For those hosting family or friends over the festive season, now is the time to get your sparkle on and ensure that the home is suitably dressed to impress. Whether creating a chic Christmas tablescape or displaying the perfect floral arrangements, the question is, where to begin? For starters, you could do as Linda Pilkington, the founder of the Ormonde Jayne perfume brand, does each year and take a trip to Bond Street's celebrated hotels. From floral arrangements to Christmas trees, there's plenty of home design inspiration to be found here.
‘I’ve just visited Brown's Hotel and its decorations always sparkle with creativity, along with subtle nods to its illustrious history,’ says the perfumer, whose boutique is located close to the famous hotel, in The Royal Arcade. She adds: ‘Equally wonderful is the new Mandarin Oriental, Mayfair, which has gone for a contemporary, almost futuristic look in its fabulous new rooftop ABar.’
“Add a splash of colour to the festive feast and create a stunning tablescape that's guaranteed to impress your house guests”
For ideas on how to spruce up your Christmas tree, be sure to stop at Claridge's for afternoon tea where this year, its eagerly awaited tree designed by Sir Paul Smith is a feast for the eyes. For his twinkling creation, the British fashion designer has decorated a traditional 19-foot Christmas tree with 100 bespoke birdhouses, all with roofs decorated in playing cards, postage stamps and dice. Give your tree a similar cutesy touch with Claridge's own-design, hand-painted Bellboy Teddy Christmas Bauble, £50, available to purchase from the hotel's ground-floor boutique.
Meanwhile, let the scent of Christmas waft throughout each room with beautiful hand-poured candles and fragrance diffusers. Ormonde Jayne's festive candle collection features the intoxicating Mystere scent with notes of lapsang souchong tea and pine needles. The candle design, featuring gold-embossed, burnt orange-coloured baubles on a white background, also looks chic against a backdrop of deep red amaryllis flowers and crimson tulips. For the latter, Ellie Hartley Flowers, the Mayfair florist linked to Brown's Hotel, can whip up the perfect Christmas bouquet and deliver it to your door. For a fitting flower vase, there's always Asprey. The British brand's large Four Seasons Winter vase, £16,600, is meticulously crafted to show the bare, skeletal outline of ash, oak and silver birch trees against a stark winter evening.
You could also create a memorable Christmas fragrance of your own by filling your living space with the appetising smells of festive food and drink. As Linda Pilkington says: ‘The scent of glühwein, the warm, sweet wine omnipresent in the Bavarian markets of Germany, is a great way to start. If you make it at home, you will have the most wonderful scent of cloves, star anise, cinnamon and red wine. An aromatic mince pie also spreads a delicious scent. I make my filling at least three weeks before because, like an Ormonde Jayne perfume, it needs time to mature and should also be stirred once a day.’
Staying with a woodland theme, there's nothing better than the simplicity of pine cones and fir tree branches when they release their delicate scent. For a quick hit of winter wonderland, Diptyque's reed diffusor in Sapin (pine tree), £152, is infused with all the right notes. The intoxicating scent is also available in a handy room spray – perfect for masking any unwanted Christmas Day cooking smells. Meanwhile, Loewe's pair of pale-pink soap bars, £52, featuring the Loewe Home Scents Ivy fragrance, a woody scent that evokes the verdant aroma of the leafy, climbing vine will look pretty in the guest bathroom.
Elsewhere, add a splash of colour to the festive feast and create a stunning tablescape that's guaranteed to impress your house guests. There are plenty of vibrant plate designs to choose from in Dolce & Gabbana's Home Collection. A set of two porcelain dessert plates, £235, echoing the Carretto Siciliano folkloric print with lemons at their centre, are especially merry and bright. For more subtle hues, opt for Louis Vuitton's set of two Twist Glasses, £365. Made in Murano, these handcrafted water glasses are available in soft shades of ruby and emerald.
Finally, what better way to end a day of eating and drinking than with an after-dinner board game? Hermès’s Palio backgammon board, £6,780, crafted from sycamore wood and smooth, Taurillon leather will be the envy of friends and family this Christmas and beyond.