During lockdown in November I spent a lot of time shopping online, and in the first two weeks when it was still a bit too early to put up decorations, I did a lot of research on little extras I could add this year. We have a tree and some decorations from past years, but this year I’ve got into the habit of seasonal extras all year round to make the place a bit more decorative. From flowers to pumpkins depending on the time of year, it just made being stuck at home that bit nicer. So my first Blogmas post is how to make your home festive with Christmas home decor that won’t break the bank.

Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links.

I am by no means an interior expert, and I can only dream of some of the beautiful homes you see on instagram. Some people have an incredible eye for it, and I’d love to have that talent. I’ll link some of my favourite accounts to follow at the end. We rent though so there is only so much we can do. All of these things are for if you’re like me, want to make the place festive, but can’t exactly do a full room overhaul with every changing trend.

As much as I love instagram and the inspiration it gives, it’s important to remember the perfect instagram photo is often staged, or costs a bloody fortune. Not many of us have a lot of spare cash to do that this year, so I’ve tried to keep things realistic.

I honestly spent hours online researching Christmas home decor to find what I want for the best value. It’s probably saved me a fortune doing it that way as if I’m out in shops I’m such an impulse buyer and would have spent a lot more. If I wanted cushions I’d look on every site, make a shortlist, then go with my favourite that wasn’t too expensive. One of the benefits of being furloughed is having the time to do it.

Christmas Cushions

After a lot of pondering, and open tabs on my browser I eventually went for this set of 4 cushion covers, for £13.99 on Amazon with Prime delivery, as they match our general black and white theme, but with a Christmas pattern.

I do love buying ready put together cushions from places like Dunelm or The Range but I thought a set of covers like this are a cheaper way of doing it for the month they’re in use, they’re easier to store the rest of the year and it means I can wash our normal ones while they’re swapped over.

Other cushions I researched that made the short list were, another set of four covers from Amazon here, and a set of six I very nearly bought here. So check Amazon because they have some good collections in all colours.

For some more simple grey, cushion covers I really liked these from Dunelm, the deer and the sparkle, but the cost of one was the same price as a set of four on Amazon. They are pretty though.

H&M Home also have a nice Merry Christmas one, but I was disappointed there weren’t more in the same collection.

Cosy Christmas Throws

I spent a lot of time on cushions but even more time on new throws. We use them all the time on the sofa and our bed because of Arthur, but he has his own and we have ours that aren’t covered in fur. I’ve loved my Autumn burnt orange one from Dunelm, so it was the first place I looked for Christmas ones.

I think it was everyone’s first choice too as the one I really wanted, the Teddy Bear throw in colour Teddy Berry has been out of stock for weeks. The brighter red is available though.

I love the buffalo check style throw, and very nearly bought this Danton Mohair one, but it’s a slightly different check to the cushions and I discounted it for something a lot more blatantly Christmassy.

I got this Christmas patchwork fleece throw from Amazon, and it’s amazing, so soft on one side and fleecy on the other. I know it’s only going to look ok through December but I don’t mind, my decs went up early so I’ve had the last two weeks in November using it too. It’s currently out of stock, so here’s two others I also loved – a red check with fleece underneath, and a red tartan.

I actually just got a similar tartan one from Sainsbury’s yesterday, just £15.

George at Asda have a great range of soft throws this year, some are £11 and have that fleecy underside, and some are just £6 with various patterns like Christmas trees, nutcrackers and penguins. They’re good value especially if you want more than one. Have a look at the full range of Asda Christmas cushions and throws here.

It’s amazing how much more cosy and festive your living room will look with a couple of cushions and throws scattered about.

Christmas Kitchen

I’ve basically just bought some new tea towels from Asda in the traditional red and white Christmas colours. I do love the Anthropologie ones, like this gingerbread house tea towel, or this 12 days of Christmas one. But for £20? Not this year.

They keep selling out every time they are restocked so set alerts for anything you like, but the table cloths and runners from H&M Home are pretty, so I got this festive red runner for our coffee table.

I also got some mistletoe napkins because although real fabric ones are lovely at Christmas tied up on your plate, who can be arsed to wash them all? Not me and considering I’m not hosting Christmas dinner I don’t feel the need to invest. The mistletoe ones from H&M home were just £1.99 and they look a lot nicer than ‘paper napkin’ sounds.

There are a lot of good and very funny personalised Christmas aprons about, just a quick search on Amazon and Etsy will bring up the best, but again as I’m not cooking Christmas dinner I’ve not got one. If I was I would get this festive party animals one from Cath Kidston.

