T he mulled wine is brewing, the tree is adorned & your tipsy friends are belting out Wham at full volume – all this can only mean one thing…it’s chrriiiisstttttttmmaassss!!! Yes it’s finally here, the festive season that brings out two types of people – the bah-humbugs & the Christmas lovers. But regardless of what your views on Christmas are, there comes a time when even the Grinch himself has to enjoy a feast with friends. But did you know many of the UK’s population feel embarrassed about hosting loved ones over the Christmas period? The truth is, our homes are personal spaces and quite often we’re ashamed about having people over. Perhaps we don’t want others to notice that we haven’t tidied up enough, or replaced that saggy old sofa or even replaced all the mis-matching tableware. So we’ve teamed up with Scandi homeware guru’s, IKEA no less, to teach you how to combat home shame this Christmas with affordable Christmas tips. So scoll on down to find out how you can proudly host this Christmas…
- Research shows that spaces with lots of cluttter can feel more balanced by the inclusion of plants as they counteract the mess. Yes hoarders, head to IKEA’s plant department – that Calathea has your name on it! So we suggest you use more plants at home to create a harmonious space perfect for Christmas hosting. Why not try the dracaena plant with a druvflader pot to counter-act your clutter?
2. If you’ve not got the budget to buy a new table this year but want to cover up a damaged or scratched surface, why not consider using a table cloth or runner to hide these unsightly scratches? Additionally a table cloth is a great option if you’re pushing two mis-matching tables together to create a bigger feastive surface (or even buying a large piece of wood to put on top of your existing table – we did this this year & it worked a treat!).
- Replace old chipped / mismatching sized tableware with a brand new uniform set inc glasses. Lucky for us, IKEA’s affordable range means a new set isn’t going to set you back more than a few quid. Take the Ivrig range as an example, at just £1 per glass you can have a brand new, unchipped set that you’ll be proud to serve out of. We’re also big fans of the Flimra if you’re wanting something a little more ornate or to serve a festive cocktail in.
- Ensure you have great music to flow throughout the day, by using an Ikea sonos sound system. My old-fogie parents every year have this really old CD player and they only have one Christmas CD to play (yes they still hoard CD’s!) It’s this awful Chrsitmas carol choral album and by the end of Christmas day once it’s been on loop for about 6 hours everyone is ready to go insane. So this year, I’ll be proudly bringing over the Ikea collaborative Sonos bookshelf speaker which can sit subtly in the background providing any Christmas music we want!
5. Lastly, use rugs to cover up old flooring e.g. scratched wooden floors, old laminate, ugly carpet – this quick and affordable fix is a greast solution as installing new flooring is out of the question for many of us, especially for renters who really can’t make structural channges. We’ve opted for the Stoese rug to cover up all the scratches our little puppy has made along the floor and as you can see from the pictures, she definitely approves of it! It’s really soft & great value.
Host Your Own Ikea Christmas
There you have it – 5 simple easy tips to combat home shame using affordable IKEA products. So what are you waiting for, Xmas is fast approaching, so hop on over to your local IKEA and maybe stop off for a meatball or 10 too!
Photos by Theo McInnes – for more articles from us, click here
