If you don’t already know Nordic Elements, Helle Moyna’s shop in the village of Blackrock, Co Dublin, you should make the journey, to browse and to be beguiled. The shop has a reputation for high-end furniture but every surface is adorned with smaller potential gifts – ornaments and objects priced to suit every pocket, from €10 wooden spoons to books on design, via mugs and vases. Then there’s lighting and, of course, sofas to sink into.
The approach taken to decor in Nordic Elements is reflected in Moyna’s home in nearby Booterstown. She is a fan of Christmas but don’t expect to see any glitter or snowglobes or tinsel in her house. While growing up in Jutland, Denmark, where people would always spend money on their homes, she says, the mantra was: “Buy well, buy less.”
“We wouldn’t go out to eat much. We would entertain at home – cosy, nice furniture, nice accessories,” she recalls.
The essence of hygge, the calm interior of Moyna’s home is understated, and yet there is something in every corner that draws the eye – from ceramics, collected on holidays, to gifts from a son’s girlfriend. Every object tells a story and all have become the building blocks of a home – one to which you’d relish an invitation.
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For Moyna, December is a particularly lovely period. To get in to the festive spirit, as she puts it, she has adorned the impressive entrance to her home with “an oversized wreath, with all kinds of foliage – eucalyptus, pinecones, pink and burgundy ribbons”.
“It is illuminated by battery-operated lights,” she enthuses. “I get some help from Ruth Monaghan of Appassionata Flowers.”
Lights thread through the railings out front too, and a miniature pine tree in a pot at the front door is similarly illuminated.
Inside, on the hall return, a miniature tree draws the eye upwards; it and the Christmas trees – yes, trees, plural – are tastefully dressed in white lights. The star is the tree in the main livingroom, the grown-up room, as Moyna calls it; that one is always a real tree, she says.
“I never saw a fake tree until I moved to London in my 20s.”
It was in the UK capital that Moyna met her husband, David, from Scotstown in Co Monaghan.
Her preference for a Christmas tree is Nordmann fir, an evergreen conifer with good symmetry – and “not too wide at the bottom” – which she orders from Kavanagh’s Christmas Farm at Glendarragh in Newtown Mount Kennedy, Co Wicklow.
“They know what I want,” she says. “In Denmark we put live candles on trees. The first time my husband saw it he thought we were nuts. My dad is old school – that’s what we do. His tree comes the day before Christmas Eve.”
The tree lights are still; no flickering, no colours. Hanging from the closers on all the livingroom’s large sash windows are big brass stars festooned with micro-lights. “It means there’s light in the windows even if we close the shutters.”
A silver tray, bought in Lebanon on honeymoon, forms the base to a series of pillar candles, Moynagh’s Advent wreath, where she lights a candle each Sunday in Advent.
She listens to music or podcasts as she decorates and enjoys the moment. “Life is busy. We don’t have enough time to potter.”
Across the hall, in the family room, her sons, Tobias and Marcus, now 19 and 17 respectively, have always had a tree of their own that they decorate with all their stuff, as she puts it.
“They open a huge box, close the door, put on Christmas music and decorate. The first year they did it they were just seven and five and they only decorated one side of the tree. It has loads of colour, although they didn’t decorate it last year as they were in Denmark.”
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Given her sons’ ages, Moyna wasn’t sure the tradition would continue. But when the “boys” heard she was decorating the house early to give The Irish Times a sneak preview, they went out and got a tree of their own. It is as stylishly presented as their mum’s, with a classic red-and-white colour scheme.
The dining table is set into bay windows that overlook the family’s large garden; here, beaded hearts hang from the window closers in the same fashion as the formal livingroom. She spotted the table at the last auction held by Adams in Blackrock; the steel pedestal base was visible but the teak tabletop was hidden from view by about an inch of varnish and a glass covering, as well as many other items for sale.
It is relatively low-set, with three different kinds of stemware – “I like to set a mismatched table,” says Moyna. She uses living foliage to create maximum impact – keeping things “fragrant and simple”.
Simple, yes, but highly effective – and stylish touches such as curling a long stem of fresh eucalyptus around a scrolled napkin and tying it in a knot are easy to replicate.
Instead of putting a big bunch of flowers at the centre of the table, only for it to be moved elsewhere when the time comes to serve dinner, Moyna populates it with single-bud vases containing hyacinth bulbs and a centrepiece candelabra.
“It’s about reusing stuff. It’s creative, relaxed and less formal,” she says.
You could do something similar by putting short stems into low jars and bottles and tying a ribbon around them to add a flourish of colour. It is decor as an icebreaker.
Elsewhere, the house stays as it usually is. This is not a Christmas pyjamas for all the family-type household, she says. She also says no to festive-motif bedding, yuletide towels in the bathrooms or Christmas-themed cushions.
What type of Christmas personality does she have? “I really enjoy entertaining at home. I would rather have people over than eat out. I know it’s work but I have developed shortcuts over the years. I really relax cooking. I enjoy it. If I want help, I’ll ask for it.”
How to get the Nordic look in your home
Fragrance in a decorative object
Introduce art and wonderful scents combined to your home with ceramicist Bela Silva’s fragranced candles for Serax. Available from Nordic Elements in three sizes and two ceramic options, from €89. nordicelements.com
Flower power
This beige-coloured footed Chris vase, €15, from JYSK, has terracotta stripes on its interior side. Bring as a gift filled with flowers. Faux sprigs, pictured, cost €6.99 for two. Jysk.ie
Light houses
Sostrene Grene’s ceramic LED-lit houses come in a range of sizes, starting from €4.08, from branches nationwide. Sostrenegrene.com
Easy festive tablescaping
These tree-shaped, Santa-red felt cutlery holders, €10 for a set of six, are an easy way to add festive colour to Christmas dinner. meadowsandbyrne.com
Say cheers to this slick serving tray
This Irish designed and manufactured Cruinn tray is made from Irish ash and stained with a pink oil stain. It feels beautiful in the hand and can be hung on a wall as a decorative object when not in use. It’s for sale to order for €250 from Bear Creation and will take about five days to make. bearcreation.com
Touch-me textures
This grey ceramic leaf vase needs no further adornment. It costs €295 from Rowell Design.
Lights out
This Twist candle snuffer is decorative as well as functional. Made from brass, the Ferm Living design costs €25 and can be found at Industry, on Dublin’s Drury Street, and at Maven in Belfast. For full stockists see fermliving.com
Romantic dinner for two
Move in with me? Marry me? Want to pop either question? Stay at home and break out La Boule, in the Miami pattern by Villeroy and Boch. When not in use, this seven-piece dinner set for two also looks great as an oversized bauble. Price €469 from Brown Thomas. brownthomas.com
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