How to style your Christmas tree

A stylish Christmas tree is all about complementary colours, so start  by choosing a colour theme for your tree.  Your lights, baubles and other decorations should match, or at least work well with your colour scheme.  

Upcycle a log basket to obscure the trunk of your tree. Cut the base out of the basket and remove the handles before placing the trunk inside. If you’d like, you can then decorate your base with festive fabric or tinsel.

Slowly wrap your lights around the tree, starting at the bottom and working your way up, keeping each layer of lights as close together as possible. A higher concentration of lights adds an instant wow factor.

Now it’s time to get creative! Lay down a drop sheet to protect your working area and set plain Christmas decorations or baubles on top of the drop sheet. Put on your safety gear and spray paint the decorations to match your colour scheme. (This is a fantastic way to upcycle old baubles.) Once you’ve finished spray painting, leave the decorations to dry.

For a special touch, write each family member’s name on a star or round coaster using a paint pen. Leave to dry.

Once everything is dry, hang your decorations. Although it’s always tempting to over-decorate Christmas trees, a less-is-more approach looks the most elegant. Start by zig-zagging larger baubles down your tree, and fill in spaces with smaller ornaments. Hang smaller and lighter ornaments at the tip of each branch to create a sense of depth to your ornament display. Place feature decorations front and centre to act as the anchor point for the rest of your decorations.

Instead of wrapping your gifts in single-use paper, opt for an environmentally friendly alternative: the Furoshiki wrapping method. You can use mix and match styles or keep it uniform by using the same style throughout. Consider attaching some ornaments to your presents to continue your tree theme all the way to the floor. Assemble the presents in clusters for a stylish display.

Now: turn on the lights, arrange the presents under the tree, top it with a star that’s proportionate to the size of your tree and enjoy!