Joyful But Simple Christmas Decor

This time of year the Christmas decor is out of the box and the shops are starting to twinkle! My blog looks at joyful but simple Christmas decor.

Joyful But Simple Christmas Decor

Copenhagen

Natural materials as part of decor

In 2015, just before Christmas, I visited Copenhagen and it was like walking into a Christmas wonderland. I wrote about it in my blog ‘Naked Vikings and Glogg‘.

I was particularly struck by their use of natural materials as part of their Christmas decorations, as demonstrated in this wonderful display at an entrance to a museum.

Here you can see the use of conifer branches, punctuated with red hearts and baubles. There are a couple of small Christmas trees, barely decorated and a wooden reindeer garden statue. Simple but very effective and eye catching.

Careful presentation

You can see that simple touch in many of their displays including this wonderful Christmas sleigh. Again the old wooden sleigh is merely draped in some foliage, with plain Christmas trees behind and a basket of colored Christmas baubles in front.

It evokes the spirit of Christmas without taking anything away from the beautiful old sleigh which your eye is drawn to.

Copenhagen window treatment

Some of the shop windows in Copenhagen are outrageous. Masses of imitation snow, lights, baubles etc, enough to give you a headache.

But the one window that really caught my eye was in a bicycle shop

This wonderful red extended bicycle (typical of the sort you see on the streets) sits in the window and catches the eye. It is covered in wrapped Christmas presents. Again though, the key is subtlety, it is not over the top. It made me stop in my tracks as I was walking down the street.

Italy

Christmas window decor

I was reminded of the wonderful windows in Copenhagen recently when walking through Chiusi in Tuscany in early evening. I was enjoying the Christmas lights and the window decor. One shop in particular, a herbalist, caught my eye.

The window is beautifully lit, with a great display of items for sale and some decorative flowers (as shown in ‘The Herbalist at Christmas’).  This makes good use of the backdrop of the shop shelving and items for sale inside the shop.

Christmas doorway decor

The doorway is a triumph, using an existing stained glass door and letting the light work its magic. Plus a little still life of a golden table and golden objects that reflected the light and caught the eye.

Simple is best

I have other examples of more grandiose styles of Christmas display but I must confess my own preference is for something simple, that fits in with the surroundings. After all, as these decorations are all in place by early November these days, some of us have to look at them for a long time.

All of the images in my blog today are for sale, just click on the image to be taken to the purchase page.

Before you go

My name is Dorothy Berry-Lound an artist and writer. You can find out more about my art and writing at https://dorothyberryloundart.com.

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Thank you for reading!