The Christmas tree is the main ingredient of any seasonal decorating scheme, setting the tone for the rest of the Christmas decor throughout the house. Given such importance it is only right you’ll be looking to explore the latest Christmas ideas to choose a tree scheme to up the ante this year.
While you may not be looking to buy all new decorations, adding a few on-trend styling twists can update your decorating approach. Refreshing the way you decorate the Christmas tree prevents it feeling the same as previous years.
Whether you choose a real Norwegian spruce or one of the best artificial Christmas trees on the market, how you decorate your tree will determine how you home throughout the festive season.
Image credit: Habitat
To adopt the effortlessly Scandi vibe for a Christmas tree stick to just one colour, for all decorations. From baubles to garlands, a soft colour palette from head to toe keeps the tree well-dressed but in stylishly subtle way.
This idea is perfect for a paired back interior that celebrates the subtle beauty of natural materials, such as wood and wicker, and muted tones.
Image credit: Future/ Dominic Blackmore
A growing trend, seen more and more in recent years, is the use of fresh flowers for decorating Christmas trees. In this elegant dining room the homeowner has used cut hydrangea heads throughout the decorating scheme to introduce real foliage and a welcome burst of contrasting pink.
If using real flowers we recommend placing them round the front so they are easily accessible, cut the ends every few days and dip them in warm water to allow them to drink – before drying them and placing them back on the tree.
Go one step further still and incorporate the real flowers into mantelpiece garlands and table flower arrangements.
Image credit: Brent Darby
Make your Christmas tree idea blend seamlessly into your living room colour scheme by coordinating colours throughout. From baubles in the same striking shade as the walls to ornaments in bright hues that match the accessories, in this case the teal silk lampshade!
A well colour coordinated tree colour scheme creates a beautifully cohesive look, that feels both sophisticated and well styled.
Image credit Future
Even a modern frosted Norwegian spruce can feel timelessly classic thanks to a collection of heirloom baubles. Choose an eclectic mix of glass ornaments to add character and plain coloured baubles to inject accent shades to invigorate the scheme.
Mixing styles help to give this look a more nostalgic feel, where new treasured baubles are added to become future heirlooms.
Image credit: Wilko
Celebrate the classic Christmas decorating scheme of red and green, to give your tree traditional appeal. Country-style checks and tartans are a fun way to add colour and pattern to a tree. Add warm fairy lights to enhance the cosy, country appeal of this look.
Image credit: Future
Combining softs shades of white, pastel pink, mint green and matt silver helps to create a dreamy colour scheme that feels ethereal. Paired with frosted foliage and muted eucalyptus green this style of decorating is ideal for those who want a softer look for their seasonal decorations.
A muted colour scheme suits all living room looks too, either blending in with a neutral colour palette or standing out against darker on-trend paint shades.
Image credit: Future PLC
When it comes to lights on a Christmas tree, there are a wealth of looks you can achieve – dependant on how many lights you choose. For a more impactful approach to lights opt for a higher number of bulbs – look for at least 200 lights, depending on the height of your tree. Twist the lights around each prominent branch, covering entirely from the centre to the outer tip.
This idea makes more of the lights for decorating the tree, leaving a gentle smattering of baubles to add a decorative finishing touch but allowing the lights to ‘shine’ as the star of the tree decorations.
Image credit: Future/ Dan Duchars
Create a stylish decorating scheme using simple but thoughtful bauble placements. Choose one style, whichever suits your personal tastes, and play with scale to keep the decorating scheme feeling fun and playful. Dress the tree from top to bottom with one style of bauble in two different sizes, medium and large.
Ensure you distribute the different sizes evenly throughout the tree. Top tip: step back often, to get a better overall perspective as you decorate the tree.
Image credit: Future/ Clare Richardson
Another floral idea is using single stems to make a statement on the tree. This homeowner has used slim vases to hang roses on the tree. Either tend to the stems each day to recut the ends and dip in hot water to give them a drink each day.
Or keep them around the front of the tree with very minimal water in the vase, taking extreme care not to allow water anywhere near electrics.
Image credit: Future PLC/ Jeremy Phillips
Choose to keep your Christmas tree limited by mixing just two decorations, to create a captivating combo. This homeowner has decide on a solid block rose decoration in a blush pink paired with crystal-like crown ornaments.
Both decorations are generous in size but thanks to the understated materials and colours they don’t overwhelm the tree.
Image credit: Future/ Dominic Blackmore
Decorating a tree with warming metallic decorations and warm fairy lights will set the scene for cosy ambience. The tone of the lights is so hugely important when it comes to how the tree decorations looks. Cold white or blue lights will make the tree feel more contemporary and vibrant, while the more copper tones will emit a warmer glow – changing the look entirely.
Adding bronze, gold and rose gold metallic decorations goes a long way to enhance the warmth of the Christmas decorating scheme to make the room feel cosy and inviting.
