How To Style Your Shelves And Sideboards For Christmas

Most British homes don't have a fireplace to decorate, and a bookshelf or a sideboard does the same job if you style it properly.

The rule that makes it work: take things away before you add anything.

Honest note: we make cards, pin badges, prints and party decorations, and those are the only things here linked to our own shop.

Clear before you decorate

• Take a third of what's on the shelf off and put it away until January.
• Christmas decorating fails in small rooms because it's added on top of a full shelf.
• Group what's left: books together, frames together, objects together.
• Photograph the shelf before you start. It's much easier to see what's cluttered in a photo.

Weaving garland through a shelf

• Thread a short length of garland along the front lip of one shelf, not every shelf.
• Let it dip between the books and trail down the side of the unit at one end.
• Tuck the stems behind the books rather than trying to fix them - nothing needs sticking.
• One shelf with garland and two without looks far better than all three dressed.
• Cut a long garland into sections with wire cutters if you want a little on two shelves.

What to put with it

• Framed prints leaning at the back, one per shelf, to give the display depth.
• Enamel pin badges displayed on a strip of felt or a small cork board - they read as a collection rather than clutter.
• A few baubles in a bowl rather than hung.
• Christmas cards propped along the shelf edge in front of the books.
• A candle in a glass, kept well away from any foliage.
• Battery micro-lights woven behind the books so you see the glow and not the wire.

Styling a sideboard

• Work in three zones: tall thing on one side, low grouping in the middle, trailing thing on the other.
• A garland laid diagonally across the top is more interesting than one laid straight.
• A tray under the middle grouping stops it looking scattered.
• Sideboards get used - leave a clear area big enough for a drinks tray or the Christmas Day serving dishes.
• Mantel version of the same rules - Read the guide

Keeping it simple in a small room

• Two colours plus green. In a small room, more colours make the walls feel closer.
• One shelf as the focal point, everything else left alone.
• Real eucalyptus or ivy pushed into an artificial garland lifts it for a couple of pounds.
• Take it all down in one go in January - stagger it and it hangs around until February.

Shop party decorations

How to write it so it lands

• Take away before you add.
• One shelf dressed, the rest left alone.
• Micro-lights behind the books, not in front.

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
• Christmas bay window ideas
• Hanging garland around a door frame
• 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 shelves for Christmas?

Clear a third of what's there first, then thread a garland along one shelf only, add a leaning framed print, a bowl of baubles and micro-lights behind the books.

How do you decorate for Christmas without a fireplace?

Use a bookshelf or a sideboard and the same three layers: something laid along the surface, something standing, something trailing over the edge.

How do you display pin badges as decoration?

Pin them onto a strip of felt or a small cork board and lean it at the back of a shelf. Grouped together they read as a collection rather than clutter.

How do you stop Christmas decorations looking cluttered in a small room?

Two colours plus green, one shelf as the focal point, and a third of the usual contents put away until January.

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.