The fact that people invite us into their homes every month is an honour that the Home Beautiful team will never tire of or take for granted. But we have to admit, there’s something especially meaningful about being in someone’s home when it’s set up for Christmas.
Four of our favourite interior experts opened their doors to us this year, divulging all the details that make this season so very special to them, from festive decorations to the most treasured traditions.
The result is a series of inspirational, informative yet heartfelt conversations. So dust off the baubles and hang up the mistletoe. ’Tis officially the season!
Kate Nixon, stylist and designer
Christmas style: classic chic
“One of my favourite decorations is a glazed porcelain bauble, which smashed. My husband took a week to painstakingly glue it back together.”
Kate Nixon
A Christmas tradition in your house is… “Dressing the tree. We play Frank Sinatra, pop champagne and unpack our treasured decorations. We love to find trinkets when we travel, and there are so many precious memories when they’re carefully unwrapped each year. This is one part of my life I don’t try to style! The kids get creative with their craft and my husband, Tim, loves to load up the lights. It’s a festive free-for-all and I wouldn’t have it any other way.”
Christmas Eve or Christmas morning? “Both! I love Christmas Eve – we do a run to the Fish Market for fresh prawns with Iggy’s sourdough buns and Tim’s mum’s baked ham and hot English mustard. Christmas morning has been a tradition since I was a kid. My parents would go all out with fruit and yoghurt, a full baked breakfast then waffles and ice cream! We all love to cook, so time in the kitchen together is cherished.”
Formal or no fuss? “I like to set the table and wear a nice dress, but my apron’s always on and I’m cooking all day, which is my happy place.”
Your best Christmas dinnerware is… “Our white Wedgwood ‘Colosseum’ dinnerware set from our wedding registry, 20 years ago. Elegant and timeless, we use it everyday.”
Signature gift-wrap style? “My Quercus & Co wallpapers wrapped with twine and a sprig of rosemary or thyme.”
What’s your decorating style? “Classic and comfortable, polished and practical – equally at ease with effortless entertaining and everyday family life. I love an earthy palette of natural materials, tones and textures, and gathered pieces and treasures that will patina with age.”
What’s on your Christmas playlist? “Frank Sinatra, Bing Crosby, Dean Martin, Ella Fitzgerald, Nat King Cole – all the classic crooners!”
Katie Sargent, Interior designer
Christmas style: neutral & green
“This is the first year that we, as a family, are hosting. We are looking forward to starting some new traditions.”
Katie Sargent
Your best Christmas dinnerware is… “Sandra from All Fired Up pottery made me a custom dinner set this year. She creates the most amazing petal-like pieces as well, so we incorporate that into the napkin rings and some of the serveware. This set is very special to me.”
Signature gift-wrap style? “I love wrapping a present almost as much as I love to style a table. I generally like to keep it simple – luxe paper, chiffon ribbon. I often incorporate fresh flowers into my gift wrapping.”
For Christmas, there’s no place I’d rather be than… “Wherever we are; with my husband and my kids, before the festivities have begun and it’s just us.”
What’s your decorating style? “Neutral with pops of green. I love anything textural, lots of linen, ribbon. It’s a bit of a running joke that there is never any room for the actual food on a table set by me.”
Favourite Christmas candle or fragrance? “Diptyque ‘Feu De Bois’ scented candle.”
champagne flutes. Stockings are hung by the chimney with care, which Katie found on Amazon. (Photography: Martina Gemmola, Styling: Katie Sargent)
Carlene Duffy, Designer
Christmas style: colourful
Formal or no fuss? “No fuss all the way.”
Your best Christmas dinnerware is… “Something lightweight. We have lots of people over for Christmas Day. That means a lot of crockery. They may not look like much, but the Corelle plates are slim and light, which makes a difference when you’re cleaning a lot of them.”
Signature gift-wrap style? “I’ve used leftover fabric a few times, which makes for difficult wrapping but with an effective outcome. I also favour block-coloured wrapping with contrasting ribbon.”
Your go-to host gift is… “Flowers. Not original, but a winner.”
For Christmas, there’s no place I’d rather be than…“At our house with the whole family.”
What’s your decorating style? “Eclectic. I’m scrappy, so I typically use what I have. I’ll put different tablecloths together if necessary and my cutlery doesn’t match – I don’t have a full set of anything! – so it’s piecemeal, but that’s part of the charm. I pull it all together with vintage brass vases full of foliage and flowers.”
What’s on your Christmas playlist? “I sing The Christmas Song in the shower year round. Strange but true.”
Favourite Christmas candle or fragrance? “I associate Christmas with summer holidays and the smell of coconut and lime together puts me straight into holiday mode.”
What’s at the top of your gift wish list? “Anything I don’t need to think about. I hate the question, ‘What do you want for Christmas?’ It just feels like something else I then need to think about. Surprise me.”
What is your favourite tree decoration? “I have the cutest handmade animals on my tree. They’re dressed in knitted human clothes. So cute!”
Kayla Gex, Interior stylist
Christmas style: vintage twist
A Christmas tradition in your house is… “Making sugar cookies with my eldest son Leo and his friends. They love to decorate them with icing and sprinkles.”
Christmas Eve or Christmas morning? “Christmas morning with my boys, but growing up I celebrated Christmas Eve with all my family on my mum’s side. It is a Guatemalan tradition to open presents and eat tamales at midnight.”
Formal or no fuss? “No fuss. My husband’s birthday is on Christmas Day, so we try to make it special for him too.”
What’s on the menu this year? “Always glazed ham and prawns. If we are home in Australia, I always try to make Flour and Stone’s Lemon Dream cake for dessert.”
Signature gift-wrap style? “My go-to is tonal colours or brown paper with pretty ribbon, but I’m always on the lookout for unique wrapping paper that has a vintage vibe. Anything with classic Christmas colours and old charm.”
Your go-to host gift is? “A big box of handmade Belgian chocolates from Woodstock Chocolate Co.”
For Christmas, there’s no place I’d rather be than… “I love making new traditions with my sons here in our home, but we also love spending Christmas in California with all of my family as well. There’s just something extra special about Christmas in the States.”
Favourite tipple to serve or drink? “Cucumber rosemary gin and tonic. For a non-alcoholic drink, I love homemade eggnog. My sisters and I would help our grandpa make it every Christmas and we still do to this day.”
What’s your decorating style? “I try to create a classic Christmas feel in our home with red, green, vintage touches, tarnished brass and twinkling lights. I miss the nostalgia of Christmas in the United States, where it is decoration overload everywhere you go.”
Related:
- How Home Beautiful’s Editor, Elle Lovelock, decorates for Christmas
- How a florist decorates for Christmas
- How to achieve the laid-back luxury look like Tara Dennis this Christmas
This article originally appeared on Home Beautiful and is republished here with permission.
