Getting Your Home Ready For Christmas

Christmas is coming! It feels weird to say that but there's no denying that Christmas is everywhere already and people are already starting their Christmas shopping!

I'm not quite there with the shopping yet but I am fully ready to get my home ready for Christmas! I love looking in the shops and online at Christmas decorations and homewear, there's something so lovely about seeing all the sparkly things and it really helps me to get into the festive spirit.

It's one of my favourite times of the year so I thought I would share with you my top tips for getting your home ready for Christmas.

Declutter

Firstly declutter. I go through the children's rooms every year before Christmas and sort through any toys that they don't play with to give to charity. I always find that they are quite happy to give their toys to charity at this time of year, in anticipation of new ones!

I also declutter the other areas of the house, clearing space on mantlepieces and bookshelves for those extra decorations and ornaments that are about to go up.

Clean

After you have decluttered give everything a good clean. It's always harder to dust and polish when your Christmas decorations are out so make sure everything is as clean as it can be before the festive period.

Decorate

This is the most fun part - decorate! We love making the house look festive, it really helps us to get into the spirit of Christmas and the children love it. We buy a real Christmas tree and decorate it with baubles in a particular colour scheme that I choose every year. Last year was white, gold and silver. Every year the children pick a new bauble each for the tree. How cute is this set of polar bears from Cox and Cox? It would be perfect!

We then put fairy lights wherever we can because I think the extra sparkle makes the house feel magical!

We make a display of Christmas cards so we can appreciate all the lovely messages and pretty cards that we are sent. We also put Christmas ornaments up around the house, they usually have a memory attached to them, because they were bought by someone special or remind us of a place we visited.

Make the outside welcoming

Don't forget the outside of your house when you are decorating! I think it makes your home look wonderful to come home to at the end of the day and also really inviting to guests, which is important as you'll usually have lots of guest at Christmas time. Sweep away any leaves or rubbish and tidy the front garden before making it look festive. You can go as wild as you wish but I prefer a few icicle lights and a gorgeous Christmas Wreath on the door. Cox and Cox have some really beautiful and unique Christmas wreaths, and they even sell fresh ones, which I bet smell amazing!