Delicate white fairy lights and pretty red ribbons. The key to stylish Christmas decorations is simplicity and uniformity, says Veronica Stivala.

Take inspiration from the stylish decorations in London’s Bond Street for your home.

Have you seen the Christmas lights on Bond Street in London? Boy, are they beautiful and boy, do they scream style. The spectacular lights are mostly white and follow a gorgeous theme of lit candles, but with a stem so delicate, they almost look like feathers perfectly poised over the grand street.

The trick behind the elegant lights that decorate one of London’s most fashionable streets is simplicity and uniformity. Following these two rules should help you as you decorate your home for Christmas:

Oh Christmas tree, oh Christmas tree

Putting up and decorating the Christmas tree is one of our favourite Christmas traditions and is a wonderful activity for the family to get together and hang up baubles, angels and stars.

Admittedly, a whole family decorating a tree may lead to a big mishmash of styles, colours and ornaments. But having everyone work on the tree is the whole fun of it, I hear you say.

True, but here’s an idea: prepare your ornaments beforehand and put away the ones you won’t be using this year. Try to find a uniform theme, based on colours or perhaps types of decorations (say all wood, or all cartoon character themes). In that way everyone can still participate while conforming to your theme. And who’s to judge you if you nip out when everyone’s asleep to straighten a bow or reposition a little hanging angel?

Try to find a uniform theme, based on colours

Light of the world

Lights are my favourite part of decorating the whole year round and the festive season gives us an opportunity to really get creative.

Fairy lights are such pretty light decorations. Stick to the plain white ones and use them on your tree or adorn your front window with them. If your home is modern and minimalistic, why not create a wall piece with the lights arranged to form a festive word (‘Joy’ or ‘Peace’, perhaps) or instead use them to create a stylish design in the shape of a bow ?

Although you cannot have candles lit throughout the day, prepare some candles in strategic locations – on a small table in the hallway, or by the crib, or prepare a neat row of tea lights on a shelf or ledge – and light them once it gets dark. Candles create such a warm atmosphere in any room and are not expensive or difficult to get hold of.

Have yourself a very merry Christmas

If you are entertaining during the festive season, you get to have even more fun as you get to decorate the table for your dining guests.

Depending on how much work you want to put into this, you can start your festive theme when you send out invitations (both print or e-vites will do). Again try to stick with your theme here and don’t get carried away with too many colours.

Whoever invented tinsel should be hanged

Once you’ve picked your theme you can apply this to various parts of the room and the table. Although simple is key, Christmas does allow you to go a bit further and sweet and simple ribbons or ornaments on your dining chairs, or hand-made bows hanging under your wall lights will not look gaudy if done in style.

I always love a statement centrepiece for the table. The good thing about centrepieces is that they don’t need to be on display throughout the whole of the yuletide festivities. So why not buy some fresh flowers (a day before, if you are entertaining on Christmas or New Year’s Day) and make a simple but effective decoration for your table?

If this is too arduous, then candles work wonders here. Adorn your candles with some gold or other matching ribbon, and perhaps sprinkle a few dots of glitter on your white tablecloth to add just a touch of festive zing.

A word on tinsel

Whoever invented it must be hanged. That’s all.

Happy Christmas!