I first wrote about this in my book ‘A Chic and Simple Christmas’, and a stroll through the city a few days ago reinforced it for me. I was in our beautiful local department store and their Christmas decoration display was stunning. They do everything well there, so I wasn’t surprised.
I wasn’t tempted to buy anything though, because at home I like to take a streamlined angle. I have a small amount of Christmas décor which I put up closer to the time, but anything bigger is more pain than pleasure to me. I feel claustrophobic with too much stuff around me, and resent the time it takes to put things up and take them down again.
Maybe in the future it will be different, but at the moment I am content to view and enjoy others Christmas decorating, whether it is in a store display, on magazine pages, in holiday movies or seeing homes decorated on the outside (I love all those things!) yet return home to my simply decorated abode.
It all depends how much you have on your plate too. Over the past twelve years of owning our retail business, December was often our busiest month and we worked right up until Christmas Eve. We have sold our store now, but we are still working up until Christmas this year training the new owners. Maybe next year I will decorate more, who knows.
But just how is this the ‘Parisian approach’? In Paris (and other large cities too), most people live in small apartments. They don’t have gardens, maybe a few window pots it they’re lucky. But it doesn’t worry them. They have gorgeous public parks they can visit and relax in, without all the yard work. They ‘borrow’ their garden experience.
That’s how I feel about Christmas décor – I can enjoy and get a sparkly and happy Christmas feeling from it, without needing to own it for myself.
To read more, see ‘A Chic and Simple Christmas: Celebrate the holiday season with ease and grace’
I agree with you completely. I feel overwhelmed by too much décor. It's hard to dust. I choose a few "winterish" items, candles and a Nativity scene that was part of my family Christmas. Some years there is more but I really like to keep my space uncluttered.
ReplyDeleteDusting! Yes another reason to keep things simple :)
DeleteThe only main decoration we have, Fiona, is a real Christmas tree. We have always had one, over our 52 years of marriage, never an artificial one. I love the scent of a real tree, and I love decorating it, but apart fro occasionally buying just one or two new decorations for it, that is our total form of decoration other than flowers. I buy more flowers at Christmas, and decorate - usually with red and pink - the rooms with those, and with greenery from the garden. I find that that is quite sufficient, the room has gilt-framed pictures and silver-framed photos, pretty cushions and ornaments, it doesn't need any further decoration, perhaps a bowl of nuts and a basket of fruit, and the Christmas cards which I hang around the square arch-way which divides our sitting area from our dining area.
ReplyDeleteMargaret P
I love the real tree smell too, Margaret. Your Christmas decor with fresh flowers sounds elegant and perfect :)
DeleteI feel the same way about yards: lots of work, and I'd rather just go to a park.
ReplyDeleteWe do a tree and have a few tacky decorations given by beloved relatives (not sure whether they will be out this year as our kid gets bigger and less excited about Christmas). But we don't decorate every corner. Already in winter we light candles at dinner, and for a month the tree adds to the sparkle.
Haha, the tacky decorations, they always add a touch of kitsch :)
DeleteI feel the same way! I put a wreath on the door and always have a real Christmas tree and that's about it (I'm not going to discuss the animated, carol-singing Christmas Homer Simpson my husband keeps in his office). :)
ReplyDeleteThis is our first year in our 1910 home, so I may put fresh boughs up the banisters and over the mantle.
I really liked your Christmas book, Fiona, it helped me identify the parts of Christmas I find stressful and be okay with eliminating them (just not a big fan of Christmas movies or too much music due to too much stimuli). There's a "Classical Christmas" Pandora channel I'm going to experiment with instead.
This turned into a ramble but just wanted to say I really liked your Christmas book!
That's funny Amy, I think Homer should come out to sing during Christmas dinner :)
DeleteI'm so glad you enjoyed my Christmas book. That's really nice to hear. Give yourself permission never to watch another Christmas movie and to keep Christmas music to a minimum!
A classical Christmas channel/playlist sounds wonderful.
Dear Fiona, Congratulations on the sale of your business! That is a concrete and decisive move as you head on to your dream lifestyle. I'm so excited for you!
ReplyDeleteI'm with you on the more minimalistic Christmas decorating. I really enjoy seeing overloaded decorating in stores, other people's homes, etc., but for myself I tend to keep it simple. I do make sure I have at least one small holiday item in each room, with most of the emphasis in the living room. And always a must at Christmas: white twinkle lights and candles with a cozy fire in the fireplace.
One of my favorite websites for images is wintercozy.tumblr.com. (autumncozy is beautiful too).
D.
Thank you D, very much. We're working our way through the steps :)
DeleteI love twinkle lights, especially outdoors. We plan to buy some when we move.
Thanks for those tumblr sites. They sound lovely!
I opt for more natural elements and keep them to a minimum...our cats are too curious and bat at the bauble, climb our live tree and think anything new is a cat toy! We have a green fir wreath with pine cones on the front door, a small live tree with fairy lights on the porch and white lights are strung in the clematis along the fence...our cut tree will arrive a week before Christmas and will be decorated with more white fairy lights.
ReplyDeleteWe too live in a small space so there is not a lot of room for extras...
Vast homes are much better suited to the grand displays...and I do love seeing the creative decorators and homeowners ways of adding some festive bling!
