Interior Designer's Christmas Decor Tips

It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas - especially in the homes of our brilliant designers! After all, they are the experts in designing beautiful homes all year round so I have no doubt they have some excellent tricks up their sleeves for the festive season.  

That’s why I’ve asked our designers to share some of their Christmas décor wisdom with us so we can all rock around our beautifully decorated Christmas trees.

How to decorate a Christmas tree

Image Credit: This Styled Space

We have some great Christmas tree décor hacks! Our designers recommend taking some time to spruce up the branches on your tree, especially if it isn't a real tree. Each branch should be shaped and tweaked to look full and even. 

Top tip: wear cotton gloves so you still have the dexterity to manipulate the branches as you please without hurting your hands in the process.

Next, choose your lights! If you would like a warm and cosy feel then we recommend gold or yellow coloured lights, if you’re going for a modern and sleek feel then cooler white lights are your best bet. Whichever Christmas lights you like, make sure you select wire that matches the colour of your tree. You don't want a deep green tree with bright white wires sticking out like a sore thumb!

Next is the fun bit - picking a theme and colour scheme! Our designer Ria likes to start with a base of neutral decorations, particularly white and gold. These are the decorations that she reuses each year before adding in more coloured tree decorations that link in with the accent colours within the room. This means that even if/when Ria decides to redecorate she still has those main baubles as her baseline before adding in colours from her newly refurbished room. 

Watch this video to take a look at how our interior designer Kate, decorates her Christmas tree.

Our Head of Design, Lucy also recommends using these neutral yet traditional Christmas colours: “Opting for white and gold Christmas tree decorations can have a really striking effect and white at Christmas never goes out of style!” - Lucy

It's easy to be blind-sighted with magpie syndrome when faced with lots of multicoloured Christmas decorations. So why not use Christmas tree decorations that are more sentimental:

“Don't be tempted to change the colour scheme of your tree decorations each year as this leads to lots of waste - instead, select decorations you love and maybe evoke a memory (from a trip or Christmas market you bought the bauble from), these will last you a lifetime and you will have a tree full of memories.”- Lucy

It can be easy to focus on what looks perfect and Instagram-worthy but our designers recommend introducing imperfections to add real personality in your Christmas tree decorations:

“Try not to be too precious with how curated and flawless it should look- a more random placement of decorations works better as it adds character and emphasises the rustic nature of the tree.”- Ria

And last but not least, tree skirts. How do you get away from the bright red tree skirts covered in cartoon snowmen and Santas? Easy! Our interior designer Olivia suggests using a rattan tree skirt to give some classic, traditional and rustic feel to your home while simultaneously hiding the tree base.

Want help from some of our expert designers?  Book a free, no-obligation call with our team to see how we could help:

How to get your children involved in Christmas decorating

Image Credit: My Bespoke Room

Are you the kind of person who cringes as you watch your children (or partner) decorate the tree? Don't worry we all want our Christmas tree decorations to look coordinated and just as we want them - there’s nothing wrong with this! But if you want your little ones to feel involved and excited without ruining your Christmas vision, our designers have suggested the perfect solution: 

"Have a separate tree for the kids! I have a smaller separate tree in the playroom the kids can do anything to - they have a lot of homemade baubles and things they have been given which are lovely but do not go with my scheme. This way they get their own tree to proudly display all their baubles.”  - Ria

“When the children were younger we brought them a little tree each to hang their favourite decorations freely!” - Sarah

Here at My Bespoke Room our Head of Sales is our designated Queen of Christmas! - She's been wearing her reindeer antlers since November on all our calls! She has also coined the idea of providing her daughter with a tree to decorate which they have cleverly named “TreEvie”.

“Obviously the name won't work for all but that's Evie's own tree. I'm not allowed to touch it (it actually kills me!) and she can do what she likes with it, but it means that the main tree is exactly the way I need it to be without any of the fun of tree day taken away” - Jess

Our interior designer Olivia, however, loves to involve her little ones in her Christmas decorating:

“Every year each of my children takes it, in turns, to add the star at the top of the tree and I let the children decorate the tree with whatever decorations we have purchased over the years.”   - Olivia

Every year each of Liv’s children buys a new Christmas tree decoration to add to the tree, resulting in a more personal experience for everyone."

Incorporate Nature into your Christmas Decorations 

Image Credit: My Bespoke Room

Our interior designers are always eager to bring the outdoors in and Christmas Trees are just the start for their green thumbs! Olivia loves to hang huge green garlands on the handrail of the staircase in her hallway. Ria hangs garlands and places faux foliage on the back of benches and shelves all over her home: This adds a Christmassy feel without having to spend a lot of time and effort sticking something to the walls!

