If there’s a time of year that you can really go over the top with your decorating, it’s Christmas. And with the shorter days and longer nights, additional light and sparkle is an absolute necessity for creating a magical look to take you through the holiday season.
Here are just a few ways that I’ve added a bit of Christmass-y pizazz to my own decorating over the years and I hope it inspires you to create a cosy atmosphere to enjoy with your loved ones this year.
Adding Sparkle to Your Christmas Tree
Of course, your tree will be an obvious place to start. Our faux tree is flocked, meaning it has what appears to be snow on all the branches as well as being pre-lit, meaning that it’s incredibly easy to erect and start decorating right away. When the tree lights are on, the white ‘snow’ reflects additional light throughout the tree making everything look even brighter. You may even be able to get a pre-flocked real tree at your local garden centre but if not, be sure to include lots of strings of fairy lights which should go on the tree first, before any decorations. For a quick calculation, you’ll want about 100 lights for every 1 foot of your tree’s height. So a 7 foot tree would need around 700 lights for the biggest impact.
I also add strings of gold garlands along the tree to add additional sparkle. These should be wrapped around the tree once your fairy lights are in place. Once the garlands are in place, I add lots of reflective decor – glass baubles, clear baubles and sparkling clip-on decorations and picks in both gold and copper. Again, the metallic finish reflects the fairy lights, creating further warmth and light.
Adding Sparkle to Your Room
Be sure not to neglect other surfaces in the room! Your coffee table is a great spot to create a small display area to tie into your scheme (and especially that tree). As I used a lot of gold and copper in my tree, I decided to carry over that look onto other surfaces. Adding sparkle here can be as simple as a few votive candles and tealights and a bowl or box piled high with sparkling baubles.
I also added a long garland decorated with tall candles along one of the walls as well as a small LED light-up tree on my chest of drawers. These little light-up trees are perfect for adding additional light and sparkle to almost any surface and they can be decorated with smaller baubles to tie them into your theme, no matter what style you choose.
Adding Sparkle to Your Christmas Mantle
Of course, your fireplace mantle is another area that will draw the eye at Christmas time as this is where your stockings are likely to be hung. Another garland is a great idea here to add a festive touch and wrapping with another string of fairy lights – this time in the form of glass light-up baubles – creates a wonderful glow perfect for the season.
Love the tiles in my fireplace? You can find them here: Carrara Marble Matt Wall Tile
Complete your mantle with some sequinned stockings for full-on sparkling glam, as well as glowing tea light holders for an inviting and cosy finish.
Adding Sparkle to Your Christmas Table
And finally, let’s not forget about the Christmas table with which you can add another festive touch of sparkle to your decorating. On my own table, I chose gold cutlery and gold-rimmed glasses which reflect the light of the small votive candles at each end as well as the larger church candle in the middle of the floral arrangement.
For some simple touches, consider tucking in some greenery and a pine cone lightly sprayed with metallic gold spray paint or a dusting of gold glitter into your napkin rings for a festive finish.
How will you be adding some sparkle to your Christmas this year? We’d love to see how you’ve decorated! Be sure to tweet us on @TileMountain1 or tag us on Instagram!
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As a multi-award winning interior design content creator, Kimberly Duran is an Interior Design-obsessed American ex-pat, who chronicles her decorating journey and dispenses interior design advice in her personal blog, Swoon Worthy. When she’s not helplessly drooling over all the latest trends in design, she’s adding things to the imaginary ‘shopping basket’ in her head, she likes to get messy tackling DIY projects with her partner in crime, Wayne, stalking eBay for vintage bargains and filling her home with her favourite neutral – gold.