Christmas is now around the corner and everyone’s festive planning is well underway as we look to enjoy the most of Christmas this year. Avoiding unnecessary stress through good preparation and planning is vital. Now is the time to start creating your own winter wonderland with all the activities and decorations in your home. From baking the traditional Christmas day cake to hanging the stockings up, hosting this year is easier than ever.
Read on for some ideas to see how you can make this Christmas even more special for all your guests and family. This blog looks at the preparatory stages of decorating your home through to ideas for entertaining and relaxing…
Christmas Trees
Setting the scene for the most magical period of the year with decorations, a tree and lighting in the hallway is crucial. Choosing what style of tree and decorations you want this year can help you set the scene for either a very bold feature or alternatively a more discrete understated look, whether this is a traditional or contemporary Christmas theme.
For more inspiration on how you could style your home for Christmas, check out our Pinterest boards on white, pink, traditional and blue Christmas decorative themes!
Left to right: 4ft Snowy Frosted Noble Fir Christmas Tree, 6ft Rockingham Coloured Pre-lit Christmas Tree, 7ft Pre-lit Sugar Pine Christmas Tree, 6ft Glenshee Spruce Christmas Tree, 7ft Rocky Mountain Pine Christmas Tree and 6ft Caledonian Fir Christmas Tree
Designing your tree down to the last bauble is important, come into our store to check out the full range of tree decorations. One of the first steps for getting ready for the festive season is putting up the tree, here at HU we have a large variety of different styled trees both in-store and online! Artificial trees bring nature into your home without the risk of mess, with pine cones and needles staying firmly placed on the tree, saving you hours of vacuuming and tidying over Christmas (and often into the New Year!).
Fancy a more simple approach to creating your perfect Christmas? Why not try the 6ft Slim LED Star Fibre Optic Christmas Tree, meaning there is no need to worry about the tangled tree lights and finding all the baubles. LED Fibre Optic Trees offer a simplistic and modern alternative take on Christmas. A tidy, elegant and decorative tree to compliment the seasons festivities.
Lighting
Adding extra Christmas lights is an excellent way to add a festive feeling to your home. Better yet, take the festivities outside with our wide range of outdoor lights and decorations, bringing a sense of the North Pole right to your doorstep. With our range of LED Outdoor Decorations you can choose to be as discrete or as extravagant as you wish. If you are planning on taking the “Blackpool Illuminations” approach, it’s probably best to check with your neighbours first but at least by using LED bulbs your electricity bill will not be too excessive…
Not only do you have to think about the festive lighting outside but setting the ambience inside your home. Tree lights add sparkle to your Flocked Lapland Spruce or Pine Tree. Lighting up your tree can be done in a vast array of colours (white, warm white, multi and gold) to add glamour. Hanging these lights above a fireplace creates a more intimate and cosy feel, perfect for settling down to watch the family favourite Christmas film.
Candles
Another way to bring the Christmas spice into your home is with scented candles, adding a traditional and inviting touch to any room. Scents add a new feeling of Christmas spirit throughout the home, from cinnamon sticks to crackling wood. The aroma and light created sets a magical scene for everyone. Bringing in the celebrations, whilst you stay warm and snug from the cold.
Check out the full ranges of scented candles online…
The main event over this season is eating and drinking and we are here to help, from turkey timers to baking equipment to brandy glasses for Santa. Here at HU we have all the accessories to ensure the party gets under way.
Dining
Family time is one of the largest aspects of Christmas and is easy with our extending dining table ranges! Extended dining makes sure there is enough space for all the relatives. If you’re looking for a more rustic feel the Milton Mango Wooden Extending Dining and Chairs, uses the exposed metal chair frames to add a contemporary feel alongside the traditional wooden table.
However, if you desire a fully modern feel the Caspian Left Hand Corner Bench Dining Set is fashionable with stylish dark grey, soft fabric chairs. The U shaped legs on this table boost the uniqueness and add to the progressive design. This inspiration adds a sleek and modern touch which will compliment an ultra-modern Christmas theme.
If you don’t know exactly what you’re looking for why not check out our Pinterest board on dining tables to get some inspiration on different styles.
The elegant dining ranges accommodate every home design, check out our full range of dining and extended dining.
To accompany your gorgeously decorated table, why not finish it off with some brand new dinnerware, making your meal extra special and enjoyable. An extra special set of Stella Cutlery will give your guests the silver service…check out the full range of dinnerware!
Homewares
Worried about where to store all the food? With the Swan Retro Fridge Freezers this takes away any concern about storing all the extra food. This style of fridge-freezer holds between 168-225 litres; keeping all your festive food fresh and most importantly delicious! Better yet the fridges come in a variety of colours, which can add colour and glamour to any kitchen.
It is very likely that you will be serving more drinks than normal over Christmas and New Year and it is great to have these chilled and ready to serve. With limited fridge space because of the food you can chill your drinks with under counter, glass fronted fridges. Having a drinks fridge adds sophistication but if you’re looking for something more straight forward we suggest wine racks as the simplest solution.
To accompany your chilled drinks our full range of glassware means there is a glass to suit every different occasion. Additionally, to be the perfect host HU offer a wide selection of bar-ware, so you can make cocktails to order. This is made easy by the Stainless Steel Cocktail Compass so you can get the ratio right for the most favourable drinks.
Sofa-beds
After all the fun, you need somewhere to recover and rest your head.
If your beds are all full and need to house a few extra guests, sofa-beds are the best option. They offer conventional day time seating and comfortable, relaxing beds which are easily folded away. Having furniture like this will make sure you always have room at the inn! Sofa-beds compliment any home as they are stocked in a wide range of luxurious fabrics and materials (see our full range here).
Sofa-beds offer extra space to snuggle up and watch your Christmas favourites or as a late night bed once the partying is over! Due to the bed being easily accessed it can be stored away giving it a year round purpose. This means you are able to entertain any future guests who stay.
Footstools
When everyone is over, having extra footstools ensures you can accommodate for everyone. So your great Uncle can rest his feet whilst eating mince pie or somewhere for your young nieces and nephews to sit. They are small and compact but are multi-functional and conventional. Better still pouffes can be used to add a splash of colour and brighten up your living room!
With less than a month to go come in store and check out our gorgeous Christmas department. The department is now open and ready for you to find all the best bits you need for an extra special year, also click here to shop the department online!