Is it possible to have a Christmassy, cosy and yet classy Christmas in a caravan?
Travel design writer Anna Hart shares her tips for a chintz-free Christmas
Anna Hart is one-third of Club Jupiter, a caravan revival project based in Margate, Kent. www.clubjupiter.co.uk @AnnaDotHart
Caravans are generally associated with summer holidays, and much caravan decor can lean towards seaside or country themes that looks a little lightweight when the weather closes in and we all crave cosiness. Personally I love the challenge of transforming a caravan into a cosy cocoon, a holiday home for a different type of holiday. Caravans aren’t just for summer holidays, and it’s easy and enjoyable to give your caravan a winter makeover.
The first step towards having a classy Christmas, boringly, decluttering. In a small space like a caravan, you need to give any wintry decor touches and Christmas decorations space to breathe, or you risk your caravan resembling a cluttered Christmas shop window. Stash any art that shouts about the beach or summer holidays, flimsy neutral fabrics, outdoors furniture that won’t be used until May, and even home scents that strongly evoke the summertime. When you’ve got your blank canvas, you can start getting Christmassy…
Transform with textiles
Store any floaty muslin, hemp cushion covers, hessian rugs and springtime floral prints; tis the season for velvet, sheepskins, vintage rugs and woven wall tapestries. For bedspreads and blankets, I love Boutique Souk (boutiquesouk.store), a Marrakech-based homeware store that has ethically sourced some of the loveliest Moroccan fabrics I’ve ever seen. For cosy rugs and throws, consider investing in Molloy & Sons (molloy-sons.myshopify.com) diamond weave throws, handwoven in Donegal, and for cosy, texture-rich cushions, the ferm Living tufted cushions (wearemaven.ie) make a real statement.
Bring the season outside in
Sorry, tinsel, but the classiest Christmas decorations are natural foliage; boughs of holly, clusters of pussy willow, vases of Pampas grass. And perhaps because caravans are as close as you can get to camping without the discomfort of actually camping, natural foliage looks perfectly at home in a caravan. So scour the surrounding countryside (um, or your local garden centre) for driftwood, ivy, evergreen plant, and fill your caravan with cosy log cabin vibes.
Let there be light
The big difference between summer and winter is the light factor. Most caravans are built with relatively large windows to maximise summery light, but in winter, with shorter and duller days, things can suddenly look a bit grey and dreary. This is the perfect excuse to invest in lamps and lighting that will bring a cosy glow to your abode, but try to invest in lamps that work well in both summer and winter. One example is this Kalinko rattan drum lampshade with an amber glass base; the rattan shade makes it light enough for summer, but the amber base and overall autumnal hues makes this a perfect year-round lamp.
https://kalinko.com/products/anita-lamp-shade?_pos=1&_sid=78bceb14a&_ss=r
I am also no snob about LED candles, or decorative string lighting; Oliver Bonas pompom string lights (www.oliverbonas.com) are a classier take on classic Christmassy fairylights.
