It can be fun to pick a theme for your Christmas decorating and this winter there’s a trend for all things Canadian – think tartan, woodland prints and forest animals. Nova Scotia is the home of the Christmas tree and Canada upholds many of the ancestral customs from the olde worlde, making it the ideal muse for a rustic Christmas theme. Read our style secrets below and capture the ineffable holiday spirit of a traditional Canadian Christmas.

Canada in colours

This style is rustic and unrefined, so work with a mainly-neutral colour palette. Earthy browns and greens look stunning accented with white and traditional reds and golds, creating a comfortable and cosy ambience. For tree lights, use clear or white bulbs for simplicity and elegance.

Christmas on-trend

Most of us aren’t lucky enough to have jagged stone walls or oak-beamed ceilings, but that doesn’t mean your home isn’t already a good base to emulate a Nova Scotia log cabin. The good news is that many key Canadian motifs are bang on-trend for the AW14 season, so if your room already uses tartan or a woodland-inspired feature wall, (see the iLiv Twig wallpaper) then you’re halfway there. Make a skirt for the Christmas tree using tartan fabric or even an old tartan rug.

Pinecones, berries and boughs

Use natural accents to create a look truly inspired by the Canadian outdoors. Line the mantelpiece with a woodland garland of fresh foliage, pine cones and acorns, and stack logs by the fire. Fill glass bowls with Christmas baubles and add red berries, mixed nuts and pine cones. Wrap thick candles with birch bark and tie with rough twine. Forget poinsettias; for a Canadian Christmas create a table centrepiece using red roses interspersed with berries and greenery.

Woodland wonder

A Canadian Christmas theme lets woodland creatures take the spotlight. Think ornamental owls, deer and bears peeking out from beneath the undergrowth of your Christmas tree, and faux deer antlers. Wooden figurines work best set against the natural, earthy colours of your Canadian Christmas décor and to further enhance the woodland feel, string forest-themed Christmas cards around the room.  

Have a ball

When Christmas customs first began, traditional ‘hanging greens’ such as mistletoe, holly and ivy weren’t available in Upper Canada during winter, so people made balls out of evergreens instead. These became known as kissing balls and were hung from the rafters. Nowadays you can buy kissing balls or even make your own. Decorate with cranberries, pine cones and popcorn chains, and create matching wreaths and garlands for a true Canadian Christmas.

Has your Christmas décor followed a theme this year? Tell us in the comments section below.