Ele Cooper gets the festive feeling at the annual Christmas bonanza.
I popped down to the Country Living Christmas Fair at London’s Business Design Centre today to see what sort of interiors and decorative offerings they had.
I was surprised by how un-Christmassy a lot of the stuff was – I’m not quite sure what part a company called Carry-On Luggage had to play in proceedings – but, for the most part, even the non-seasonal offerings had me whipping out my credit card faster than you can say ‘bauble’ (more on that later).
So, what did I see? On the Bollywood Christmas stand, there were beautiful hand-painted tree decorations, ethically sourced from Rajasthan and costing £3 each, while Flutterbyes was packed with cute owl cushions* and pretty children’s light shades (I particularly loved the pirate one, below – sorry about the shoddy photo quality!) – both cost a very reasonable £15.
Flutterbyes’ lightshade: shipshape and oh-so chic
I was sorely tempted by the festive sign saying ‘We still believe’ on sale at The Old Grain Store, not to mention the cheerful wooden Christmas trees*, £10 for the smaller size, at Friday Flowers.
The delicate paper dove garland (£4.99) on display at Beau House Interiors would lend a seasonal air to any room and requires minimal effort – I also fell in love with their model boat mounted on driftwood, but couldn’t quite justify splashing out the £95 it cost.
Wooden Christmas trees at Friday Flowers
Next it was onto Yorkshire-based company Indigo and Rose, where I found the delightful Scottie dog cushion pictured below – it’s made from super-soft lambs wool and costs £45. Old Scottie was obviously proving popular as the lovely lady hosting the stall told me she’d heard competitors whispering about stealing the design!
Indigo and Rose’s gorgeous lambs wool Scottie dog cushion, £45
Halinka’s Fairies was doing a roaring trade with their handmade tree fairies, craftily fitted with an under-the-skirt tube for the top of your tree, and I also had to battle through frenzied crowds to read the slogans on a ‘Rather be’ series of mugs – my favourite was one saying ‘I’d rather be drinking wine’ (so true) but I wasn’t sure who would buy a mug proclaiming that ‘I’d rather be trimming your bush’…
One of the friendliest stallholders I spoke to was the owner of Country Styled Homes, who made the cute jade green heart decorations below (£12 for a set of two), although a close second in the friendliness stakes was a chap working at Love Lamps, where I found the sparkly snowflake light fitting (£17) that’s in the main story picture.
Handmade hearts at Country Styled Homes
The charm of the Country Living Christmas Fair is threefold: many of the items on sale are handmade by the person on the stand, so you know you’re supporting small British businesses. I was pleasantly surprised by how affordable most items were. And finally, buying your decorative and gifty bits here means that the chances of other people having duplicates are slim – and let’s face it, the whiff of exclusivity is almost better than the clove-infused scent of a Christmas kitchen.
*These were so difficult to resist I had to give in and buy them – all in the name of research, of course…
If you want to head to the Country Living Christmas Fair this weekend, check out the website – the event is held at London’s Business Design Centre and runs until Sunday 14th November.
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