Decorate for a Natural Swedish Christmas

Decorate for a Natural Swedish Christmas
14/12/2017 Anna Sjostrom Walton
Large wreath for a Swedish Christmas: Magical oversized candle Christmas wreath

A Swedish Christmas savours natural smells, soft materials, mood lighting and lots of greenery. Here’s a selection of ways to bring nature into your home this Christmas, the Swedish way! (And a couple of Danish ones too for good measure).

I love the rise in botanical influences year on year, and no less so than in the pre-Christmas build up. From new interpretations of the traditional Christmas wreath to using candles, leather, foliage, wood, and natural materials, we’ve got you covered!

If you’ve followed Chalk & Moss for a while, you’ll know how important biophilic design is to our wellbeing. If you’re not familiar with biophilic design, this is the practise of incorporating nature into our interior and exterior spaces, to safeguard our wellbeing, creativity and productivity. To find out more, have a look at the Chalk & Moss biophilic design page and this blog post on how to use biophilic design in your home.

Danish and Swedish Christmas Wreaths

Why save the wreath for the front door? If you’re running short on surface and wall space, hang it from the ceiling! There are so many wonderful materials you can play with. Leather, pine and eucalyptus make a fantastic combination, particularly with candles.

If you're running out of space in your home, why not hang your Christmas wreath above the dinner table? A beautiful statement for a Scandinavian Christmas

Leather, eucaluptus and pine are a beautifully natural combination, as seen in this hanging advent wreath.
Image credit: madogbolig.dk

 

 

Soft light from this hanging advent candle. Green and white are a beautiful natural colour combination for Christmas.

Image credit: madogbolig.dk

Geometry stays strong this year

Have some fun with patterns on this geometric Christmas wreath, using with eucalyptus and other foliage.
Image credit: Georgia de Lotz

Swedish Christmas involves lots of greenery and natural materials like wool

A simple but beautiful wool and pine wreath. Image credit: themerrythought.com

Wheat, pine, eucaluptus and more in this elaborate Christmas wreath

Branched out wreath with plenty of scope. This reminds me of a peacock!
Image credit: localmilkblog.com

Modern and minimalist asymmetrical eucalyptus wreath.
Image credit: ShopRareBird

Large wreath for a Swedish Christmas: Magical oversized candle Christmas wreath

Candles bring a magical quality to Christmas, particularly when combined with greenery in a wreath.
Photo credit: Lisanne-van-de-Klift

For more asymmetrical wreath inspiration, I really recommend this MyParadissi blog post covering 16 of the prettiest asymmetrical wreaths.

The Swedish Christmas Table

Green table setting with eucalyptus for a Swedish Christmas feeling

Bring natural greenery to your dinner table this Christmas. This table setting is like made for an intimate evening with loved ones. 
Image credit: rawpixel.com

Danes do Christmas well too! The Danish Christmas wreath brings some fresh smelling pine to your table.

The Danes make wonderful Christmas advent candle wreaths for the table. Experiment with different foliage and colours. 
Image credit: madogbolig.dk

A Swedish advent candle interpretation. We light one candle every Sunday in December up until Christmas (which we celebrate on Christmas Eve). Normally the advent candle has one candle holder for four candles, but of course, have fun and make your own! These mugs come from Design House Stockholm. Image credit: Trendenser.se

Go crafty and paper free in your gift wrapping

Paper free gift wrapping ideas, using spare fabric and low grade baking paper

Go paper free in your wrapping this Christmas! You can wrap presents beautifully in scraps of fabric, and print your own patterns onto low-grade baking parchment or brown craft paper. 
Image credit: humphreyandgrace.co.uk

Easy, cheap and quick wrapping paper made from craft paper and plain paint

Paint splattered wrapping paper with aromatic sprigs . Image credit: diyinpdx.com

 

And finally, don’t forget to go outdoors this Christmas!

With all the hustle and bustle of getting things ready for Christmas, don’t forget to head into the woods to enjoy the seasonal smells. We love cooking outdoors all year long. It’s so special building a log fire and cooking on it directly. The Swedish Log, also known as the Swedish Candle or Swedish Torch, is a fun way to create a cooking source that’s quick to cook on, lasts for hours and looks beautiful long into the evening. See how to make one yourself here on freshoffthegrid.com.

The Swedish log is quick to light, gives off lots of warmth, lasts for many hours and you can cook on it straight away

Cook up some heat on a home-made Swedish Log. Image credit: freshoffthegrid.com

 

Wrap up warm as if it was a true Swedish Christmas

To up the hygge factor, you’ll also want to wrap up with some cosy blankets, drink from your favourite mug and place candles around your house. So have a look at some of these cosy items from the Chalk & Moss shop to complete the Swedish Christmas feel. Here are a few items to get you in that inclusive Scandinavian spirit.

 

Don’t miss the blog post with Christmas wish list homeware shopping suggestions by personality: cook, wellbeing, outdoor, traveller, planner, stylish and cosy.

 

This Fern soy wax candle blend oozes fresh, zingy top notes of citrus fused with a elegant rose mid note and woody, herbaceous pine and rosemary undertones. A complex, refreshing fragrance that treats the senses. Choose three sizes. Seen here is the smallest, 60ml size, with a burn time of 10-15 hours. Join's luxury aromatherapy candles are cruelty free, vegan and handmade in small batches in London with high quality essential oils and soy wax. You can see Join's full collection of soy wax candles, room diffusers, room mists at chalkandmoss.com.

Fern scented candle, hand crafted with vegan soy wax and pure essential oils. There are many natural scents in the candle collection on Chalk & Moss.

 

This refreshing Vitamin Sea vegan handmade soap bar is crafted in the UK. It is a triple milled blend of natural seaweed and shea butter. The invigorating seaweed has a fresh, salty fragrance and the 100% vegetable based shea butter leaves skin feeling moisturised. A substantial 200g bar wrapped in a minimal, monochrome recycled design, this soap is the perfect sustainable product for your kitchen sink or bathroom.

This refreshing Vitamin Sea vegan handmade soap bar is crafted in the UK by Join. It is a triple milled blend of natural seaweed and shea butter. The invigorating seaweed has a fresh, salty fragrance and the 100% vegetable based shea butter leaves skin feeling moisturised. A substantial 200g bar wrapped in a minimal, monochrome recycled design, this soap is the perfect sustainable product for your kitchen sink or bathroom.

 

Handmade dimpled mug set. With a matt white glaze on the outside and soft coloured inside. Available in pale blue, pale pink, grey and turquoise. Perfectly formed dimples to fit in your hand, where the shape is inspired by Japanese tea traditions. Handmade by Linda Bloomfield in London. Sold on chalkandmoss.com.

Handmade porcelain dimpled cup set with a matt white glaze on the outside and soft coloured inside.
Available in pale blue, pale pink, grey and turquoise.
8.5cm x 9cm, holds 250 ml
Handmade by Linda Bloomfield in London.

 

 

Turkish hammam towels throws peshtemals

Ekin towels from Luks Linen, with a soft, tactile weave. These pesthtemal towels were traditionally used in the Turkish hammam. They’re also great used as a throw, sarong, picnic blanket and tablecloth. The peshtemals come in a range of styles, colours and weaves.

 

Explore more in the Chalk & Moss online shop.

 

 

 

 

 

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