How To Decorate A Bay Window For Christmas

A bay window is the best decorating spot in a British terrace or semi - it's a stage that faces both the room and the street.

The trick is deciding which audience you're dressing it for, because the two want different things.

Honest note: we make cards, pin badges, prints and party decorations, not garlands.

Decide: inside view or street view

• From the street, people see silhouettes and light. Keep shapes simple and the lights warm.
• From the sofa, people see detail. That's where the foliage, baubles and texture earn their place.
• Most bays can do both: garland and detail on the sill, lights along the top for the street.
• Don't block the glass. A bay's whole point is the light it lets in during the four hours a day there is any.

Garland along the sill

• A deep Victorian sill takes a garland laid along its length with candles or a small tree at one end.
• Measure the sill and add a third so it can trail down at each end.
• Weight the ends with something heavy - never adhesive on a painted sill.
• Keep it back from the glass so condensation doesn't soak it.
• Three pillar candles or a row of brass candlesticks along the garland finishes it.

Garland along the curtain pole

• Wrap in a loose spiral, tied with floral wire every 40cm so it can't slide.
• Check the pole's brackets can take the weight - artificial garland is heavier than it looks, and a bay pole is long.
• Keep it light enough that the curtains still draw. Test before you finish tying.
• Skip this entirely if you have a bay with a short pole per section - it looks disjointed.

Lights that look good from outside

• Warm white, one string, following one line - the top of the bay or the sill, not both.
• Curtain lights behind sheer nets look expensive from the street and cost almost nothing.
• Put them on a timer for 4pm to 10pm so you're not running them all night.
• Avoid multicolour flashing unless that's genuinely your taste - it reads as noise from a distance.
• One candle bridge per window section is the classic British bay, and it still works.

Small bays and rented flats

• A small tree on a side table in the bay does more than a garland in a tight space.
• Tension rod across the reveal, garland hung from it - no fixings, no marks.
• Command hooks on the frame, not the plaster, for anything hanging.
• Renter-friendly hanging - Read the guide

Shop party decorations

How to write it so it lands

• One line of lights, not three.
• Keep foliage back from the condensation.
• Don't block the daylight.

Where to shop next

• Party supplies
• Bunting and banners
• Christmas cards
• Wall art and prints
• Funny pin badges
• How to decorate a banister with garland
• Christmas mantelpiece ideas
• Hanging garland around a door frame
• Christmas shelf decor ideas
• Christmas porch ideas
• Christmas gift ideas
• How to hang prints without damage
• Gallery wall ideas
• Christmas card messages
• Secret Santa generator
• Planning the party? Birthday party ideas
• How to make a balloon arch
• Photo booth prop ideas
• Pin badges
• All guides

Frequently asked questions

How do you decorate a bay window for Christmas?

Garland along the sill with candles, or wrapped round the curtain pole, plus one warm white light string following a single line so it reads well from the street.

Can you hang a garland on a curtain pole?

Yes, wrapped in a loose spiral and tied with floral wire every 40cm - but check the brackets take the weight and that the curtains still draw.

What Christmas lights look best in a bay window?

Warm white, one string on one line, on a 4pm to 10pm timer. Curtain lights behind a sheer net look far more expensive than they are.

How do you decorate a bay window in a rented flat?

A tension rod across the reveal with the garland hung from it, or Command hooks on the window frame rather than the plaster. No screws, no marks.

Do you sell Christmas garlands?

No. We design and print greetings cards, enamel pin badges, prints and party decorations in the UK. Garlands and hooks are recommendations from elsewhere - the only things linked to our own shop are ours.