Interiors: Why you shouldn’t hire an interior designer before Christmas

Anne Tuohy says to put down the paint brushes, and put up more decorations this Christmas with her five top decorating tips.

If you had come to me at any time over the past few weeks, and said “Anne, I need help to get my living room / bedroom/ whole house redecorated before Christmas”. I would have said no.

Just as a new puppy is not for Christmas, rushing into the decoration of your whole house, or even one room is absolutely the wrong thing to do.

When you make a decision to redecorate a room, or to design a room from scratch, you need to take your time and plan everything very carefully.

Once completed, your new room should thrill and delight you every single day, and I believe that a well designed room will last ten years, sometimes even longer. Unless you are someone who likes to change everything very frequently. And that is a topic for another day!

Christmas can be such a busy stressful time of year, as we rush around in a frenzy of shopping and parties. Even with an experienced Interior Designer helping you, there will be many decisions to be made in the design of your new room, and I know that this will add to your stress levels. This is why I am telling you not to hire an Interior Designer in the run up to Christmas!! Instead leave your project to the New Year, when you will have the time and energy to really enjoy it.

Let’s face it, most homes look gorgeous at this time of year anyway, with fires lit, beautiful Christmas trees, twinkling lights, dressed mantelpieces, festive decorations everywhere, and the welcoming scent of seasonal candles burning. It is only when the decorations come down in January that everything looks so dull and tired, and this is the time to think about redecoration.

Trust me, this decision will save you time, money, and raised stress levels, plus, you will end up with a room that you absolutely adore.

So put down the paint brushes, and put up some more decorations instead. 

My Top 5 Christmas decorating tips

1. Choose your colour scheme.

Whether you prefer a classic gold scheme, or you want to keep things white or purple, it really doesn’t matter.
What is important is that you carry your theme consistently through all of your home. Then you will achieve wonderfully festive flow.

2. Hang a wreath on your internal doors, as well as outside

You can even get creative and make your own, like this candy cane one. I’m sure that your children would love to help you. Attach the wreath to the top of the door, with ribbon held in place with a 3M Command Strip.

3. Have a festive signature scent.

I always use a signature scent throughout my home. For me, always I use Jo Malone’s Pomegranate Noir, but at Christmas time, I swap over to Jo Loves Christmas Trees. It is guaranteed to fill your home with a wonderfully warm and comforting Christmas fragrance.

4. Dress the bannister

I always use the off-cuts from the Christmas tree to decorate the stairs. They give such a lovely pine cone smell too. I also add baubles, ribbon and twinkling lights.

5. Lastly, dress your table.

Make a big statement here, and use it in the run up to Christmas, not just for the big day.

Choose your colour scheme, and have a central runner with coordinating napkins. Then layer it up with baubles, candles and flowers.

And if you would like a little help with it all in the New Year, do check out the FINAL Room Junkie Masterclass which will take place in  Letterkenny on Saturday January 25th 2020.
CLICK HERE for all the details.

This is such an enjoyable class where I really do share everything that I know with you, including the methods that I use to consistently carry out the perfect design.

So, if you have been thinking about coming, or you want to gift a friend, don’t leave it too late. I don’t want you to be disappointed. This will be the very last live Masterclass, as I will be concentrating on a suite of online courses in 2020.

I wish you all a happy, healthy, relaxing Christmas.

The perfect Christmas Gift