It’s the season of goodwill and great decorations, so how do you hang yours if there’s no room at the inn for a Christmas tree? Perhaps you live in a tiny flat with no space for a big frothy spruce, your home is packed to the rafters with furniture, or, for reasons known only to yourself (we’re looking at you, toddlers and puppies), you’d prefer not to have a tree this year. No matter, you can still make a home look merry and downright spectacular without a Nordmann Fir jostling for space. See below for a few of our favourite ways to decorate…
Make the most of your shelves
If you have a shelf or ledge of any kind, use it to its fullest potential. If you have space in a cupboard or loft, temporarily put away some of the decorative bits you don’t need for the month of December to give yourself plenty of space, then create OTT scenes with anything from a collection of snowglobes to toadstools or miniature bristle brush trees. Think of it like a tablescape but on a shelf instead. Whether you skip merrily down the kitsch route or you prefer something classic like pinecones or foraged cuttings of holly, the key to making an impact is to go big on quantity.
Treat your windows as a stage
If you have space at your window to use the area as a temporary stage set without your curtains or blinds sending everything crashing down, make the most of it. From oversized wreaths hung from ribbon in the centre of the window to Scandinavian paper stars, curtains of novelty lights or groups of baubles suspended from invisible floristry wire, this is the time to channel your inner set dresser. Even if the only eyes who will see your efforts belong to you and any passing birds, treat the windows as if you’re doing the festive display for Fortnum’s.
Tables are for bowls and candles
Even in the tiniest rooms fit for Borrowers or mice, there’s surely space for a few decorative bowls on tabletops. Pile your favourite ones high with pomegranates, chestnuts and clementines or precariously balanced but really special hand-blown glass baubles. You’ll also want to fill the gaps between your seasonal fruits and Christmas decorations with plenty of candles. Use candlesticks in varying heights, wall sconces, candelabras and tea lights with pretty glass covers.
Put your ceiling to good use
We’ve seen some really beautiful ways to use the otherwise dead space above your head for Christmas decorations. A few underwhelming bits of tinsel or paper snowflakes dotted metres apart aren’t going to give you that real ‘ta-da’ look. You need to concentrate your decorations in one spot for the most impact. Above a dining table is ideal, assuming it won’t interfere with your lighting, otherwise perhaps in the space above a reading corner. You could use a wreath or frame to hang fresh or dried foliage in a sculptural way, try large homemade paper decorations or a more traditional mobile that has a festive feel to it, such as the brass designs at Caravane.
Indoor wreath
Wreaths aren’t solely for front doors, buy (or make) the loveliest one you can find and hang it on the wall above your sofa or dining table, on the chimney breast or even above your bed – anywhere where’s there’s empty wall space and it feels like a natural focal point. A wreath is a lovely way to use decorations and oversized velvet bows when there’s no tree to put them on. If you’re so inclined and you have a whole wall to spare, you could even group multiple wreaths to create a statement. If you want your wreath to last, invest in a really convincing faux version.
Garlands and paper chains
If there’s a picture frame, a shelf, a doorframe, a mantlepiece or a window sill that isn’t already occupied with festive cheer; festoon it with garlands made from streamers, skinny tinsel, metal, paper chains, faux leaves, dried orange slices or popcorn. Essentially, anything you love the look of, whether soft and sourced from nature or garish and glittery – rules of taste and moderation go out the window at Christmas.
Doorscaping
Wreaths are obvious, but there are other ways to decorate a door and you can make quite an impact. Doorscaping is a fairly American idea that sees a ‘more is more approach’ to adorning your front door, but you can do interesting things indoors too.
Oversized foliage and flowers
When there’s no space for a Christmas tree, go hard and go home carrying bundles of twigs, mistletoe, holly, dried Hydrangea heads and flowers, pine tree branches and anything else that takes your fancy. Make a whopping garland for the fireplace, fill every vase in the house, use tall bare branches to hang delicate metal baubles and pleated paper decorations, clip-on birds or brass ornaments, put a statement bunch in a vase or on the mantle and your home will still smell incredible and look truly Christmassy. Any space to spare? Fill that with forced bulbs such as paperwhites for a gorgeous hefty dose of fragrance. Whatever you do, don’t forget to sprinkle your greenery with a healthy dose of fairy lights so it looks good after dark. Go for classic white or join the resurgence of the vintage-style coloured bulb.
