Christmas decorations, from front door to dance floor

Every year, the first week of November is when my Christmas season really begins. The doorway enquiries start arriving, the office party briefs follow close behind, and I find myself looking at familiar spaces - front doors, shop entrances, function rooms - with fresh eyes.

Christmas decorating is a little different from a birthday or a baby shower. It often has to last for weeks rather than hours, it has to work in daylight and after dark, and very often it's the first thing a customer or guest sees. Here are the three places where I think it makes the biggest difference, and how to get them booked in time.

The front door, for homes and businesses

A dressed doorway is one of the simplest ways to make a home or a business feel ready for Christmas. A full garland around the frame, built up with baubles in colours that suit the door, changes the whole frontage, and it greets everyone who walks past for the rest of the season.

I always start with the paintwork. Last year at Bondi Rise, the soft pink frontage set the palette: frosted fir, red and blush baubles, a few white pearls to catch the light and candy canes for a playful touch. A navy or dark green door can carry jewel tones and warm lights, or gold and ivory if you'd like it quieter. On a white cottage door, deep reds and natural pine cones feel right.

Garlands can be fresh or faux, depending on how long you'd like them to last. Fresh foliage smells wonderful and suits a shorter window, while a good faux garland stays full and neat right through to January, which shops and offices often prefer.

For shops, salons and studios, a dressed doorway does real work too. It tells people you're open and festive, it gives customers a reason to stop, and it's often the backdrop for the photos they take on the way in.

The office Christmas party

Work parties often happen in rooms that weren't designed with celebrations in mind - function suites, hotel ballrooms, or the office itself with the desks pushed back. Many hosts assume the answer is lots of small decorations, but I always want to reassure them that one strong focal point does far more.

A sequin wall with an organic balloon garland gives the evening a place to gather and a backdrop for every photo. Last December I set one up in front of a run of plain grey curtains, and the room changed the moment it went up. It was the third Christmas that client had asked me back, which I took as a lovely compliment.

Light matters just as much at this time of year. For another company's party, LED balloons lit the dining room through dinner and carried the glow on into the dancing, so the room kept its atmosphere as the evening changed pace. If your party runs from a sit-down meal into a late night, it's worth designing the decorations for both halves.

The palette is worth deciding early, too. Black and gold feels glamorous after dark, silver, navy and white feels crisp and wintry, and blush with ivory suits a softer daytime gathering. Taking a cue from the room itself - the carpet, the curtains, your brand colours - makes everything feel considered rather than added on. There's more on how I approach work events on my corporate and brand styling page.

Getting the timing right

Christmas is the one time of year when the calendar really does decide things for you. Doorway season starts in early November and the slots fill quickly - by the last fortnight of November last year, I had just two left. Office parties cluster into the first three weeks of December, often on the same evenings.

For a doorway, the easiest way to book is to email me at [email protected] with a photo of your door and your postcode. That tells me the size, the colour and where you are, and I can come back to you with a quote and a date. For a party, send me the venue, the date and a rough idea of the room, and I'll suggest the setup that will do the most for it.

Everything is installed before your guests or customers arrive and, for parties, taken down again at the end of the night, so all you need to do is enjoy it. December is a lovely month for family milestones too - a fortieth, a festive christening - and you'll find more about those on my milestone celebrations page. If you're near Esher, I'm in the area often through the season.

Why I love this part

Christmas work is some of the most rewarding of my year. A birthday is over in an afternoon, but a doorway stays up for weeks, and I love knowing that people walking past on their way to work get a little lift from it every day.

There's something special, too, about walking into a room that felt ordinary that morning and seeing a team's faces when they arrive for their party. It's always a privilege to be part of that, and it means a great deal when clients ask me back year after year.

If you'd like your door dressed this year, or you're organising a Christmas party and want the room to feel like the occasion, I'd love to hear from you. Tell me what you have in mind and I'll come back to you with ideas.

Laura x