Christmas Mugs

Always a go to for Secret Santa, Christmas mugs are out in force every year. As well as the novelty joke ones, there are some really cute ones perfect for a hot chocolate or mulled cider. I’ve got a couple from the Edinburgh Christmas market last year which I’ve got out, but here’s a couple of others I have my eye on.

Dunelm have a great range, you can see all of them at a glance here, but my favourites are the berry mug that could be used beyond Christmas, or the matching set of ‘Snow – day’, ‘Frost -tea’ and ‘Sweater weather’ mugs that are very cute and only £3 each.

If you don’t mind spending a bit more then have a look at the gorgeous ones from Emma Bridgewater, also available in John Lewis. I LOVE the Ho Ho Ho mug, and they can also be personalised.

And these ‘Making Spirits Bright’ mugs by Danielle Kroll for Anthropologie are so cute I might have to invest in the cream one.

Christmas Candles

It wouldn’t be a Christmas home decor haul without candles. There are some very reasonably priced Christmas candles about, including the whole range from the Yankee Candle company in various sizes (I had the advent calendar last year and loved it), George Home, and M&S.

But if there is one thing I will spend money on it’s candles. I just couldn’t not have the Jo Malone Orange Bitters burning during December, and the White Company Winter smell. Last year I spent a fortune on the glass winter candle for £16, so this year I’ve gone for the big one straight away and it’s lasting much longer.

As well as the candles I also have the room spray, and the Winter pot pouri dotted about the house. It’s just gorgeous.

A surprise find this year though is the independent, black owned Our Lovely Goods, who I’ve mentioned a few times since I discovered them in the summer. Their Winter Spice candle is just incredible. I’ve bought three so far for myself and as gifts for other people. They last so long as well so the £20 is well spent, and they come in the most adorable packaging.

Christmas Extras

Fairy Lights

In addition to draped around your tree, and outside your house, it’s nice to have the occasional string of fairy lights dotted in other areas around the house, whether that’s along your headboard, a shelf, a bar cart or around a picture. I’ve put some very simple ones around my desk, and I also got these battery operated wooden star lights for on our sideboard for just £5.

Proper lights for the tree can be around £25, but for this go cheap with supermarket ones, or Dunelm have some cute stars here too. If you don’t want them draped anywhere then put them in a bowl with potpourri instead.

Bottle Stopper

It makes me sad that there’s no chance of people just ‘stopping by’ this Christmas that then inevitably turns into a new bottle of wine opened, but you’ll probably still need a bottle stopper in the house anyway.

I use a fabulous gold stag one from Next, that I can’t find online but Matalan have a similar one and Amazon have them in silver.

Hanging Decorations

Extras for hanging from wall hooks, or curtain poles, here’s some of my favourite decorations now that we can’t get a scented fruit ring from Edinburgh market…

Hanging lit up star from Next.

Beaded North Star from The White Company

Berry & Pine cone star from B&Q

Hanging angel from Next

Christmas Doormats

Give a Christmas welcome to the two other households you’re allowed to have in your bubble this Christmas, or just yourself with a festive doormat. This one is cute from Wayfair, but to be honest Dobbies Garden centre have the best range I’ve seen anywhere.

Christmas Bedding

I have mixed feelings about Christmas bedding. On the one hand I think why the hell not, and the more extravagant the better, but then I think bedding isn’t that cheap really and there’s better things to spend the money on. If you don’t really want to then just use a few throws or cushions and it does the trick, but if you really want to go all out then here’s some places for festive Christmas bedding.

Dunelm – I quite like this Scandinavian woodland grey set, that I suppose you could keep on through most of winter, this Nordic red set is just so festive, and not for me but I love this Scottie dog set.

Next – My favourite by far is the brushed winter Forrest set, but here’s the full Next Christmas range.

George at Asda – I am usually a big fan of George Asda bedding but the Christmas sets this year are definitely more for kids, all those bold prints would give me a headache. Have a look here.

Matalan – I think this one is my favourite despite being quite full on.

So I hope this has given you some inspiration for festive touches to add to your home, and shows that Christmas home decor doesn’t have to break the bank. It’s amazing what a few throws, candles or cushions can do to a place.

As promised some of my favourite interior instagram accounts, that take a lot better photos than me include Keelies Journey, Miller Grey, and Gosforth Home.

Let me know if you buy anything!

Other posts you might like:

How to bring the Christmas markets into your home this year

Things that will happen in Newcastle when lockdown 2 ends – Christmas edition