As Christmas approaches, there is a shared desire to make the home feel warmer, softer, and more generous. The holidays are less about perfection and more about creating spaces where people feel comfortable lingering, gathering around a table, and slowing down together. As the holiday season is almost here, Birdie Fortescue showed us how she makes it feel effortless. The interior designer and antique dealer, known for her joyful use of colour and globally inspired craftsmanship, believes festive decorating should never feel like a performance but generous, layered, and quietly indulgent.
For Birdie, the heart of Christmas entertaining starts at the table. A patterned tablecloth sets the tone, anchoring the scheme before layers of colour and print are added almost instinctively. Crockery is mixed rather than matched, napkins play off the tablecloth in complementary tones, and the palette stays deliberately restrained so the look feels cohesive rather than chaotic. The finishing touch is always candlelight as clusters of candles running down the centre of the table create a glow that feels intimate and inviting.
Candlelight, she insists, is the quickest way to transform a home at this time of year. Candles appear everywhere: lined along mantels, grouped on side tables, and woven through seasonal foliage. Holly, ivy, spruce, and eucalyptus bring texture and scent, while bowls of sweets, nuts, and amaretti are left within easy reach, encouraging guests to relax and help themselves. It’s entertaining without formality, hospitality without pressure.
Guest bedrooms are given the same attention as communal spaces. Extra cushions and throws are essential, as is a chair that offers a place to pause, read, or drop a coat. Mirrors positioned in natural daylight help guests feel at ease, a small but thoughtful detail that reflects an instinctive understanding of how people move through a space.
This Christmas season also marks the launch of new additions to the Sarah Corbett-Winder x Birdie Fortescue collaboration. The 2025 limited-edition capsule introduces the Striped Ottoman and Striped Stool, two playful yet practical pieces that bring both colour and function to a room. Crafted in India by skilled artisans, both pieces open to reveal hidden storage, making them as useful as they are characterful.
Alongside these new designs, the collection revisits favourites from previous editions, including the Check Mate Wool Runner, the Must Have Table Lamp, and the Stripey String Lampshade. Together, they reflect the natural evolution of Birdie and Sarah’s creative partnership: a shared love of pattern, colour, and craftsmanship, balanced by an understanding of how real homes are lived in.
At its core, this approach to Christmas is refreshingly uncomplicated. It’s about atmosphere rather than perfection, warmth rather than rules. Or, as Birdie herself puts it, “Christmas entertaining should feel joyful, not stressful. Focus on creating warmth through candlelight and don’t be afraid to layer pattern and colour. When your table and rooms feel generous and inviting, everything else falls into place.”
And perhaps that’s the real takeaway: a beautiful Christmas isn’t staged but layered, intimate, and lit by candlelight.
Photography Credit – Boz Gagovski
