Here’s how to make your home look splendidly festive the clever way. Because most holiday decorating advice forgets the awkward truth that winter doesn’t actually end the day after Christmas...
Every December, interiors blogs gleefully declare that your home must be festooned, drenched, piled and sprinkled with “festive magic”. Gorgeous… for about three weeks. But do they ever mention what happens next? The long stretch of winter that begins the moment you drag your tree out to the sidewalk and wonder why your living room suddenly feels like an empty warehouse?
No, they do not. But at Pooky we live in the real world – so we know the secret to a sane winter is not to switch overnight from the most wonderful time of the year (December) to the most miserable (January), but instead to smooth the path to spring with clever Christmas decorating – cosying up your home for the holidays, and also the months that follow.
So here are six smart lighting ideas you can put up in December, not as disposable decorations, but as winter-long mood-makers that carry you cheerfully through January, February, and (let’s be honest) usually March and a fair chunk of April.
1) Choose lamp shades with seasonal mileage
One of the easiest ways to transform your home seasonally is simply to change your lamp shades. A new shade can shift the whole mood of a room in seconds – and winter is the perfect time to bring in richer colors and softer, glow-friendly fabrics (that still feel wonderful once the last holiday cookie has been eaten).
Think natural linens and warm tones: berry reds, deep greens, golds – anything with a gentle warmth when the light catches it. All glow marvelously in December, but don’t look remotely out of place in February.
2) Put up rechargeable wall lights – the clever decorator’s secret weapon
If ever there were a clever December upgrade that keeps earning its keep right through winter, it’s the rechargeable cordless wall light. Because they hang as easily as a picture – no wiring, no drilling, no electrician mysteriously “able to fit you in late March” – you can pop them up wherever you need a pool of warm light.
Use them to soften a hallway, brighten a reading corner, or make an overlooked alcove suddenly feel like a feature.
3) Dot rechargeable table lamps everywhere (they’re little winter mood-enhancers)
A few rechargeable table lamps dotted around instantly create that deliciously twinkly December feel… but unlike string lights, they don’t become a bit sad in January – they just keep doing their lovely thing.
You can perch them on mantels, shelves, book stacks, window ledges – anywhere you’d love a little glow normally denied by the tyranny of plug sockets.
4) Adopt a year-round candle habit
Candlelight is one of life’s simplest winter pleasures, and it’s far too good to reserve for the big day. Tall tapers on the mantel, tealights in the hallway, a handsome candle holder on a side table… none of it screams “Christmas”, but it softens the whole house and banishes the bleak midwinter.
5) Let a little lamp be the star of your dining table
A beautifully glowing lamp on the dining table is just the thing for Christmas dinner – but there’s no reason not to carry on making meals lovely all year round.
Little rechargeable table lamps are brilliant for turning ordinary weeknight suppers into special occasions (and unlike centrepieces made of fir branches and ornaments, you won’t feel compelled to toss them in the compost on the 27th of December).
6) Pair lights with winter greenery (not just Christmas greenery)
Lights and greenery are a deeply comforting combination, and not just when wrapped around a Christmas tree. Through the later months of winter, swap the festive abundance for gentler arrangements: eucalyptus, winter herbs, sprigs of spruce, perhaps a potted fern or two.
Place a warm table lamp nearby and the effect is calm, restorative – a comforting reminder that spring will eventually return, no matter how long the winter feels.
Browse the Pooky blog for more inspiration, and explore our glorious lamps, wall lights, candles and shades – all perfect for Christmas, and far too lovely to pack away in January.
Image top: @byamberhopkins
