much or as little as you want. If you want something simple try just a set of battery LED lights in a glass bowl with some shiny glass baubles, shiny baubles reflect the light amplifying the effect of your lights.
Corner of the room
If you think the corner of the room is a bit of a dead area, think again. Collect some thin branches, spray with a metallic Christmas colour, stand in a heavy vase, add lights and baubles and you have an alternative Christmas tree. Take a look at our artificial Christmas trees, we have some super skinny trees, perfect for a corner.
Shelving
Just running stings of lights across shelves is simple yet really effective. Cluster and compact lights and ideal for this as you get a lot of lights on a short length of wire. You can also run a wire or ribbon along the front edge of the shelf then attach small baubles hung at different lengths, quick and simple.
Hearth
When decorating the hearth you need to be careful you don’t use anything flammable, especially if you have a real fire or a log burner. Glass lanterns filled with baubles and a large church candle look stunning and the glass protects them from any flying sparks.
Windowsill
A windowsill can look fabulous as you can really pile on the decorations and make it look extravagant with garlands, lights, baubles, florals, candles and Christmas ornaments. If you lack the confidence to construct an elaborate scene you can easily achieve something stunning with just some wooden houses, fir branches and fake snow.
Dining table
The dining table is often the centre of the festivities so you can really go to town with individual place settings and a decorated garland down the centre or you can just add Christmas napkins and some candelabra if space is tight. Click here to watch Yvonne make a stunning table decoration. If you have a circular table you can easily make something spectacular with a pre-lit pre-decorated artificial wreath, just place three church candles on a plate in the centre and you have a great decoration in just a few minutes.
