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You cannot surpass the comfort and joy that a traditional Christmas brings.

For many, the best part of Christmas time is when the day itself finally arrives. After all the frantic shopping, wrapping, preparing, and cooking, the greatest satisfaction for most people will be relaxing on the sofa with loved ones after the traditional roast turkey dinner.

These days, with an eye on the budget, many people are steering away from the commercial ‘bling’ of Christmas and aiming for an old-fashioned theme, and this doesn’t just apply to the decorations themselves. With the cold weather keeping everyone indoors, the idea of a traditional ‘country cottage’ theme for Christmas can be really appealing.

A great starting point for this is to let the sofa take centre stage, easily achieved by draping a Christmas-themed throw over it, and complimenting that with some scatter cushions. Red, green and gold are the most traditional colours but anything in autumn shades will still create that old-fashioned look. For those lucky enough to have a real fire, the addition of a few natural items such as fir cones, pine branches, and sprigs of holly, around the fireplace, will really help to set the scene, at very little cost. Indeed, many of these can be found just by hunting around the garden. For a little extra sparkle, these can all be sprayed with gold paint, too. With a Christmas stocking for every member of the family pinned to the fireplace, the perfect scene will have been set.

In recent years, interior designers have been encouraging people to go for unusual Christmas decorations and it’s not unusual to find homes decorated in, say, shades of purple and silver, rather than typical Christmas colours. These obviously have their place but, when times are a little hard, we all hark back to the Christmases we remember from our childhoods, when it would have been impossible to find purple tinsel anywhere.

The focal point of any Christmas theme will be the tree and, for the traditional look, a real one is essential. Besides adding instant atmosphere, it will also smell wonderful. If it’s not possible to have a real tree, there are many artificial ones available these days that look and feel almost as authentic. Given pride of place in the sitting room, with beautifully-wrapped presents under its boughs, the tree will be the final touch for that feel-good Christmas glow that we all want our families to enjoy, and will ensure that it will be a Christmas to remember.