The way I decorate for Christmas is influenced by where I am from - Germany. Christmas is quite traditional and religious there, so I acknowledge this in my decorations, with flowers, fruits and a conventional red, green, gold and silver palette. I love elegant and opulent schemes and I try to be self-sufficient, using flowers and greenery from our garden. I would never use fake, plastic greenery - although my husband, Hugo, occasionally has different ideas.
Hall
To create a scene of splendour in the hall, I planted amaryllis bulbs in old terracotta pots and arranged them on the table. It is nice to see them come alive over the advent period. Not knowing the colours adds to the excitement.
Garden
The urns outside our drawing room can look bare in winter, so I created displays in them using pine and spruce, which give off a lovely Christmas smell. We added gold lights, which reflect beautifully in the pond.
Dining room
The china was a wedding present and I like to bring it out at Christmas and use traditional silver cutlery and salt and pepper pots. Silver vases of red anemones, hellebores and eucalyptus pods decorate the table. They work well together: the bulky eucalyptus pods not only smell wonderful, but also provide a pleasing contrast to the delicate hellebores.
Shape-wise, the pods tie in with the pomegranates on the mantelpiece. I decided to avoid the traditional green garland here, so we wired together the pomegranates and lit them with tea lights. It looks like an old Spanish still-life.
