September starts tomorrow, so there’s only three months to go before that holiday season rolls around again. We’ve prepared a guide which can help you use your five senses to get your home prepared for Christmas.

Sight

Hang a wreath on your front door, it’s welcoming to holiday visitors and sets the Christmas mood before you even enter the house. Introduce fairy lights, tea lights and candles throughout your home – the magical twinkle lifts your mood every time you enter a room. And not forgetting a Yuletide centrepiece; it often takes the form of a traditional Christmas tree which everyone loves, but perhaps experiment with tree branches to hang those brightly coloured baubles. Silver birch is readily available and the white, textured bark works really well.

Smell

Certain fragrances just conjure up that Christmas feeling; pine, spiced oranges, frankincense and myrrh. Introduce smells into your rooms by using candles, room infusers, pot-pourri etc. Soap, bath oils and bubble bath for those long soaks and treasured moments of holiday relaxation. If you have a real fire, keep some nice logs or foraged pine cones beside it – throw one on the flames from time to time to fill the room with a gorgeous woody aroma.

Sound

Dust off those vintage Christmas 45s! If you don’t have a record player, do what we did and get Spotify. There are thousands of Christmas tunes and ready-made Christmas play-lists. All you need is an online device – smart phone, tablet, computer, even your TV – that you can hook up to speakers.

Taste

What’s Christmas without food and drink? Gingerbread, mulled wine, minced pies, Christmas cake, eggnog and all the roast fayre. It’s a time for treating yourself – perhaps over indulging a little! Put a hamper on your pressie list… or buy yourself one. They’re often filled with seasonal items you don’t see during the rest of the year. Alternatively, find yourself a nice basket and add small luxury items that you see in the weeks & months leading up to Christmas. You can then dip into the basket of special treats over the holidays (providing you’ve not been cheating and raiding it beforehand!). There’s nothing better to make the day seem a bit special!

Touch

It’s always cold at Christmas – unless you live in the tropics or southern hemisphere. Stock up on woolly blankets, fluffy sheepskin rugs, and fleecy cushions. We love a crisp, chilly Christmas or Boxing Day walk with the dog, but nothing beats snuggling up indoors in front of the wood-burner with a mug of hot chocolate afterwards!

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