The countdown to Christmas has begun! How many sleeps now? This week’s mission was to sort out our very first Christmas tree, which we’ve never done before as we’ve always gone to our folks and well, you know, how it is…

I was definitely feeling a bit overwhelmed at the prospect. What about all the decorations? My mum’s box of decorations, which she pulls out every year, is full of lovely bits and pieces accumulated over the years, many of which we’ve had since children, so full of lovely memories. I didn’t even know where to start.

And then the question of what kind of tree. My Scottish granny would replant her tree in the garden every year, to be uprooted the following December. And over the year’s my family have had a mixture of both, real and artificial, big and small… But practically speaking, given our living room is not massive I reckoned we could fit something medium-sized up against the bay window.

I was just humming and haahing about it all, when one of my favourite interiors brands Houseology got in touch asking if I’d be up for doing a little Christmas tree styling post with them. I was thrilled as I’d already previewed some of their Christmas decorations earlier this year and knew they were right up my almost-everything-in-white approach to the new house.

What colours?

So starting from scratch, what’s the plan? Like anything styling related (I now know!) you need to come up with a colour palette (choose up to three key colours for a tied-in look) to create a general framework to work within. That makes decisions – yes, this one, no, not that one – a lot easier. I guess as per, I also wanted a bit of Scandi theme; as kids growing up in Copenhagen, super tasteful decorations mainly in white were pretty much the name of the game, which, to this day is good enough for me.

So, with white and soft brassy colours as my guiding palette and being more of a star, snowflake and animal kind of person that angels blowing trumpets, I picked out about 30 decorations (all half price now btw!) – in threes and twos and ones if that makes sense! And in wood, brass, glass, silver and coppery colours –  for our 1.8m high (size S) tree (also half-price now if you need something last minute!), which seemed about right. And any supplementation needed I would do with the little paper Danish stars I’ve been making (paper strips from Etsy and how to make them You Tube video here). The one splash of colour I allowed was a muted red and gold in the brilliant treetop star.

The tree

So the tree was an absolute blessing. Part of me wanted to try out something sparse and white, but the rest of the family were having none of it! So we went green and artificial – but hey, not sure you can even tell! Pre-lit with extremely well-placed lights, it couldn’t have been easier to assemble. Three parts that just slot together and then fold down the branches. This part you do want to spend a little time on, making sure you’ve unfolded all the branches and coaxing them into place.

As for the actual decorating, Gus got stuck straight in of course, attaching everything toddler height, before I stealthily relocated the overload up around the tree. I guess it’s about balance; placing the big eye-catchers – adore this galloping reindeer – and then counter-balancing with something smaller nearly.

Part of the fun of Christmas trees is taking your time adjusting and re-adjusting till it feels just right. And I’m thrilled to now have this all set up, not a glitzy red bauble in sight Rock on with Christmas! We’re off to see Santa this afternoon, drinks and singsongs at the week and then carol singing next week. Told you we were going for it this year! Happy weekend!

A big Christmas thank you to the lovely team Houseology for working with me on this post! 

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