Festive Inspiration For Your Home Interiors | Nicholas Engert Interiors

With Christmas just around the corner, no doubt you’re all starting to think about climbing up into the attic to find the decorations so you can really get into the spirit of the season and start decking the house out from top to bottom.

This really is a magical time of year and the decorating has a huge part to play in bringing the joy of Christmas really to life. Red and green are, of course, the top choices where colour is concerned - red to symbolise the blood shed by Jesus at his crucifixion and green ro symbolise the continuance of life and the Christian belief in eternal life through Jesus.

As for the beloved Christmas tree, this first became a firm fixture in homes at this time of year in Germany in the 16th century, when Christians would bring decorated trees inside. It’s widely believed that Martin Luther, the Protestant reformer, first began adding lit candles to trees, inspired by a winter walk home one evening and the twinkling stars above the evergreens.

Of course, festive decorating has become a hugely popular pastime since then and people the world over love going all out with their ideas at this time of year. In fact, NASA satellites have been tracking the spread of Christmas lights over the last few years and, in the world’s biggest cities, the planet is 50 per cent brighter between Thanksgiving and New Year’s Day!

But it’s not just the lights and the Christmas tree that help to bring festive cheer into your home and there are lots of other ways in which you can achieve this. We’ve had a think and have come up with some wonderful hints and tips to help you decorate with aplomb this year. Which of these ideas will you try first?

Devise a theme

Well decorated interiors are cohesive and work well together so coming up with a theme for your Christmas decor will help you create a pleasing aesthetic.

This doesn’t have to be complicated - it could be something as simple as choosing one or two colours (silver and gold work particularly well, because it leaves you with a lot of options for other touches), or perhaps going completely natural with your decorating and only bringing in pinecones, holly, ivy, poinsettias and so on.

Focus your decorating

It can be very easy to get somewhat carried away when it comes to Christmas decorations and, before you know it, your home can start to look a little less elegant and a little more like Santa’s workshop, completely overwhelmed from head to toe with tinsel and baubles - which can make it quite hard to actually live in.

Avoid this by choosing one part of each room to serve as a focal point for your decorations. The end result with be tasteful, refined and stylish, while allowing you to carry on operating family life as normal.

Go for warm lights

Lighting is absolutely key at this time of year and you want to create a beautifully warm and cosy glow at home, which will instantly make your living spaces feel more Christmassy. Warm fairy lights around the tree and candles strategically placed around the room will really make you feel festive, helping you to get into the spirit of things immediately.

Where your Christmas dinner table is concerned, lighting can also make or break your festive feast. There’s nothing quite so beautiful as seeing the table properly laid out, with your best crockery brought out, just waiting for all that delicious food to be cooked… and decorative candle shades can work wonders, really giving your table that designer interior lighting feel.

Think minimalist

Even if you’re not a big fan of Christmas decorating and don’t want your home to be cluttered with more ‘stuff’ at this time of year, you can still make it feel festive with a few little clever touches here and there.

Adding sprigs of holly to the tops of picture frames and mirrors, and hanging up your Christmas cards will make it feel Christmassy. And you could even make your own pomanders, studding oranges with cloves and keeping them in a fruit bowl… the smell will make you feel incredibly festive, of that we assure you!

What are you doing to make your home ready for Christmas? Get in touch to let us know.