There are Christmas tree decoration fashion trends for our trees just as there are runway trends for our clothes! You may have attended the recent Women’s Refuge fundraiser – Deck the Rooms. The homes were stunning, and a credit to their owners who put so much time and effort.

I suspect many of you were inspired! If you didn’t attend, you can’t help but be inspired by the many images you will seeing on your Instagram and Pinterest feeds.

Being the beginning of December, it is time to bring some Christmas cheer to our homes for those of us who celebrate Christmas. For those of us who don’t celebrate Christmas, some well-placed fairy lights indoors or outdoors on a warm Summer evening is uplifting.

Here are my ideas on decorating for the Festive Season. I hope you enjoy them!

We all have decorations we have collected over the years. I collect them. I have done since I first left NZ back in 1995. I bought one from every country I visited. I bought one for me, and one for my parent’s tree and one for my grandparents’ tree.

Sadly, they have all passed away now, so I have them all. We have continued the tradition with our boys. Wherever we travel to, we buy a decoration. Their favourite ones are the Disney Castle from Disneyland, and a silver crown from the Tower of London. Do you have Christmas traditions? We’d love you to share them with us!

Although we all have a mixture of decorations, we can probably collate them into a few colour groups. Choose one dominant colour theme from your decorations and add others from your collection that compliment your main theme. Below are some of my favorites.

There are so many different ways you can decorate your tree. These are mine.

If you have an artificial tree, start at the bottom. Spread the main branches outwards, and bed the smaller branches upwards to fill the gaps between the layers. Add each section only after expanding the one below. If you have a fresh tree,trim a piece off the trunk before putting it in the base and filling it with water. Trees drink 1-2 litres of water a day, so don’t forget to check the water in the base daily!

There are many ways you can hide your tree base. A bucket, a cane skirt, fabric skirts, draped fabric or simply your wrapped gifts.

Start at the top and work your way down the tree. You can wind them around the tree or run then up and down it. Make sure you zig zag the lines either way, and tuck some in towards the trunk –this will give your tree an ethereal glow from within. How many lights should you use? My ‘rule of thumb’ is 200 bulbs per 1.2m of tree. If your tree is 1.8m (6ft) then you will a string of around 300bulbs (or 100 bulbs per 0.5m of tree.)

I layer my tree by sizes. I put the largest at the bottom, medium sizes in the middle and the smallest at the top. But you can also cluster them. It’s your tree, have fun with it!

Add your family decorations in between your baubles, filling any gaps.

I put my bows on the tips of the branches. I have a mixture of pre-made bows, and lengths of ribbon that can be tied and draped. Choose your ribbons to coordinate with your colour theme –they can blend or contrast depending on your preference.

If you have a multitude of decorations collected over the years that your children have made, like we do, then consider a second smaller tree in another room dedicated to these special, often misshapen, but treasured pieces of joy.

We all love the scent of a fresh pine tree. If you don’t have a fresh tree, you can add branches of fresh pine trees into your artificial tree, changing them every few days when they start to brown. Oryou can use a Christmas room spray or candle that gentle disperses the scent of Christmas throughout your home.

However you choose to decorate your home, be sure to enjoy the process!

Merry Christmas xxxx