The Daily Norm’s Christmas Tree of the Week | No.1: Scandinavian candy

Christmas time is finally upon us, and with it my home has, as annual tradition dictates, metamorphosed into a festive wonderland befitting the season. For there is nothing quite like the sparkle of fairy lights, the twinkle of glittered baubles, and the Nordic smell of an authentic fir tree to import the feeling of Christmas wonder into the home. In recognition of its power to transform a humble dwelling, I always indulge in abundant homage to the season, installing not one, nor two, but FOUR christmas trees into my home, one for each room of the house. That way, wherever you walk inside in my little London flat, the spirit of Christmas will never be more than a few metres away. In fact upon entering my home and standing in the hallway, you are greeted with the sight of some three of those four trees stood majestically installed in each of their respective rooms.

What with there being four trees, and four weeks left until Christmas, it seemed only proper that I should focus on one of each of my trees each week as I share my Christmas decorations with the world. And for the first week, I would like to share with you what is my newest tree in a scheme of annually recurring decor, and with which I have incorporated all of the fragrant fancy that comes with a real tree, ditching the fake white tree which used to decorate my bedroom.

Tree No.1: Scandinavian Candy

It was after installing my little Scandinavian Forest on my chest of drawers last year, a composition which nodded to the traditional Christmases which the Nordic countries do so well, that I realised that the fake tree which previously stood alongside it no longer fitted the bill. Yearning always for a real tree, and with the plastic white tree turning a progressively unattractive shade of yellow, I decided to go the full hog this year and opt for the real mccoy – a 7 ft Norwegian fir tree, now decadently decorated with decorations of white, green, turquoise, and by way of incorporation with the hints of pink in the paintings which hang in my bedroom, a touch of candy pink too – hence the name I have given to this scheme: Scandinavian Candy.

The biggest change from my normal decorative schemes came with my decision to ditch tinsel in favour of a more traditional paper chain. I always apply tinsel almost as a matter of course, but when I did so on my real tree, it lacked delicacy, and made the tree look altogether more clumsy. So out came the paper, the glue and the scissors, and the result is a tree which is garlanded and shaped by paper chains, but not swamped by them.

Well that’s more than enough talking from me. Time for the tree to shine through photos. Gosh I can smell its fragrant pine needles as I type…divine!

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Related articles

• My Scandinavian Forest – featured on the House of Fraser Blog (daily-norm.com)