Christmas after-glow

It's been a bit of an extended festive break (mainly due to it not being a break but full of work, but hey-ho, spring holidays beckon...). 

But we're back - with a round-up of some of my Christmas homes-y highlights for starters, and lots more exciting stuff in the pipeline.

I'd love to hear (and see) everyone else's festive highlights too –whether a great recipe, beautifully set table, moment of tree brilliance, inspired gifts, pretty wrapping... Why not get in touch via Facebook? In the meantime, here are some of mine:

Yummy five-spice beetroot/vodka soup I adapted a couple of recipes to come up with my best ever beetroot based soup. In a nutshell - garlic, lots of ginger, some red chilli - dried or fresh, and Chinese five-spice, fried gently with an onion; raw, chopped and peeled beetroot and potatoes and a carrot or two if you have some (about a 3/2 ratio for the first two respectively) chucked in the pan for a few minutes; add some vegetable stock, boil then simmer until the veg is cooked. Season and blitz. Squeeze in some lemon juice before serving in bowls over a small shot of vodka. I swirled yoghurt on top, sprinkled with fresh coriander, and made garlic pitta bread strips for dipping. So, so good.

Bargain candles The tacky, panic-bought cinnamon-scented candles from the pound shop actually smelled rather delicious. Just goes to show it's sometimes worth a punt. But a safer bet is this Celery & Herb tin, £8.65, which created a surprisingly sophisticated, unsweet scent (the antidote to the cinnamon ones). The St Eval candle also comes in other lovely non-sickly flavours - such as Bay & Rosemary, Thyme & Mint and Bergamot & Nettle.

My new sofa The pre-Christmas sale at DFS was GREAT (and that's a place I never imagined I'd shop having only ever seen scary looking leather contraptions that move or seem to be designed with aesthetics as the last consideration in their adverts). Having only ever had second-hand and not very comfortable lounging options, this has been a revelation - and was perfect for the festive flu and Poirot marathon I had just after Christmas. Yes, I was shamelessly seduced by the idea of paying a around a tenner a month for pretty much the rest of my life to get my hands on the beautiful, rather Fifties-ish corner sofa you can see my father modelling (left) on Christmas day as he opened his presents from Action Posters. The Candice corner sofa is still available, though (sorry!) the price has gone up again, quite a lot (it's now £1558). But their interest-free credit is quite something - and the next sale is surely just around the corner.

New bowls LOVE these small wooden bowls (left) I found in a charity shop last Autumn for about £2 each. They remind me of the comforting wooden plates my parents had when I was little and I finally got them out at Christmas (to serve the beetroot soup in). I have hunted around and can't find anything quite the same (unless it's really expensive) but I did find these gorgeous mango wood bowls (above) with colourful exteriors (£13 each) from OurWorkshop (a brilliant, brilliant online store where the stylish wares are lovingly handmade).

Lovely Christmas stylings

How beautifully wrapped are these presents? They're from my dear friend Holly – whose family my family and I spent Christmas day with. And how clever of her to know that the blue of the envelope my card was in would so perfectly match my leg and footwear combo of the day. She wrapped my beautiful gifts (more of which imminently) in the stock and shares pages of the Financial Times. Simple but Lovely.

Great Brazilian lace table cloth - ready for the ginormous roast Christmas goose Holly cooked (my own freaky but reassuringly non-nut loaf style vegetarian creation for me - involving stuffing mix, whole cranberries, liquidised Quorn pieces (not mince) – for bounce, oyster mushrooms, and broken up chestnuts). When pudding came around, we all had chic mismatched plates collected over years, like..

this one, around £12, from Elfi KDO

and this one, £19.99, from the London Transport Museum (it's Park Royal Station, which is rather spectacular)

and this one, £20.50, from Donna Wilson

The chef – with my favourite saucepan ever (and a cunningly matching outfit). Try eBay for similar

What a brilliant Christmas tree. "A dog's dinner" said Holly's mother. How mean! I think it's most stylish. Oh, and on the left you can just see the Christmas moustaches  – so much more fun than festive paper hats

The end of New Year's Eve. A slice of home-made bread and a cup of tea (or coffee) from a cute pot. Circus in Brixton Village is always full of such items, and Oxfam online is also a treasure trove of the things if you are a patient rummager

Deal with Christmas cheese in a compact space by putting it on a cake stand. All this lot was from the John Lewis festive Nordic range (love the robin).

A random selection of baubles – sticking to the same colour or style helps mixing them up. And three is the magic stylist's trick for a good display.

Last-minute Christmas decorating!

Been meaning to post this shoot of my festive-ed up house up since it was published, last Sunday, in the Independent's New Review magazine.

It's a piece about how to decorate your house for Christmas at the last minute. There are some seriously low-effort, time-poor suggestions in it - though not one of my favourites which there wasn't room for, as suggested by Sarah Dare, from John Lewis, who came to share her expertise and some lovely Nordic style festive furnishings:

No tree decorations? Cut up some tinsel in the same colour into little snippets, and simply chuck it at your fir. Genius.

Photos by the lovely Rachael Smith

Christmas makeover coming soon

I've just had my house made-over by a department store for Christmas for a shoot. I'm writing about the experience for the Independent on Sunday (look out for it in the magazine next weekend). It was a weird experience but in a house that doesn't usually bother with festive festooning, but this year has a need to, it was actually rather inspiring. Above are a couple of shots you won't see in the feature - Reggie the dog posing with a Christmas tree shaped cushion, £20, on the sofa, and a sweet little wooden tabletop (or, as here, shelftop) tree, £13. Both are from John Lewis.

Now I'm feeling all festive, I've had my radar on for other nice decorating bits and pieces...

Love the glittery fawns at Paperchase, £2.50 – they come in white, pink, green and gold as well as the purple colour above. They also do fully-grown reindeer, families of penguins and lots more sweet stuff. Also love their funny knitted tree decorations shaped like teacups, £5 for four. 

Drift Living - which specialises in Scandi-tinged products - has a clean-looking angel choir mobile for £12.50. An unusual idea that could look good in a pale, minimalist home.

And what a brilliant idea from utilitarian design mecca, Labour and Wait - fir-scented incense, £5, "to give any home a wintry log cabin feel". And what gorgeous packaging. 

And with last posting at the weekend, you might just make it in time to get your hands on some of Kitty Nation's original vintage greetings cards (or you could always stock up for next year). this Santa and Rudolph one is from 1960 and costs £1.69.

This "Merry" sign (below) by Johnny Egg, £40 at Heal's is rather brilliant too. And this sleek red glass Christmas bird, left, £5 from Marks and Spencer (3 for 2 as you can see) is just like a non-festive blue bird I recently bought in Habitat for a little more cash... 

More festive reindeer

Your final reindeer Christmas tip for the day (well, possibly...).

This stylised handmade driftwood decoration - to hang on the tree, or line up in a row on a prominent shelf - is made by Karen Miller of Driftwood Designs in Devon, from washed up branches found on beaches all over the world.

It comes in dark-stained or light (as in the picture) wood and you get four for £14. Nice. Buy them at Not On The High Street

Vintage Christmas decorations: a reindeer

How cute is this retro reindeer, currently on eBay at £1.99? I'd like a trio of them to line up on my windowsill. Buy now, and the post should be on your side - so you'll still have time to adorn your home with a touch of individuality.

Find more fantastically kitsch or surprisingly stylish vintage decorations on eBay.