Red, green and gold décor always looks great this time of year but there’s something to be said about changing things up for a fresh take on tradition. For some festive inspiration I got in touch with fashion designers, botanical entrepreneurs and interior designers to find out how they’re decorating their homes this year and the products we can find adorning their halls.
André Fu
Interior Architect & Designer, Founder André Fu Studio & André Fu Living
Decorating Notes
Christmas is a time for family and friends to get together and one of my favourite activities over the holiday season is to play Mahjong with friends. I designed a beautiful grey pinewood table especially for this reason, with leather-lined drawers and a wireless charging pod for each seat. I’m also going to adorn my apartment with snow glow lamps from my latest collection. I think they will add a touch of festive sparkle plus they are wireless charged, so fully portable, and can be moved from one place to the next without trailing wires everywhere. With the advancement of LED technology, lamps like these provide more flexibility, be it a spark of light for indoor or al fresco dining.
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Lorène Faure and Kenny Kinugasa-Tsui
Architects and interior designers, Founders Bean Buro
Decorating Notes
Decorating a real Christmas tree with arts and crafts is always the most joyful and creative process involving our kids. This year we’ve sourced beautiful clear glass-blown baubles with our names written on them. Our colour schemes are always minimalistic – all white or simply clear glass with small red ribbons tied to each bauble. We also love decorating our dining room sideboard with Les Treize Desserts de Noël (the thirteen desserts of Christmas), a tradition in Provence in France, where Lorène’s family originated. A variety of food is laid out for several days over Christmas, creating a festive atmosphere with different coloured, shaped, and ornamental desserts.
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Madeleine Thompson
Founder Madeleine Thompson Cashmere
Decorating Tip
Our family is the opposite of the ‘one colour tree’ vibe, and Christmas at our home is very eclectic and meaningful with loads of colour. Warm tree lights are a must to set the mood and a few humorous decorations always make things jolly. I have inherited all my Christmas decorations from my mum who has lovingly collected them over the years from different countries. Many of the tree decorations aren’t even officially Christmas baubles, just beautiful pieces. A good example of that is some stunning hand-blown Burmese glass drops that my only job is to keep safe from my children. I cover the house in red baby poinsettia plants for a little botanical touch.
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Susanna Valerio
Founder & Creative Director SV CASA & SV International Design
Decorating Notes
Decorating for Christmas is one of my favourite things to do and I like to balance traditional elements with contemporary touches. This year’s tree will be decorated with clear baubles paired with imitation oxblood coral branches and clear lights. I avoid multi-colour baubles and instead focus on a key colour and add variation with beautiful ribbons, garlands and other small discrete ornaments which follow the same theme. The final touch is lights, lights and more white lights. Then comes my favourite part, tablescaping. This year in Rome I will use an antique lace tablecloth paired with hand-painted gold leaves and pine cones, a lot of gold candles and a centrepiece. Once this is laid I will focus on the details from the dinner service and cutlery to use, all the way to the napkin rings and name placeholders.
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Diane Nittke
Creative Director & Founder Ellermann & Diane Nittke Interiors
Decorating Tip
This year for the holiday season my décor at home will be an eclectic fusion of festive greens, winter florals and wreaths combined with fun and whimsical ornaments. I love the smell that Christmas foliage adds to the home and can never have enough. I recommend filling vases and bowls with greens, kicking out your usual houseplants to the garden, and adding wreaths and garlands to the mix complete with fairy lights for that special, magical touch. I’m decorating my tree with sumptuous velvet ribbons, glass baubles, shiny stars and fabric florals. I will also incorporate these ornaments in my tablescape, with a centrepiece, cut greens and candles. I use beautiful flowers as napkin decorations by tying napkins with a velvet ribbon and tucking flowers in as a fresh touch. My tablescape will work for both Christmas and New Year’s Eve with a little restyling using small edits to renew it going into 2022. Our new Ellermann scented candle created in homage to my grandmother and our signature seasonal wreaths in blush and green hues will be the final touches to my home this year.
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Alexis Dupont
Interior designer and creative director Alexis Dupont
Decorating Tip
I’ve always loved admiring abundant and opulent decorations outside during the holiday season and prefer to keep mine rather minimalistic at home. I usually go to the flower market to get a nice, dense pine wreath and hang it undecorated on a wall with a simple brown Hermès ribbon as a special little touch. Between Thanksgiving and CNY, I also love to host intimate candlelit dinners at home. My vintage candle collection sourced from French flea markets and the Mediterranean is perfect for setting the scene.
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Amanda Clark
Co-Founder Altfield Interiors & Gallery
Decorating Tip
Christmas is the one time you can indulge all the senses and make your own traditions. I fill the house with fresh seasonal flowers in reds and whites, with boughs of greenery and let their scent set the mood. We love to host friends and family over the holiday, and an open house with drinks and a food buffet is a very relaxed way to cater for a crowd that allows people to mix and mingle and move around. Scented candles and traditional carols sung by Nat King Cole make everyone feel nostalgic and happy. These Blanc de Chine Pagodas will be in our dining room this year scattered amongst the festive feast.
Product Pick
Decorating Tip
My holiday decorating rule is the more, the merrier, as Christmas is a time for generosity and abundance. I love to pack ornaments on every square inch of my tree, a la Harold Llyod, and adore a heavily layered tabletop that can always seat one more. The key to bringing it all together is lighting. Create that cozy feeling with candles, your tree and garland’s fairy lights, adding dimmers to sconces, table, and floor lamps, and banning overheads. The best smell is cooking and baking wafting from the kitchen, but I like to kick it up a notch with pomanders – oranges or clementines studded with cloves which infuse your home with a naturally festive fragrance. I wish I could keep one of the exclusive handmade One Vintage stockings we are featuring on our forthcoming e-commerce site. The site isn’t officially launching until next year but I couldn’t let the holidays go by without offering a little treat!
Product
Jennifer Margolin
Founder BYDEAU
Decorating Tip
It’s important to always have fun when decorating for the holidays. Don’t be afraid to mix and match your plates, glasses and linens when setting your table as it makes everything feel more personal. I love using beautiful pieces I’ve inherited from my grandma and pairing them with everyday basics, I also always have fresh flowers around as they add pops of color to the décor and give a beautiful scent. If your home reflects your personality and has warmth to it, people will feel that and relax.
Product Pick
Decorating Tip
Your home is a storybook that tells who you are and shows off your personality, and that should especially come through at Christmas. Adding special sentimental pieces like art work, a blanket knitted by your grandma, or something that represents you and your loved ones will warm up your home and holiday in the best possible way.
Product Pick
Kirsten Bell
Co Founder & Director What If Events
Decorating Tip
Our Christmas décor is sustainable, and I always try to use and reuse Christmas decorations. I had a wooden tree tailor made a couple of years ago and it never gets old. We enjoyed decorating it minimalistically until our two year old started bringing home “arts & crafts” which we treasure on the tree, this year it’s adorned with his favourite toy cars. We also try and stay simple and eco friendly on wrapping and general table decorations using a lot of things we already have at home and from previous Christmas celebrations.
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Editor
Dervla LouliCredit
Lead Image: Getty Images
