When it comes to dressing the home it’s about capturing some of that magic with equal parts nostalgia and romance. Most households have decorative heirlooms imbued with the memories of Christmases past that get taken out and unwrapped every December with a sense of anticipation.
The very act of dressing the tree is a family affair, with little children playing a starring role, standing atop stepladders to place the star at its pinnacle.
All the traditions bind friends and families together. The thrill of hanging stockings on Christmas Eve, spending hours and even days preparing for one meal that will extend from breakfast to a lengthy lunch. The hoops jumped through to set the table for Christmas dinner, polishing the cutlery, the crystal and the fine china that rarely see the light of day.
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Christmas evokes a sense of nostalgia in even the edgiest of trendsetters and this shoot styled by Avoca, Brown Thomas, Dunnes Stores and Arnotts, who had their design teams create easy to replicate ideas in Newbridge House in Donabate, Co Dublin, captures that spirit beautifully.
It’s a time to celebrate people rather than aesthetics. While every family has its own presentation style the overall look should feel homely but not homespun.
Welcome home
Stars and a sense of fun is the mood of the atmospheric front door design by Justine Murray, display manager at Dunnes Stores, assisted by Aisling Cassidy. A large garland over the portico is hung with owl decorations, €4 each, while she embellished a wreath, €25 with paste jewellery and had toy nutcracker-style soldiers, €15 each, guard the door.
The windows are filled with a selection of paper stars, €10 and €8, a garland, €25, on each sill with neon table top decorations that spell Joy, €10, and flock reindeer, €3 each, add to the festivities. Lanterns – Harbour green €40 and Filigree red €50 from Carolyn Donnelly Eclectic and Bali styles from Paul Costelloe, large €60, medium €45 – add warmth.
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The night before Christmas
The library was styled by Avoca where stockings, pansy and leaf print knee-highs, €16.95, and lucky shamrock men’s socks, €12.95, were hung by the chimney. Battery-operated LED lights fill the fireplace, a clever way to add warmth to unused rooms, says Tressie Foy, visual merchandiser at Avoca.
Cuddle up at the fireside with a teddy, €19.95 under a throw, from €44.95. A pansy print tea towel, €9.95 is used to line the tray where drinks are being served in glassware from €9.95 and in cups and saucers, from €24.95.
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Cake close-up
Buy a fully-decorated Avoca Christmas cake, from €24.95 and serve on a simple ceramic cake stand, €19.95, and add a Christmas tree decoration (we added a star bought at Tiger Stores) to give it some festive cheer.
Christmas morning
The 12ft noble fir and stand, €187, supplied by champion Wicklow grower Christy Kavanagh (kavanaghchristmastrees.ie), is heaving with presents underneath and laden with golden glass baubles, in bottle, acorn, ball, trumpet and coronet shapes with antique and vintage finishes, ranging in price from €4 to €8 each.
Fir berry garlands, €35 each, by KaemingK and classic mini tree lights, €35 each, by Noma add further texture to a tree designed by John Redmond and the creative team at Brown Thomas. The decorations, pictured, are available from Brown Thomas, Dublin, Cork and Limerick.
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Feast your eyes
Interior designers Siobhan Murphy and David Bennett went for gold accents in their decorative dinner table design using side plates from Anysley’s Mozart collection, €79 for a 12-piece starter set, gold trim Noritake dinner plates, part of a 37-piece set, €368.50, porcelain chargers, €13.95 each, Tipperary crystal glassware and fine antique-style cutlery by Newbridge Silverware, €620 for a 44-piece set, bijou candelabras, €36.50 each and a selection of baubles and crackers, €9.99 for a set of six, all from Arnotts.
The table also features historic family heirlooms from Newbridge House, including weighty candelabras and swans, the emblem of the Cobb family, who still live there.