Sarah and Lucy encourage us to use greenery and natural elements from our gardens as it’s more cost-effective than purchasing decorations and it smells divine!

“Bring in some greenery from your garden (eucalyptus is great if you are lucky enough to have a tree!) and add it to a gold vase maybe with some berries or pussy willow for a wintery and stylish decoration for a table or sideboard” - Lucy

"I like to use popular greenery like pine and fir and love to add in eucalyptus and rosemary. This blend adds a beautiful scent around the home. Greenery acts as a great neutral so include metallics through candle holders or garlands to add a touch of glam if you wish.” - Sarah

Sarah also encourages us to use natural elements like pine cones to help create texture in our Christmassy homes. They look great scattered down the centre of the table, placed in vases or even pop on the napkins. 

Our interior designer Erin even creates her own wreaths. Take a look at the video below to see how you can create your own organic Christmas wreath.

Video credit: My Bespoke Room

Does your home need a designer's touch? Book a free, no-obligation call with our team to see how we could help:

How to create a cosy Christmas Home

Image Credit: My Bespoke Room

As the weather gets colder and colder this festive season, we all crave warmth in our homes. Our designers recommend adding fabrics like wool and velvets through cushions, throws and bedding to create a cosy atmosphere. 
 
The weather outside is frightful, but the fire is so delightful!  Many of us associate cosy with a warm open fireplace but what if you don’t have one? Many of us can make do with YouTube videos of open fireplaces but there are other ways to create these warm feelings through your Christmas decorations.

"You can still bring in a cosy feel if you don’t have a fireplace by bringing in some candles and firewood. Candles at different heights and sizes in the same colour with a little greenery act perfectly together!" - Sarah

Video credit: My Bespoke Room

Our interior designer Olivia is also a big believer in the warmth and cosiness a candle can bring. She always has lots of candles that smell like pine, apple and gingerbread around her home to bring her back to memories of previous Christmases. She also floods her home with lots of LED candles so she can create a cosy vibe even in places where regular candles could be a fire hazard!

Our Interior Designers' Christmas Decorating Traditions

Image Credit: My Bespoke Room

Our designers have been kind enough to share some of their favourite Christmas decorating traditions with us which you may want to recreate in your home! 

Lucy, our Head of Design loves hanging decorations that her daughters have made over the years, pride of place on her family's Christmas tree. Lucy also purchases Christmas tree decorations for her girls every year, just as her mother continues to do for her. This way the tree is filled with Christmas tree decorations that remind the family of decade-old memories. 

Our interior designer Sarah has many Christmas decorating traditions from light-up heirlooms to more modern and creative activities. 

"Each year we set up our light-up village as a family which was sweetly left to us by our Nan. We display it pride of place in the dining room so we can enjoy it over the festive period and talk about our fond memories.

I also brought a reusable hanging advent calendar some years ago and as the children grew and had different interests we would fill it with surprises to suit. One year I used tiny gemstones rather than chocolate and they loved it." - Sarah

It goes to show a little imagination and sentiment goes a long way in the Christmas season! No one knows this better than our Head of Customer Success, Jess. Every year she and her daughter paint baubles for the Grandparents as a special handcrafted gift to bring them some Christmas cheer. However, Jess’s favourite tradition by far is the daily December polaroid, where they take a picture every day of the day’s events, whether that be putting up the tree or baking scrummy Christmas treats.

More Top Tips! 

Image Credit: My Bespoke Room

The My Bespoke Room team have decades of Christmas decorating experience under their belt! So here are a few odd tips that you may find useful! 

If you're looking to create a Christmas “shelfie” Sarah recommends adding small Christmas touches to your usual shelf displays. By placing a Christmas ornament within your current shelving displays is a simple way to change it up for the Christmas period without going crazy with tinsel, lights and glitter. 

Video Credit: My Bespoke Rom

Olivia likes to put ribbons and a bow on doors, to give create the illusion of opening a present every time you walk into a room. What a way to get into the giving season!

Jess’s advice comes from a place of Christmas tree trauma! She is a big cat lover but recommends to her fellow feline owners to use a command strip clear hook and some fishing wire to tether your Christmas tree to the wall low down where it can't be seen. This should stop your cats from being able to completely topple your tree but it may not stop them from breaking a few baubles.

And finally let's take a page from Jess’s book, put on your antlers, crank up the Bublé and pour yourself a drink!

Book a free, no-obligation call with our team to see how we could help: