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When I first got together with Mr P, we would alternate spending Christmas with my family and then his. That first year that and we spent Christmas with his family just felt so weird. It was the first time that I truly appreciated that different families have very varied approaches to Christmas. Up until then, I’d spent every December 25th at home, and was so used to the way we did things – our routine, the little traditions, the food we ate, the rituals. And to suddenly have to do the day differently? Well, despite being 22 and old enough to know better, it really threw me!
“You mean, you all just open your presents at the same time, rather than take turns opening them?” I said to Mr P. “You mean, everyone goes to the pub mid-morning while your mum stays at home to cook the lunch?” I asked him. And in actual fact. the way they did Christmas wasn’t even hugely different to what I was used to, it was more that I just wasn’t at my family home and it just felt weird. Still, I soon got used to the Perry rituals and now the time has come for us to host Christmas Day so we get to create our own Christmas routine.
I’m really excited to host, but we had one problem: we didn’t have a table big enough for the whole family to sit around, never mind enough chairs. Back when we bought our first flat, we bought a cheap-as-chips kitchen table and chairs. 13 years, and some upcycling courtesy of a tin of white chalk paint, later and we still have the same table and chairs. They’ve served us well, but it was time to get a proper dining table, and one that can extend to fit the whole family.
Deciding this then led to another big decision: it was time to reclaim our dining room space. After seven years of it being a play room (aka a dumping ground for toys and games), we spent a weekend clearing it out, putting some stuff in the seven-year-old’s bedroom and donating a LOT of it to a charity shop and local playgroups.
We’ve still got a lot to do to the room (redecorating for a start – it’s a boring shade of magnolia as you can see) but it’s SO NICE to have a dining room for the first time. “This is it!” I said to Mr P. “I think we’re finally grown ups.”
The table we’ve gone for is the Daffo 8-seater extendable table from La Redoute. I love the mix of wood and matte black steel. It feels like a good combination of looking stylish but also being a practical family table too. Our chairs are also from La Redoute – Cameo dining chairs and Tubular steel hiba school chairs.
Of course, since we’re hosting Christmas dinner, we need the table to look lovely and festive too. I went slightly off piste and opted for a pink, white and gold theme with some lovely eucalyptus thrown in for good measure.
I love these Nordic Star Placemats with the geometric print. They feel festive, but actually, I’d use them all year round. The gold cutlery set looks fab sitting on them – I’ve never owned gold cutlery before, it feels so decedent! The plates and bowls are the Gogain earthenware range and comes in a lovely green and grey too. I love the slightly misshapen feel to this crockery, like every piece is a bit different.
The glassware – green Gimani blown glass tumblers and pink Jondy wine glasses will be perfect filled with drinks on Christmas Day, and the Miludi tea light holders (on the shelf) add a lovely touch of candlelight to the meal.
I’m genuinely excited to be hosting Christmas Day, and to have such a fab space to do it in. Now I just need to hope that my plan of braving the supermarket on Christmas Eve to buy the turkey isn’t a crazy one…
This post was commissioned by La Redoute and as always, all views are my own. If any of the items mentioned are sold out, keep an eye out as La Redoute do restock items from time to time. For details on how I work with brands, see my Work With Me page. Merry Christmas!
