Christmas can't come soon enough as far as we're concerned. Bring on the mince pies, the mulled wine, and that slightly regrettable feeling the morning after the office Christmas party! 😜
The only problem with the festive season is that it's all about consumption. Baileys for breakfast we can handle, but what's not so cool is all that unnecessary plastic tat heading for landfill.
At COAT Paints, we love nothing better than looking after this precious planet of ours. That means our paints swatches are fully recyclable, we make your paint to order to reduce waste, and we deliver to your door via our climate positive delivery partners.
So when it comes to getting festive, we believe in thinking sustainably as you turn your gaff into a winter wonderland. It only takes a few small changes to make a big difference. And when Christmas Day comes, the planet will thank you for it and your halo will be a-gleaming just like the heavenly hosts! 😇
Wanna know how to enjoy a greener Christmas? You've come to the right place. Read our eco-friendly tips for transforming your home this yuletide season 🎅
GO BIG & BOLD
Dark, moody colours are huge news at the moment and work perfectly as a backdrop for a contemporary take on Christmas decs. The idea is to envelop your space in inky tones and and then inject pops of bold, vibrant colour. Plus you'll need to throw in a load of twinkly lights and candles to complete the look, obvs 🔥
Our dark green beauties Ditch The Tie and Nomad work really well with this approach, as do two of our new colours created in collaboration with Heal's – charcoal blue Dodie and deep sage green Brewer.
When choosing your fairy lights, make sure you go for LEDs rather than traditional incandescent lights (the ones with the little screw-in bulbs). LED lights use significantly less energy 🌱 plus they're safer because they don't heat up like the old-fashioned sort.
Lights4Fun have a brilliant range of affordable Christmas lights such as these Warm White LED Fairy Lights. For something a bit different, we also love Heal's battery-operated Millie Garland which features a series of pretty green, fluted glass lights. Perfect for adding a festive touch to a mirror or mantelpiece.
Lanterns and candles are another great sustainable way to big up the twinkle factor this Christmas. We love the Scandi-style Antique Gold Lanterns from Nordic House with their beautifully curved shape. Nkuku's classic handmade
Maro Brass Lantern is another favourite. Dot them in groups of three around your fireplace or hallway for a welcoming, festive look 🌟
When it comes to your Christmas table, bold colours such as purple and pink are the perfect contemporary take on traditional reds and greens. Katie Brigstock from Style Your Spaces advises appealing to all the senses when creating a dramatic tablescape. "Candles for warmth; flowers or foliage for scent and texture; fruits or nuts for tastes; and fabrics for touch," says Katie. "I love that layering effect."
We couldn't agree more. And Katie's glossy Lacquered Candles are just the ticket to bring drama to your Christmas table. Pair them with brightly-coloured glass candlesticks such as the Harbour from Anna + Nina for a vibrant, up-to-date look 🌈
PALE BUT OH SO INTERESTING
If neutrals are more your thing, our whitest white Low Salt creates the perfect backdrop for a Scandi vibe this Christmas. Combine whites, charcoals and pops of red to create a stylish festive look. Add texture with Garden Trading's Southwold Star & Pom Pom Garland which is handmade from fairtrade felt. Great for draping over window sills or banisters.
And why not ring the changes with festive cushion covers? No, not the ones with a Santa head on them! We're talking pared-back, monochrome chic. Nordic Nest's organic cotton Gran Cushion Cover works really well with a Scandi theme. It features a simple black Christmas tree motif on a white background 😎
Our light sage green Detox and pale stone Rathbone Place pair well with all things Christmassy. Their green tones work brilliantly with a real Christmas tree, and other natural elements such as sprigs of mistletoe and holly will pop against these calming colours. Another great neutral for the festive season is our plaster-coloured Pudding. It's the perfect foil for contemporary pink and purple decorations because of its pink undertone.
Paper decorations are a good, eco-friendly option when you're getting set up for Christmas. Not only are they plastic-free, most of them can be easily folded up after use, ready to brought out again year after year 💚
Dunelm have pulled out all the stops on the environmental front this season by ditching the glitter from their Christmas ranges and removing all plastic packaging from their baubles 🙌 Take a look at their pale paper decorations such as the Round Hanging Paper Decoration in white and the Folding Paper Tree Skirt in silver. We also love the delicate pastel shades of the Recycled Paper Star Hanging Decoration from the National Trust Shop.
MAKING AN ENTRANCE
So if painting a whole room in the run up to Christmas feels like a big ask, why not just tackle your front door? It's a job that can be easily completed over a weekend. Find easy-to-follow instructions here: How To Paint a Front Door.
The only tricky bit is deciding which colour to go for from our range of highly durable exterior eggshell paint. Our fave front door colours this winter are greens such as our dusty teal Hamilton or dark teal Adulting. Or for a bolder look you could go for vibrant orange My Island or dark rust red The Old Corset Factory which would set your festive wreath off perfectly 👌
Talking of wreaths, the most sustainable option is to make your own using foraged items such as twigs, pine cones and fallen branches. You can also wire in old baubles you no longer want for the tree – a great way to use what you've already got rather than buying more stuff.
If you do want to buy a fresh wreath, Grace and Thorn have some wonderfully wintery options which are packed with colourful foliage, thistles and berries 🍃
Faux wreaths have come on leaps and bounds in the last few years, with many of them looking just like the real thing. And although they're likely to contain PVC, the main thing from a sustainability point of view is make sure you reuse it every year. We can't get enough of Anthropologie's simple Eucalyptus Wreath. And we also really like the plastic-free Natural Bark Star Twig Wreath from the National Trust shop.
IT'S ALL ABOUT THE TREE
In our opinion, nothing beats a real Christmas tree 🎄 But if your budget doesn't stretch to buying a Nordmann Fir every year (that's Europe's most popular real tree, we'll have you know) you could think about a faux version. If you do go faux, the key thing is to make sure you like it enough to bring it out every Christmas for at least 10 years. That way it'll earn its keep on the carbon footprint front and ease your green guilt.
For a tree that looks a lot like the real thing, we like this lovely one from The White Company. This handsome 6ft spruce looks super realistic and even has hand-painted branches ✨ For something more contemporary, you can't go wrong with Abigail Ahern's twiggy LED Winter Tree. You can group them in twos or threes for a festive forest look.
For a truly sustainable option, why not rent a Christmas tree this year? There are a number of places around the country such as Love A Christmas Tree now offering this waste-free alternative. They deliver you a pot-grown Christmas tree, which you decorate and look after over the festive period, and then they'll pick it up again in January. The tree is then re-planted ready to be rented out again the following year 🌲
When it comes to decorating your tree, the best eco-friendly baubles are those old favourites that are cherished year after year. Got any broken Christmas ornaments? Why not bring them back to life with an on-trend Kintsugi Repair Kit from Graham & Green? Kintsugi is the Japanese art of celebrating imperfection by repairing broken pottery with beautiful golden glue ✨
Having said that, we've all got to start somewhere, so if you're decorating a tree for the first time, try and think sustainably and check out your local charity shop for pre-loved baubles. If you do want to buy new, look to ethical companies such as Nkuku for designs made from sustainable materials such as brass, glass and wood. We also love Protect The Planet's stylish range of decorations made from recycled and reclaimed materials.
The National Trust Shop also stocks a good choice of eco-friendly tree decorations and Dunelm comes up trumps again with its lovely paper decorations which come in plastic-free packaging 🌱
