Seasonal decor, on your own living room

Christmas home decor

The rooms that photograph best at Christmas keep to two or three colours and a lot of light. Greenery on the mantel and the stair rail, a tree that suits the ceiling height, candles at several heights, and ornaments in one family (all glass, all wood, all cream and gold) rather than everything at once. Christmas wall decor is best kept to a wreath and the mantel; the tree is the wall art. If the living room is small, a slim tree in the corner by the window and lights along the shelves does more than a big tree in the middle.

Fall and autumn decor

Autumn decor is about texture and warmth rather than pumpkins: a wool throw, a heavier cushion cover in rust or ochre, dried grasses in a tall vase, a garland of leaves on the mantel and lamps switched on earlier. It is also the season to try a deeper wall colour behind the sofa, which is exactly the kind of change worth previewing first.

Halloween decor

Grown-up Halloween decor uses candlelight, black and deep green, dried flowers, a few pumpkins in cream and grey, and one theatrical gesture such as a candelabra or a wreath. It should look moody and a little gothic, not like a party shop.

Spring and Easter decor

Spring is the season for taking things away: heavier throws into the cupboard, sheer curtains up, fresh flowers or branches in every room, and one lighter colour in the cushions. An Easter table needs little more than flowers, eggs in a bowl and a linen cloth.

See the season on your room

Choose Decorate for an occasion in Room AI, photograph the room, and pick Christmas, Halloween or Spring Refresh (or a dinner party, a birthday, a cosy night in). The result is your room, your sofa, your fireplace, dressed for the occasion in about a minute. Try two versions, keep the one you prefer, and use it as the shopping list.