A jewellery designer has banned "tacky tinsel" from her home - and says she prefers "higher end" Christmas decorations.
Ruth Chipperfield dislikes bright decorations, like blow-up snowmen, and says she would take strings of pearls over tinsel garlands any day. Primary colours, "santa stop here" signs and the Elf on the Shelf are also on the no-no list.
The mum-of-one recognises she might have to change her interior design taste soon, on account of her 21-month-old son. But for now, she's sticking to neutral colours like millennial pink and rose gold. The 33-year-old from Birmingham explained she opts for hand-made decorations over the "cheap stuff you get in the shops".
She said: "I prefer just a bit more higher-end. Not necessarily designer but just well-made. So glass, not plastic and I don’t like things that are bright, multi-coloured plastic or blow-up snowmen or that kind of thing."
The parent achieves her desired look by purchasing ready-made decorations in her style or making her own, using scraps of metal from her day-job as a goldsmith and jewellery designer. But she will only buy in decorations she plans to keep.
"I'll only buy decorations that will fit in with my décor at other times of the year," she explained. "Less is more if you can get a few really nice things to add to over the years."
The crafty mum added: "I'm a creative person so I’ll sometimes make things myself. It's much nicer than the cheap stuff you get in shops."
She also sells high-end decorations in her online shop, Ruth Mary Jewellery, where a set of his and hers sterling silver and freshwater pearl snowflake decorations will set you back a cool £820, or £450 each.
However, her own home décor could be set for an overhaul, as she recognised she might have to swap out sterling silver and glass for less breakable ornaments as her son grows up.
Ruth said: "He's still a bit too young to get involved in that sort of thing - but who knows, next-year it might all change. I think it's about having your own nice décor, but then you can involve the kid as well. I mean, who knows? I haven't done this yet."
Whether or not the new additions will include tinsel remains to be seen - but there is hope. Ruth said her dislike of more traditional Christmas decorations is "purely for aesthetic reasons", and she revealed she would be open to lifting the tinsel ban if she could find some "really classy" sparkly stuff.
She added that she might be open to giving over a "little corner of his bedroom" or "the bottom of the tree" to introducing small "pockets of kiddiness" into her ultra-classy Christmas theme.
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