Here’s Why Everyone On Your Instagram Feed’s Gone All-Out With The Christmas Decorations This Year

You've probably heard this opening line somewhere by now: ‘It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas.’ We hardly need telling, though; scrolling through Instagram, it’s not beginning to look a lot like Christmas, more like most of us have already gone so hard on the decor that you could be forgiven for thinking we’d all moved into the foyer at Claridge’s.

There are six-foot trees laden with baubles (artist Anissa Kermiche’s ‘boobles’ are the must-have this year), wreaths groaning with pampas grass (the only wreath to be seen with now is a dried one, apparently) and fireplaces covered in fairy lights and sprouting gold eucalyptus from Completedworks vases. If social media is anything to go by, we are going bigger this Christmas than ever before – and who can blame us after the year we’ve had?

Statistics from Not On The High Street confirm that the appetite for Christmas is voracious and earlier than ever, too. Searches for ‘Christmas decorations’ at the beginning of the second lockdown rose by 103% compared to the week before, which was 85% higher than the same time last year. Elsewhere, it started even earlier. John Lewis was forced to open its Christmas shop 10 days earlier than usual in August after it found that searches for festive products had nearly quadrupled compared with 2019.

Ever since the arrival of Instagram, there’s been a healthy element of competitive Christmassing – although it now feels less ‘keeping up with the Joneses’, more Hunger Games. While our parents and their parents before them would chuck up a few paper chains and a bit of tinsel, to a lot of people Christmas decorating now involves weeks of planning and execution (I overheard a woman walking past my house tell her friend that she was going ‘White Company neutral in the sitting room and Mexican- themed for the kids’ playroom – as a bit of fun’.) Hours of work goes into getting every area so Insta-perfect that even Stacey Solomon would approve.

This year, of course, is different for lots of reasons – a common caption seems to be along the lines of, ‘If you can’t go big on Christmas decor in 2020, when can you?’ and they’re quite right. Having largely spent every waking moment in our homes since 23 March, often with anxiety and sadness coursing through our veins, it’s no surprise that we want to immerse ourselves in the escapism of festive decorations and twinkly lights (meaning we can finally turn our boring old WFH space into a winter wonderland). While the latest Government restrictions mean Christmas parties as we know them are off the table, we can at least gather together some friends and family in our homes.

What better way to round off this year than to make the homes where we’ve hunkered down to weather this storm look as magical as we can.

The Interiors trends you'll probably spot on Instagram this Christmas...

Jordan Cluroe and Russell Whitehead - also known as @2lgstudio - are the South East London based creative duo behind 2LG Studio. Head to their platform and you’ll instantly pick up on their elegance, simplicity and their signature use of vibrant colour. Take a look at their take on decor trends this Christmas.

Staircase decoration

Honeycomb balls are the way to zhuzh up the most pedestrian of household areas. Also try them in alcoves for mega impact.

Tablescaping

‘Laying the table’ has become its own lifestyle genre. Runners, tea-light holders, decanters, candlesticks, placemats... the list is long (see Alice Naylor-Leyland’s @mrsalice for ultimate inspo).

Fireplace garlanding

Gone are the matching family stockings, replaced by boughs of greenery. Top marks for eucalyptus.

Baubles

Your baubles say more about you than you think: pick coloured, neutral or designer (Christopher Kane’s ‘More Joy’ sets are flying off the shelves at Matches). Just make sure there are lots of them.

Wreaths

In the absence of the round of boozy wreath-making workshops, prepare to see people break out their own personal styles. So far we’ve seen pom-poms and pampas grasses taking the lead.

Currently Trending On Instagram

From candy-coloured trees, to rainbow wreaths, people are shunning more traditional Christmas decorations for eye-catching and unconventional alternatives. A few of our favourites include: