Your First Christmas in a New Home

I loved our first Christmas in this house. There was a new layout to decorate, a different dining table and a high ceiling that gave us room for a really beautiful tree.

One of the nicest things was finding space for something we already loved: Bas’s LEGO Christmas village. The new layout meant it could have a proper place of its own.

We bought a few things that suited the house, but most of our Christmas came with us. Decorations, presents wrapped in coordinating paper and ribbons, and the pleasure of seeing it all together in a room that was now ours.

We used to have a real Christmas tree. I loved having one, but getting it into the house had a less charming side: I regularly managed to leave a green streak across the ceiling.

This house had been so beautifully plastered and painted. I wanted to keep it that way.

So I chose a good-quality artificial tree with a snowy finish. A big one, because the ceiling here is high enough to give it space. That was the main new purchase for our first Christmas here.

It was a choice that made sense for this particular house, and I was very happy with it.

Start with where it will stand. Measure the height, including room for a topper, and the width the lower branches will need. Think about the furniture, the routes you use through the room and where the lights will plug in.

If you are buying an artificial tree, consider where the sections or box will live after Christmas too. The tree you love in December still needs a home for the rest of the year.

Your old tree might suit the new room beautifully. If it does not, decide which part is wrong - the height, the width or the way you use the space - before buying a replacement.

I did not buy a whole new set of Christmas decorations for this house.

I do usually buy a few things each year, choosing pieces I think I will still enjoy over the next few years. But there was very little that we bought specifically because we had moved.

There is a lot to be said for unpacking what you already have and seeing it in the new space. A different windowsill, a different corner or simply a different view from the sofa can give something familiar a lovely new place.

Before you go shopping, try decorating one room with your existing collection. Then look at what is actually missing. You may want one larger piece, or you may discover that you already have enough.

For us, that included Bas’s LEGO Christmas village.

I loved that the new layout gave us space for it. A Christmas home has room for the things that make both people happy, including the collections that deserve more space than they had before.

As you work out your own layout, think about what you want to see properly. It might be a little village, decorations you have collected on trips or a set of ornaments that always comes out together.

Give those things a place before filling every surface with something new. They are part of what makes the room yours.

I like to coordinate the wrapping paper and ribbons on our presents as much as possible. Under the tree, they looked beautiful together.

This is one of the details I enjoy: the presents are there for someone to open, but until then they are also part of how the room looks and feels.

For your own version, choose two or three papers that sit well together and repeat a ribbon colour. Use up what you already have where it fits. You can make a lovely group of presents without wrapping every single one identically.

It is also a useful way to carry familiar colours into a new room without buying more permanent decorations.

Our dining table was a different size from the one we had before, so we bought a beautiful Christmas tablecloth. Bas chose it, which made it an especially lovely addition.

That is the sort of purchase that has a clear place: a tablecloth that fits the table you now have.

If you are choosing one, measure the tabletop and consider how much fabric you want hanging over the sides. Then bring out your existing plates, glasses and candleholders before deciding what else is needed.

A new table does not mean starting the whole table setting again. One well-chosen piece can help everything else come together.

The house itself felt so comfortable. With the underfloor heating, it was lovely and warm. We also lit our bioethanol fireplace often over Christmas, which added to the atmosphere in the living room.

What I remember most is how much we enjoyed being here.

The tree, the village, the wrapped presents and the tablecloth all had their place. Then we could enjoy spending Christmas in the home around them.

When you are planning your first Christmas in a new house, leave room for that part too. Choose an evening when you can sit down, put the lights on and appreciate what is already there.

This year, I would like to do a little more in the back garden. We look out onto it from the living room, and I think some more Christmas atmosphere there would be lovely.

That is still a plan to make. I did not need to solve it during our first Christmas here.

Living through one December gives you useful information. You see which view you enjoy, which corner could use a little light and which decorations already do enough.

Write down those ideas while they are fresh. They can wait until you are ready to choose something you will enjoy for more than one season.

If parts of your house are still unfinished, you can use the same approach on a smaller scale: choose one usable room or corner and let that be where Christmas begins. Keep decorations clear of areas that are still being worked on.

Our first Christmas here was special because we had so much pleasure in the house, and in seeing our Christmas things belong in it.

Perhaps that is a good place to begin: put out the things you love, make a little room for something new and enjoy finding out what Christmas looks like here.