It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas. And as the countdown to the 25th of December ticks on, the arrival of twinkling lights and crimson flourishes sparks the excitement of the festive season.

1 – Know What Decorations You Have, And Plan It All Out

It’s always a good idea to make a list of everything you have – or take pictures.

Then, at the end of each Christmas when you take everything down, you can mark off anything that has broken or needs replacing ready for next year – while it’s fresh in your head.

This means that you can also take advantage of the January sales for buying anything that’s needed.

It pays to get ahead with decorations, so if you haven’t already got a list, then start one this year – you won’t regret it!

2 – Less Is More!

Remember that you don’t have to go overboard with decorations to make an amazing impact at this time of year.

Think about the rooms that you will be socialising in in your home, and focus on these first. Then look at having 1-2 key items in the room that will make a real statement instead of lots of little things that will just end up cluttering the space.

If you have the tree in one room – that’s probably enough! – otherwise you will be drawing the eyes away from this…

3 – Choose A Colour Scheme / Theme, And Stick To It

Having some sort of theme within your decorations will look amazing, tie each room together, and enable you to use decorations in different rooms over the years for a change.

Stick to 2-3 colours – and then I know when I see new decorations what will and won’t make a nice addition to the collection.

4 – Remember Scale When Choosing The Tree

Don’t buy a Christmas tree that’s too large for your home – measure the space before you go shopping! – that’s width as well as height…

Trees always look much smaller when they are outside or in big stores – but can all too easily take over your home if you get it wrong (it’s very much like when you go sofa shopping – then find that it won’t fit into your home even though it looked pretty small in the shop…)

5 – Spend A Day Decorating And Make It A Tradition

I LOVE doing this with my family each year.

Shop for a tree in the morning, grabbing anything we need along the way for decorating – and then turn the Christmas music on full blast and get decorating.

Adding in a Christmas card or two to the Christmas decorations also makes things different and more personal each year, as these constantly change, of course.

Brilliant memories!

From our family to yours, have a safe and Merry Christmas