The Christmas tree sits at the heart of every home’s festive celebrations, so making the right choice when it comes to a festive fir is key in creating a cohesive, stylish and balanced scene. Follow these three simple steps from Anna Sheridan, Interior Stylist at Heal’s to maximise your Christmas décor:
To choose the right size: think big, then go bigger
“A tree that’s too small will feel out of place, while one that’s too big will overwhelm the space. For the perfect balance, opt for a tree that is six inches shorter than the ceiling height. This leaves plenty of room for show-stopping accessories, so there’s no need to hold back on the tree topper! “Tall ceilings are perfect for making a room feel more spacious, but if the floor is short on square footage, it’s best to opt for a slimmer style of tree. This means you can still go higher, without having to sacrifice any of the space within your room.”
To position in the right location: take a look around
“Whilst placing your tree in front of the window may seem like the best way to show off your decorations, you risk losing a lot of natural light, leaving the room feeling dark and uninviting. Remember to keep the tree clear of doors, to avoid knocking off fir needles or breaking any expensive ornaments. “It's also important to consider the current layout of your room, and where your furniture currently sits. The optimum viewing distance from a TV is 2m, so leave at least this much distance between the screen and the tree to keep branches out of the way of your favourite Christmas films, and be mindful that the twinkle of fairy lights may be reflected round the room if placed in front of any mirrors.”
To hang your baubles perfectly: pick a method and stick to it
“The perfect number of ornaments to use on your tree will vary depending on your individual style, but as a general rule, use six baubles to every foot (30.4cm) of the tree. “To avoid clustering the same type of bauble too closely together, first group them together in different themes, such as colour, texture and shape. Hang each type in a zig-zag pattern and gradually work through the themes to achieve a balanced and considered look.”
Christmas Styling For Every Home
Whether you’ve got an eye for anything that sparkles, like to go big and bold at Christmas, or prefer to keep things calm and cosy, Heal’s has a selection of decorations to suit every type of home.
Bold and Bright
“To create a maximalist look, choose no more than three bold colours as your palette, and balance the ratio of each shade equally throughout the décor. For traditional Christmas styling, opt for red, green and gold, or for a more contemporary feel, choose a combination such as pink, blue and green.
“To avoid overwhelming the scene, offset bright colours with accessories in a neutral palette to make the bolder decorations pop. Introduce depth by mixing both matt and metallic finishes throughout the scheme.”
Festive Glamour
“To make the most impact, stick to a single colour scheme with a focus on metallic finishes, to make your decorations pop in the festive light. A gold, bronze and neutral palette will offer a luxurious warmth. “While sticking to a minimal colour palette, consider adding texture with feathers, star-shaped ornaments and beaded baubles. Complete the look with warm yellow lighting in the way of fairy lights or candles, to allow the metallic finishes to twinkle.”
Credit: French for Pineapple
Scandi-Chic
“Use a soft palette of warm neutrals as a canvas to build an inviting minimalist look. Add touches of personality with handcrafted ornaments to bring life to the tree.” “Focus on building texture – mix matt finishes with natural, raw materials from the garden such as pinecones, berries and fresh fir branches, which will add a festive scent to the room whilst creating interest for the eye.” “Connect with nature and use responsibly-sourced materials, such as FSC-certified paper origami decorations.”
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Christmas
Hosting Christmas dinner has earned a bad reputation for being stressful, but it needn’t be. There are plenty of ways to make hosting Christmas dinner so enjoyable, you’ll want to host next year too.
To help, we’ve compiled some of our tips. Read on to discover how to make this year’s Christmas dinner extra special.
Set the scene
Design your Christmas table scheme and compile all the napkins, decorations and crackers ahead of the big day. That way, come Christmas, you’ll know exactly what you’d like the table to look like and you’ll have everything you need.
Feeling extra organised? Then you could even lay the table the night before Christmas so it’s ready for the next day. That way you can make sure the table looks just right, rather than rushing to do it ten minutes before serving food. Check out our blog for some inspiration on decorating your Christmas dining table.
Be prepared
Prepping food ahead of Christmas Day is one of the best things you can do to make the day run a little smoother. You can prep your carrots, parsnips and potatoes the night before. To keep them fresh simply submerge them in cold water and cover with cling film or eco-friendly wrap. Chopping up all the onions the night before and storing them in an airtight container will also save time the next day. As will making your stuffing a few weeks earlier and freezing it. You can also make any dressings or sauces up to two days before Christmas.
We also suggest planning out how everything will fit in the oven. It might sound like overkill but knowing how to fit all the veg and meats into the oven in advance will help massively. This should also help you figure out timings and the order everything needs to enter the oven. Trust us, planning ahead will save you from a massive game of Tetris on the day.
Prepping ahead also means you won’t be busy peeling spuds whilst everyone opens their presents on Christmas Day. You’ll be able to enjoy more of the day and spend quality time with your guests, rather than being preoccupied in the kitchen.
Give your turkey a rest
We’ve consulted the chefs, our resident Christmas connoisseurs and our grandparents and the results are in… rest your roasted turkey for up to an hour before carving it. Resting your roasted turkey gives it time to reabsorb all the juices around it. That means you’ll end up with succulent slices of turkey, rather than a slab of dry meat. There’s no need to cover the turkey with foil, in fact, covering it may make the skin soggy. The turkey should retain its heat well so no need to worry about it getting cold.
This really is a Christmas miracle because it frees up oven space for the all-important vegetables. That means less humidity in the oven and more space for your roasties to crisp up.
Entertainment
Christmas is a celebration, after all, so remember to have fun. Thinking up some activities or games in advance will take the pressure off on the day. Get the board games out of storage so your guests will have plenty to entertain themselves with whilst you’re cooking. If games aren’t your style, then some Christmas music playing in the background will guarantee everyone feels festive. Plus, it will give your guests more time to catch up and talk.
Teamwork
Sharing the load is a great way to make hosting Christmas dinner easier. After all, there’s no fun in running a one man show. Encouraging children, partners and even some guests to help will make sure Christmas is fun for everyone.
One way to do this is by delegating tasks. For example, one person oversees decorating the Christmas table. Another is charged with serving drinks and topping up glasses. Someone else recycles all the wrapping paper and tidies up the living spaces. This means you can focus on the food, whilst still having time to entertain your guests.
Spoon stock take
If you’re hosting a large Christmas dinner this year, then it’s worth making sure you have enough glassware, cutlery and crockery. That’s everything down to serving spoons and side plates. Sure, it sounds like an obvious move, but after a year of covid-disrupted festivities, this may be the largest event you’ve hosted in a while. Y
ou may have cracked a few plates, smashed a couple of glasses or misplaced some cutlery since you last hosted. Check in advance and you’ll have plenty of time to source any missing cutlery or glassware.
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