#Provence Christmas – Decorate your home

Simone Steuten of Sim’s & Jay’s Interior Design explains how to dress your home up for Christmas

I personally love to re-decorate my place all the time. The change from summer to winter-dress of the house is very important. A warming interior ambiance compensates for all that is missing outside on cold and frosty days.  Cosy fabrics and warm lights inside the house, create a cocooning ambiance.

I remove summer staples such as pink or orange pillow- covers, bright linen and cotton-accessoires, even certain paintings.  Replacements such as wool and cashmere pillow-covers, blankets in warm creme and champagne-tones move in. Soft and cosy sheep-furs are topped on chairs and sofas to add a warming and winterly look, lamp-shades in soft tones with a golden shimmer from inside and lots of candles, complete the scene.

In December, I like to add a natural Provencal touch.  Wreaths of Olive-branches, table-decorations of lovely smelling Rosemary, Thyme, and Pomegranates. Big candles are once again essential, perhaps set on a bed of  rosemary or on plenty of pearls or olive-leaves..

My x-mas time this year will be a mix of white-gold-silver and olive-leave-green accessoires. There will of a course be a very red handsome big poinsettia.

For a calm and slightly elegant x-mas-look, it is helpful to decide on using only a few main-colours to decorate with, for example silver and gold /  white and champagne/  grey and gold /red and green….

Concentrate on clustering lot´s of the same “Kind” together like plenty of different glass and silver candle-holders, lot´s of green herbs in pots or bundles, lots of all sized pearls and baubles. This approach creates a wonderful ambiance….

If you would like some personal assistance from Simone when decorating your house contact her at s.steuten@sims-jays.de 

Olive tree and pearl wreath

Table decoration for Christmas lunch

An accent on glass wear

keeping to the colour theme

And with thanks to Paca tourism here is how to decorate your Christmas table:

For the magic to happen, locals attach great importance to the table decoration of the ‘Gros Souper.’ “Decorated with care and in a very precise symbolic manner,” as Joyce Borgmann, owner of B & B L’Oustaou of Oulivie in Oraison, explains. The Christmas table should be covered with three white tablecloths as signs of festivity and purity. But the traditions don’t stop there! To complete the symbolism, be sure to place three saucers containing the Saint Barbara wheat on the table in the hope of a prosperous year ahead, as well as three candlesticks in reference to the Holy Trinity.

Then you’ll need the 13 desserts to evoke Jesus and his 12 apostles  which represent, by their colours, the clothes of the different congregations of monks

– The dry fig for the Carmelites
– Almonds, for Dominicans
– Nuts, for the Franciscans
– Hazelnuts for the Capuchins.
– The Raisins, the bigger and tastier, to keep a good view.
– -Apples,
– -Pears,
– -Melon Green, for the freshness of mind.
– -The black and white Nougat mood for days.
– -The white grape, for vitality.
– -Pump with olive oil, a guarantee of success.
– -Dough Quinces for a year of wealth.
– -The Mandarins, for the success of wishes expressed in the silence of the heart.

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