To Decorate or not to Decorate.

There are some things that you just don't bother with too much when you live on your own. Even though I love cooking, I don't come back from work and create a gastronomic delight every single night. Even though I love getting dressed up, on the days that I'm working from home or writing, I may spend half the day in my pyjamas (ok, the whole day). And even though I adore Christmas, sometimes I think, is it really worth buying a Christmas tree and putting up decorations when I'm the only one that's going to see them?

Until yesterday, I was content with a poinsettia and a wreath on the door, but after spending the weekend at my parents and my sister's house, and seeing how pretty everything looked and smelled, I've changed my mind. Both houses looked so beautiful, trees twinkling, warm light reflecting off the baubles, the crackle of the fire and the comforting smell of pine, the idea of not having decorations filled me with horror. My mother and I decided on a simple New England theme for the tree at their house... we lived in Massachusetts for nearly 10 years so my Mother has a beautiful collection of handmade wooden decorations. We used those, red apples, a few gold and red baubles, some birds (not real) and strings of white fairy lights. Small pine cones trailed down the staircase and dried red berries and leaves sat atop paintings. My sister, similarly, has gone traditional but with a slight Scandi twist. Red, white and gold on the tree with handmade stockings over the fireplace and rustic wooden decorations. The dining room was lit only with candles and on the table, a beautiful white and red linen tablecloth, glasses and cutlery sparkling in the light and a simple wooden wreath as the centrepiece. Absolutely stunning.

So when I got home last night and looked, forlornly, at my cold dark flat, I decided it desperately needed Christmassing. I woke up this morning at 7am and planned my theme. As I am just a teensy bit infatuated with everything Nordic, from Jo Nesbo books to Borgen, to watching Pilou Asbaek in complex Danish thrillers and planning trips to see the Northern lights, I am feeding my obsession further and going full on Scandi style... simple white lights, white tree decorations and delicate white ornaments, with a minuscule hint of red and maybe some freshly baked Nyakers Pepparkakor (ginger biscuits to you and me) to put on my candlelit wooden table. I might even buy a Sarah Lund Faroe Isle jumper to wear while I look at my beautiful flat and watch the Norwegian film, Headhunters.

Now all I need is a Pilou lookalike to snuggle with on my reindeer skin sofa! Gosh, he even matches my colour scheme, good boy!

Postscript (later that day): If one is going to attempt to decorate in traditional Scandi style, it would help if your flat is white and minimal. It doesn't really work if you have blue walls, lots of paintings and photographs everywhere. I decided also to opt for an alternative Christmas Tree and made my own out of eucalyptus branches, berries and pine twigs. The only thing I managed to make work were my baubles on the curtain rails! Here is the result…

I then got very distracted looking at bearded men online and patterned jumpers… but then I found this which made me smile. Scandi ponies... what could be more adorable?