Yes, ahem, cats and Christmas decorations. We would not decorate the bottom part of our tree when we had a real one... Your decor sounds beautiful, as always, Leslie :)
DeleteLove this post Fiona. I also enjoy a very simple elegant Christmas. I always have a wreath on the door, a live tree with sentimental ornaments, candles in the windows, and fresh garland on the mantle and staircase banister. That is it for me. Bringing nature in with fresh garland, pine sones, and greenery looks so fresh and elegant to me. I also enjoy soft christmas music playing in the background and cinnamon sticks simmering in water on the stove. Lastly, the scent of fresh baked cookies is a very nice touch.
ReplyDeleteThanks Danielle!
Delete'Fresh and elegant' what wonderful essence words for your Christmas look. Scent as part of decor is so important!
I'm reading your Christmas book right now and loving it. The older I get the more I crave simplicity. Part of that is having several children who brings so much more energy into our home that I need to keep the decor quiet and calm. We currently have our few Advent decorations out and in a couple of weeks we will add in a Christmas tree. And for me it wouldn't be the same without a couple poinsettias.
ReplyDeleteI agree, Christina, it's nice to keep things simple when you have a lot going on around you.
DeleteHi Fiona. I snuggled under a quilt today and read your Christmas book. What a treat it was! I love to keep things simple and natural at Christmas, but I do like to make things feel special for the kids. I put up a Advent calendar this afternoon. I made it several years ago and they truly delight in seeing it hung each start of December. Other than that, we do a natural tree we cut off our own property....mostly decorated with items the kids or I have crafted over the years. We also decorate a tree outside with bird treats. A wreath on the door and gingerbread houses the kids will decorate will round things off. Anyway, thanks for the inspiration. Your books has so many great tips and I look forward to brainstorming my own chic Christmas/holiday plan over the next few days.
ReplyDeleteOh yay, thank you, I'm so glad you are enjoying my book, and I can't think of a better spot to read :)
DeleteI've seen your advent calendar and it's wonderful. I love that you display Christmas books along with the decorations too. I have a few Christmas issues of Victoria magazine that I think I shall put out today :)
A couple of other very important aspects to the holidays for me - a few years ago I purchased a Jacquie Lawson Advent calendar and now it's a yearly treat - they're absolutely charming. Also, I plant paperwhites and a bright red amaryllis for the center of our dining room table.
ReplyDeletePerfection :) Red and white flowers will look very festive.
DeleteI'm not Christian, so I don't really do Christmas. My mother did, and she loved it, but without her it's not happening for me other than enjoying Christmas music and a couple of movies (Desk Set is a Hepburn Tracy delight and so much fun to watch.) I do celebrate Yule and Chanukah, though.
ReplyDeleteGenerally, I like to dress the house for the season with snowflake decorations and wintery feelings. I use a dark blue tablecloth with snowflake print napkins and a wintery centerpiece. I tend to go for blue and silver rather than red and green, as they feel right for me.
I love reading Rosamunde Pilcher's Winter Solstice as my seasonal book.* It's got a gentle Christian influence but doesn't beat you over the head with Message. The characters are interesting and well-drawn, and the heroine isn't a 22-year-old, which is a relief as I like female main characters being more than just the ingenue.
*I like to read certain books at certain times of the year. Frances Burnett's The Secret Garden is my springtime read, for example.
I love your seasonal book idea, Aurora, and thank you for the movie recommendation.
DeleteI am with you on this one. I love to see elaborate decorations around town, but prefer my home to be much less decorated. I enjoy not spending hours putting it up and taking it all down. I also like for the home to not look too cluttered during the holidays. But hotel lobbies with all their fancy decorations really are beautiful.
ReplyDeleteOoh, I do love an over-the-top hotel lobby. I think a coffee visit is on the cards for me in the next week or two :) Thanks for the reminder.
DeleteI really love the less is more concept. Our family is still over the top with gift giving and it's so stressful. Yet, we can't seem to get anyone to simplify and feel pressure to participate. That said, I have simplified my decorating, and I love it. Window boxes filled with boughs and white lights; electric candles in the windows; several undecorated evergreen wreaths suspended from the French doors and the tree. If I had my way, the tree would simply have my sparkly snowflakes and white lights, but the grandkids object. And for my sanity, I try to keep clutter at bay.
ReplyDeleteI hear you with gifts, Kristien. Maybe you need to be the one that says 'enough!' - it can be hard though. Your decor sounds pretty - natural green with white and light is so simple and perfect.
DeleteI absolutely appreciate the beautiful Christmas decorations in hotels, boutiques, and large historic homes at this time of year! However, like so many of your commenters, I enjoy a much simpler display at home. I always have candles in silver and crystal holders, my mother's nativity set, a large wreath of pine, fir, and holly, and my collection of glass Christmas trees (ranging in size from 4" to nearly 12").
ReplyDeleteI think it is a much more ecological way to enjoy not only Christmas décor (by enjoying the beautiful public displays rather than everyone creating their own), but public parks (rather than individual gardens), public libraries (rather than large private collections that merely sit on a shelf), etc. Such public sharing also helps create a sense of community when we care that EVERYONE can have access to beauty and knowledge.
What a fabulous way to have put this concept, Karen - that it is both ecological and socially desirable. Fabulous :)
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