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Devika Narain has transformed her Mumbai home into a Christmas wonderland
The wedding designer shares tips on making your Christmas décor an extension of your personality
Devika Narain is a well-established Mumbai-based wedding planner and design expert. She is renowned for transforming spaces with personalised and thoughtful décor pieces and discovering environmentally sustainable design solutions. Every year, at the beginning of December, the designer’s Mumbai apartment transforms into a Christmas wonderland. Devika shares her Mumbai home with her partner Joseph Radhik, a wedding photographer, and their pup, Cooper. Here, Narain offers us a glimpse of her one-of-a-kind Christmas decorations and shares some tips to make our home cosy and warm for the holidays.
1. Personalise your Christmas decorations
Devika Narain's Christmas decorations are very personal. She has been decorating Christmas trees with handmade ornaments since she was 10 and continues this tradition. She has personalised ornaments that she has been using for years. According to her, twinkling lights, fresh flowers, and personalised, colourful ornaments are just a few essentials to transform your home into a winter wonderland.
2. Make your own traditions
Every year, Devika puts up her Christmas decorations at the beginning of December and removes them on the first or second of January. She celebrates the festival by hosting multiple intimate dinners with friends and family all month. The culmination of her Christmas celebrations is an elaborate sit-down dinner with stuffed chicken, wine, Christmas desserts, and loved ones. Therefore, she celebrates Christmas all month instead of just on the day.
3. Source your Christmas décor from multiple sources
Devika’s Christmas decorations include handmade ornaments made by her and her family members and décor she has collected from her travels around the world. Thus, each Christmas decoration is extremely personal and has a memory associated with it. If you don’t travel much, you can tell your friends and family to help hand make decorations with you.
Devika Narain, the founder of Devika Narain and Company takes us inside her personality-filled home that is all decked up for Christmas.
4. Reuse your Christmas decorations
Some of Devika’s Christmas ornaments have been with her for over 10 years, and she reuses them every Christmas. She’s a big believer in being environmentally sustainable. Therefore, she reuses her Christmas décor every year. The designer has a designated Christmas closet where she stores all her Christmas décor. If you’re just getting started, you can also rent Christmas decorations!
5. Showcase your personality
Devika’s Christmas decorations are unique because they showcase her personality and likes. She loves animals and birds, which is exhibited through the numerous animal and bird-themed Christmas décor she has at her home. She’s also very detail oriented and loves to use local materials. These aspects are depicted in her Christmas decorations as well.
Her recommendation is to choose Christmas décor that is an extension of your personality for it to be different. For instance, if you love to travel, you could buy Christmas ornaments from various cities showcasing all the countries you have visited.
6. Get everyone involved
Devika has multiple Christmas trees around her house. Instead of setting up all the decorations in one day, she spreads it over a week. Moreover, she invites her close friends and family to come over to help her decorate her Christmas trees. After helping set up the Christmas décor, her friends and family unwind with wine and cookies.
Instead of putting up all your Christmas decorations yourself, make it a fun activity for your loved ones. You can also set up a small Christmas tree for children to decorate.
Every year, at the beginning of December, Devika Narain’s Mumbai apartment transforms into a Christmas wonderland.
Devika loves animals, which is exhibited through the numerous animal-themed Christmas décor she has at her home. Here’s an ornament named after her pet dog Cooper.
7. Be environmentally sustainable
Devika is a big proponent of environmental sustainability, which is reflected in her Christmas decorations. There is a growing sensitivity towards sustainable and environmentally-conscious practices, and Narain believes that this should be incorporated in homes as well.
Everything other than Devika's trees are made using environmentally sustainable materials. She also uses fresh and dried flowers to make her home look festive. Thus, you do not have to be wasteful to have a beautifully decorated home for Christmas.
8. Pick key spaces in compact homes
For people with compact homes, Devika advises picking key spaces and decorating only those to prevent them from looking overwhelming. By decorating only some designated spaces of the home, it doesn’t look cluttered. Moreover, you can bring only a Christmas tree into your home and focus all your Christmas decorations in that area.
9. Don’t just follow trends
Your Christmas decorations are personal to you. You don’t need to follow any rules or trends. For instance, Devika does not follow any colour palette or theme, she just incorporates everything she loves in her Christmas decoration. This aspect is what makes her décor stand out and look unique.
10. Have fun!
Finally, Narain says that it’s very important to not forget to have fun while decorating your home for Christmas. After all, Christmas is about letting your hair down and celebrating with your loved ones!
Narain’s Christmas decorations include décor pieces she has collected from her travels around the world.
Devika Narain has been decorating Christmas trees with handmade ornaments since she was ten and continues this tradition.
Here’s a glimpse of Devika’s bookshelf decorated for Christmas.
Devika’s recommendation is to choose Christmas décor that is an extension of your personality for it to be different.
Devika Narain's Christmas decorations are very personal. She has personalised ornaments that she has been using for years.
Devika has multiple Christmas trees around her house. Instead of setting up all the decorations in one day, she spreads it over a week.
Showcased is Narain’s living room decked up for Christmas. She advises to not forget to have fun while decorating your home for Christmas.
Narain invites her close friends and family to come over to help her decorate her Christmas trees. After helping set up the Christmas décor, they unwind with wine and cookies.
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