Country Living UK Christmas Special

Hello and welcome… …to Country Living Christmas 2020 – 196 fabulous pages filled with a wonderful selection of our favourite seasonal features from the Country Living archives, as well as some new ideas we know you’ll love. In this special edition, you’ll find delicious menus, behind-the-scenes chats with the artisans who make Christmas so special, plus pages and pages of inspiring ways to style and decorate your home for the festive period. We’ve also created some clever crafting projects for you to turn your hand to in preparation for the big day, with advent calendars to make, edible gifts guaranteed to delight family and friends, as well as ideas for homemade cards, door wreaths, wrapping paper and more. Merry Christmas from us all at Country Living! EDITOR-IN-CHIEF JOIN US ON FACEBOOK FOR…

NATURAL SELECTION Create a centrepiece by scattering garden greenery down the middle of the table. Add pots of hyacinths and hellebores with candles, plus a few oversized gold baubles. CATCH THE LIGHT Mercury glass and vintage baubles make a striking display on a mantelpiece. The vases reflect the white walls, while pine cones add a wintry feel. SNUGGLE UP Introduce warm, chunky knitted or crocheted blankets and throws to beds, sofas and chairs. Vary textures for a luxurious style. Cosy CORNER This comfortable velvet armchair, draped with a soft faux-fur rug, provides a snug place for guests to sit and read. PILE ON THE PASTELS Arrange a pretty bouquet of pale purple hyacinths atop a pile of vintage fabrics for a floral focal point in a guest bedroom. Warm WELCOME Greet visitors with a few festive flourishes: a pretty vintage flask…

Paper ROSES Make these from any vintage-style paper or aged sheet music. Arrange in a wreath for a unique centrepiece or run a little glue around the edges and ‘frost’ them with silver glitter. 1 Choose a slightly thick, waxy paper to suit your theme, such as maps, sheet music or pretty wrapping paper. 2 First, cut a 4cm x 5cm dome shape to form the central petal that all the others will be stuck to. Then, to form the layers, cut out four or five petals each of varying sizes ranging from 4cm to 7.5cm, depending on how big you would like your flower to be. 3 When all the pieces have been cut, individually shape the petals, slightly crumpling them and rolling the edges to make them more lifelike. 4 Apply a line…

It may be Christmas, but Meg the dog is looking decidedly glum. “At this time of year, there’s not much for her to do with the sheep, and watching us collect mistletoe isn’t half as much fun, apparently,” says farmer Mark Adams. During summer, Meg has more of a wag in her tail as she works the flocks that graze among the 35 acres of apple trees on Mark’s 750-acre family farm. Like many of the trees in this part of Worcestershire – famed since the 19th century for its cider and perry production – they are part of a traditional orchard, with old varieties such as Tom Putt and Brown Snout. Traditional orchards like these have fallen out of favour in recent decades. Most have been replaced with trees grown…

Chair ENOUGH If you’ve ever wondered what to do with all those extra chairs and stools you need over the festive period, then we’ve got the solution! In the run-up to the big day, make a feature out of them by piling them with cosy throws, and decorating them with boughs and bushels of mistletoe, holly and spruce in brightly coloured buckets that can be quickly whipped away when your guests need somewhere to sit. RING THE CHANGES Mistletoe makes a great alternative to the traditional spruce wreath. Simply arrange berry-laden sprigs around a wire wreath ring, secure with florist wire, then decorate with mini baubles before displaying on lengths of vibrant ribbon. Present COMPANY Add Christmas sparkle to your fireplace by surrounding it with glowing candles and piles of faux presents to accompany the…

Fifteen years ago, Gabi Tubbs and her husband Pierre exchanged a hectic London life for a more relaxed existence by the sea when they moved to a picturesque Italianate villa in Brighton, East Sussex, built in the 1840s. Although early Victorian, it has all the classic embellishments of Regency architecture, with an ironwork balcony and fretwork canopy. When they bought the house, it was rather lacklustre and badly configured, yet it was just the kind of project Gabi and Pierre were keen to take on. “I’d always dreamed of living in a light and spacious place,” Gabi says. “So, when we moved here, we were determined to restore it to its original layout and add 21st-century decorative and functional touches.” The studio, office and washroom are on the lower ground floor, and…