Christmas decorations around the house: how to decorate outside the living room
With festive preparations now well underway, many of us have already started decorating our Christmas trees and adorning our mantelpieces with greenery. Living rooms are the natural focal point for our decorative efforts as, for most of us, this is where will be spending most of our time throughout December, and on the big day itself. It’s where we hang stockings beside the chimney ready for Father Christmas, open presents and gather round with friends and family on dark winter evenings with the Christmas tree lights twinkling and the fire burning.
But what about Christmas decorations around the house? The dining room where you will be enjoying your Turkey with all the trimmings, the hallway where you’ll be greeting any visitors, and even the bedrooms where you will all be waking up on Christmas morning… All of these spaces deserve that magical festive touch, too, so we urge you not to neglect them.
Perhaps you’ve got mantelpieces elsewhere in the house that could benefit from a beautiful garland or some lights? Or a banister that can be adorned in all sorts of creative and clever ways? Even kitchens and bathrooms can be brought to life at this time of year with the addition of some seasonal greenery, lights or candles. However big or small you want to go with Christmas decorations around the house, they are bound to leave you and your guests feeling very merry indeed. To help inspire your festive forays, we have gathered some of our favourite examples from the House & Garden archives.
Ideas for Christmas decorations around the house from the House & Garden archive
Mark Anthony Fox1/12At Callie Coles’ charming Devon house, where a menagerie of animals live alongside Callie and her family, even the chickens in the boot room have been treated to some mistletoe! Such a simple but thoroughly charming idea you can copy at home (minus the birds, presumably).
Elena Bazu2/12If you have an open-plan living, dining and kitchen room, it’s even more important to extend the festive spirit into every part of the space so that one corner doesn’t feel sad and neglected. Take inspiration from florist Graeme Corbett, who uses foraged greenery and berries to create and subtle, sustainable and affordable displays.
Christopher Horwood3/12We might not all have hallways as magnificent as this one in Hatta Byng’s Yorkshire home, but we can certainly steal this idea to use at home. Simply wind some foliage around the banister to create a traditional and timeless display. If you’re lucky enough to have a large entrance hall, you too could consider relocating your tree this year – the cooler temperatures here will actually reduce needle-drop on a real tree.
Andrew Montgomery4/12If you’re lucky enough to live in a characterful house full of beams, these present the perfect decorative opportunity in any room of the house. In his Somerset farmhouse, Alex Lewis – founder of Compton Marbling – has adorned the beams in his kitchen with Christmas tree garlands from East End Press. Greenery wound round the furthest set of beams is the perfect finishing touch and ties in with the natural decorations throughout the house.
Owen Gale5/12We adore the way that swags of foliage have been used to create the illusion of a headboard in Amanda Brooks' guest cottage in the Cotswolds – it's a delightful way to bring your Christmas decoration into the bedroom.
Paul Massey6/12Interior designer Marie-Louise Sjögren uses a lot of foliage when decorating her historic house on the Stockholm archipelago, including hanging wreaths inside her windows in the dining room. These pick up on the greenery that decorates her Christmas table too.
Dean Hearne7/12Interior designer Tom Morris has enlivened the bathroom of his Barbican flat with a mistletoe ‘cloud’ from Porters at New Covent Garden.
Dean Hearne8/12Also in Tom Morris’ flat, candles and a vase of narcissi make for a charmingly understated festive display in the bedroom.
Tom Griffiths9/12Any window can become a space for cheerful garlands of greenery, perhaps made more sculptural by winter stems and seedheads. Here in garden designer Sean Pritchard’s Somerset cottage, a joyful garland sprouts from the hallway window.
Christopher Horwood10/12How sweet is this window at Richard E Grant’s Richmond house, decked out with baubles and reindeer? It’s a Christmas decorating idea we’d love to recreate.
Christopher Horwood11/12The kitchen of Richard E Grant’s house is also fully decked out, with bunting around the skylight and pots of winter bulbs on every surface.
Paul Raeside12/12This image from a Christmas decoration scheme our team put together a few years ago has always inspired us. Holly around the top of the four-poster, a wreath behind the bed, and plenty of candles – what could be nicer?
