From twinkling lights, beautiful garlands and that all-important tree, our homes are the focus for the festive period. We catch up with two Kent-based interior designers who reveal what Christmas means to them, how they’re decorating their home this year and tips for styling your home this December
Francesca Harris, Francesca Harris Design
![Francesca Harris, founder of Francesca Harris Design CREDIT AKP Branding Stories]()
Francesca Harris, founder of Francesca Harris Design CREDIT AKP Branding Stories
What Christmas means to you?
Christmas for me is all about family… it’s the only time of the year where we can all spend uninterrupted time together. With two children, it’s all about seeing their faces light up and making the day as special as possible!
The traditions you like to follow or maybe starting this year?
We don’t have any formal traditions, but I host a wreath making workshop in my home for a small group of friends at the beginning of December. We have a local florist come in and run it for us and crack out the Prosecco and have Michael Bublé on repeat! It’s a great way to get into the Christmas spirit early and have a beautiful wreath at the end of it! We also have a little tradition of my husband cooking the turkey on the BBQ… it tastes amazing, I really recommend giving it a go!
When you start decorating your home for Christmas?
The kids and I are a fan of getting the decorations up as early as we can get away with! When I was growing up my mum had the tree up on December 1 every year, so we always aim for the weekend closest to then. The kids help me with the main tree, but they also have little colourful ones in their rooms they can decorate too!
My absolute favourite is a Champagne gold colour! I do sometimes add in another accent colour with it, I have had navy blue before, forest green and last year a lovely deep burgundy! I find Champagne gold goes well with so many different colours, so you can invest in a few items and know you will get your use out of them!
Your thoughts on a more sustainable Christmas?
We have tried to be more sustainable at Christmas for a long time and try to avoid traditional wrapping paper that often ends up in the landfill. Instead, I use brown paper and add ribbons to it. I keep the ribbons year after year, and they look beautiful! We also don’t have a real tree, we invested in a good quality artificial tree a few years ago and we bring it out year after year, it’s about eight-years-old now and still going strong!
The best piece of advice I can give, is to choose a scheme you love rather than trying to follow a trend. Find a base colour you love, usually that would be some sort of silver, gold or white – around 70 per cent of your decorations can then be that one colour. The rest of your decorations you can then choose to be a different colour that might be a bit more “on trend” but doing it this way means you can swap that accent colour after a couple of years without having to change everything!
Where you will be spending Christmas?
This year for the first year ever we are going away for Christmas! We will be skiing on Christmas day – I’m so excited, but also trying to plan to make sure it’s a special day for everyone!
francescaharrisdesign.com
Laura Kennaird, Laura Jayne Design
![Laura Kennaird, founder of Laura Jayne Design]()
Laura Kennaird, founder of Laura Jayne Design
What Christmas means to you?
To me Christmas is about family. It's the one time of the year everyone wants to spend some quality time together, and people make the time for. Throughout the year everyone has somewhere else to be, it is rare to find another week in the year where everyone is free to just spend time together, making memories and having fun. It's the break I look forward to the most all year round. The time and space everyone seems to have really does feel magical.
We are slowly building our yearly traditions as we are growing our family. We currently have a two-year-old, so he is starting to understand Christmas more, which is so much fun for a Christmas planner like me. I am also pregnant with baby number two who will be arriving early November so this will be our first Christmas as a family of four. Since our first was born we have always gone to visit a Christmas lights display at Leeds castle, so this has become a tradition of ours. Also, a Santa’s grotto visit. We are a real tree family, so shopping for the Christmas tree at the start of December is always a highlight of mine (not my husbands who has to get in amongst them all while I fuss over the fullness and height). I also love baking, it’s something I have been doing with my son now since he turned one. So, lots of Christmas baking will be on the cards this year also.”
When you start decorating your home for Christmas?
I always try to start on the first weekend in December. I think this keeps the decorations fresh and the real tree looking lively still when it gets to Christmas day. I love the decorations but any earlier than December makes the month feel less special to me as you get desensitized to the lights and magic of it all. I then like to get them down and cleaned up before the new year, to start the year fresh and ready!
Favourite colours/decorations and their sentimental meaning?
I am a stickler for tradition. To me you can't beat the classic red, green and gold. I favour green foliage with warm white lights. I have to have the same colour lights throughout the house, so we have just a warm white everywhere. It feels like the most wholesome and complimentary to any decor. I will then accent those foliage pieces with pops of red foliage like berries and some gold accents or orange slices. I also like to make fresh decorations that work within the colour scheme and add a touch of smell. Last year I dried lots of orange slices and made garlands in the kitchen, mixed with some greenery, cinnamon sticks and lights, it made the kitchen feel lovely and inviting.
Your thoughts on a more sustainable Christmas?
I think it is very easy for people to get carried away with trying to think of something new each year, as there is so much choice out there, but it really doesn't need to be that way. The most treasured decorations are the ones we've had for years. The tree ornaments that have a story behind them or a history. They don't have to fit within the perfect 'aesthetic' often this is what makes your home and your style unique. The decorations this time of year are what brings you joy and contentment, not what everyone wants to see on Instagram in a perfect image. That isn't real and feels false. Yes, I love my decor to have a colour theme and be tidy but still within that I have my quirky family ornaments that make me smile. Keeping those items and not buying new each year all helps to be more sustainable. As well as using items you can forage on walks or fruit you can dry to make temporary visual impact while also being compostable at the end of the month. You don't want to be spoiling this one month of the year with years and years of plastic waste for your future children.
Think about the trends you see; can you think about a way to re-use those items once Christmas is over? Last year there was a big trend on bringing back tinsel but styled in a different way, this will be big this year also I anticipate. It was small, long bunches of tinsel draped over the end of branches, or it was done with ribbons. It looked visually beautiful but also you could easily use those pieces of tinsel for filling birthday bag presents or the ribbons could be used to make pompoms for present decorations or tying presents. Anything you think about introducing this year, try to think about how you could use it again throughout the year to recycle those items and reduce waste. In terms of trends for this coming Christmas it is much like I have mentioned before. We are wanting to go more natural and within nature. Natural decorations like pine cones, dried flowers and rustic wooden ornaments are things you will see a of lot this year, and certainly a trend I will continue for years to come in my home.
Where will you be spending Christmas?
We are hosting Christmas day this year, a lot considering we will have a newborn, but I love Christmas. I've asked grandparents to arrive extra early so they can help occupy the children while me and my husband do the cooking. It will no doubt end on chaos and me asleep by 8pm but its only one day a year and it will be so special as our first as a family of four.
laurajaynedesign.com
