Inspiration

Kristina Rapley’s Christmas style: Wild festive florals

See inside the mid-century gem that Your Home & Garden editor Kristina Rapley calls home and discover what inspires her floral Christmas style

Kristina

Kristina Rapley’s Christmas style: Wild festive florals

We moved into this mid-century gem in the dead of winter this year and I’ve been like a kid in a candy store ever since, discovering the new blooms popping up in the garden as the seasons roll around. The previous owners were avid gardeners and spent 50-odd years making it a magical and enchanting paradise.

I’ve never been a huge fan of traditional Christmas decorations, so I thought: why not bring the outside in and create a whimsical, wild floral arrangement indoors? I like to entertain outside so I set up a little afternoon tea with some festive sweet treats, sparkling wine served in my treasured crystal flutes, and a jug of boysenberry gin and tonic – ’tis the silly season, after all!

presents

Tree: After a quick Google image search of floral Christmas tree arrangements, I headed to Spotlight, got the biggest trolley I could find and began my foraging mission for fake flowers. My colour scheme was mostly yellow with pops of orange, pink and white.

I chose mainly pre-bunched flowers (about 17 in all) and popped those in the tree first, grouping the colours together to form three, slightly sloping rows. Then I separated a few bunches of fat roses and tiny flowers, adding them singly to create depth.

Decorations: Presents were wrapped in plain brown paper, then tied with crimson twine and decorated with matching tiny roses.

Food: I served cranberry and pistachio nougat, meringues, sparkling wine, fresh strawberries and a jug of boysenberry gin and tonic (Bombay Sapphire gin, Indian tonic water, loads of ice, frozen boysenberries and mint leaves).

table

Get the look

On table: Crystal ice bucket, $105, from Foxes Island Wines’ cellar door. On tree: Assorted fake flowers, $5.99-$20 a bunch, from Spotlight. All other items, Kristina’s own: refurbished Don chair from Retrovision; rug from The Warehouse; side table, crystal cocktail glasses, yellow chairs and coffee table, all secondhand; crystal flutes, a gift; tiered serving dish and German vase from Mr Bigglesworthy.

Photography by: Wendy Fenwick.

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