Image credit: Future/ Simon Whitmore
Last year saw a real trend for BIG baubles, the bigger the better. We therefore predict a trend for upscaling decorations this year.
This tree use the same red, classic bauble design in a gradient of size from top to bottom – creating a style statement without having to be OTT with trimmings and multiple colours.
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Coffee lovers can be tricky to shop for, not least because they can often be picky when choosing their perfect beans or coffee machine. There are actually a lot of Christmas gifts for coffee lovers though, so it’s a brilliant theme for family members, friends, partners, and even secret Santas, because who doesn’t love a good morning cappuccino?
We’ve hand-selected the 17 best Christmas gifts for coffee lovers to bring you our recommendations, and we’ve even tried many of our top picks hands-on, so these coffee gifts come recommended by coffee lovers.
Coffee lovers can pick up all sorts of gadgets to make their morning brew better than ever, and while many of the best coffee machines can be expensive, there is a range of options on the market from those who care about style, to people who prefer to grind their own beans.
Sage Bambino
The Sage Bambino is Sage’s latest coffee machine launch, and it’s a brilliant espresso machine for those who are limited on space. It’s also a top choice for those who want one of Sage’s top-of-the-range coffee machines but at a lower price. It has Digital Temperature Control and low-pressure pre-infusion to make the most of every bean, and you can find out more in our Sage Bambino review.
Barista & Co Core Electric All Coffee Grinder
This is our top pick of the best coffee grinders you can buy, so if the coffee lover in your life loves to use a french press or ground coffee machine, this is the perfect way to keep their brews as fresh as possible. Once you’ve tried coffee grinders you’ll wonder how you ever enjoyed shop-bought coffee grounds, because the freshness of the grind makes it so much more aromatic.
SMEG 50’S Retro Milk Frother
The best milk frother will allow you to make perfectly frothy coffees from even a pod coffee machine, and the SMEG 50’S Retro Milk Frother also brings a beautiful style to your kitchen counters. There are six preset functions, it switches off automatically, and you can even heat and froth independently. It comes in a wide selection of colours, so you can pair it with any style of machine.
La Cafetière Coffee Gift Set
Some prefer to do it the old fashioned way, and La Cafetière is the most iconic brand for this. The mini stovetop espresso maker takes grounds and slowly brews delicious coffee. This kit comes with two high-quality double-walled espresso cups, and you can also use the cafetiere to make a large cup of morning coffee.
La Cafetière Coffee Gift Set, £25 at Moonpig
De’Longhi Coffee Glasses
The De’Longhi Coffee Glasses are some of our favorites when writing reviews. They’re double-walled, which means it insulates the drink without scalding your hand. The glasses are also made of glass, so you can look through to see your coffee. This set includes two of each sizes: espresso, short, and long coffees, and they are expertly designed to go in the dishwasher.
The coffee lover in your life may have all the gear, including even the best bean-to-cup coffee machines, but that doesn’t mean you can’t buy them some little extras to help make the most of it.
Sass & Belle Coffee Clip
Those who use bags of coffee beans or coffee grounds will know the perils of spilling across the counter. The Sass & Belle coffee clip has a scoop on the end to top up your portafilter or cafetiere, and then it closes securely on your bag when you’re finished. It’s an attractive gold shade and can go in the dishwasher, too.
Grind: A Modern Guide to City Living
Image credit: Grind
Grind is the cult classic London coffee shop that recently expanded into making pod coffee machines. It has a new book out, which is packed with tips on how to make coffee, and a comprehensive guide on the history of coffee brewing. If you’re looking for something that would look perfect on any coffee table, this is a great coffee-themed gift.
Monin Premium Coffee Syrup Gift Set
You’ll recognise Monin coffee syrups from many respected coffee chains, including Costa. The range of mini Monin bottles include seasonal flavours like Gingerbread, Caramel, and Hazlenut, and they are made of high-quality glass. Perfect for lovers of a vanilla latte.
Love Cocoa Espresso Martini Coffee Beans
Coated in a delicious layer of dark chocolate, these vegan coffee beans are perfect for an evening snack. Love Cocoa uses compostable packaging and is handmade in Great Britain, and the recipe is also free from palm oil. The range comes from James Cabdury, and more than lives up to the chocolate pedigree. These snacks will work well on cocktail evenings paired with an espresso martini, or passed around the sofa on Boxing Day.
Love Cocoa Espresso Martini Coffee Beans, £6.95, Love Cocoa
Sass & Belle Mojave Glaze Mug
With a chic dipped blue glaze and a textured finish at the bottom, this is the perfect mug for coffee lovers who enjoy a latte or just a really big mug of americano. The rustic colours also come in pink, black, and grey. And, best of all, it’s dishwasher-safe.
The trend of mixing caffiene and an evening cocktail isn’t going anywhere. Serious coffee lovers will appreciate the authentic coffee flavours that have gone into each and every one of our boozy picks. Enjoy responsibly!
Cocktail Society Salted Caramel Espresso Martini Bottled Cocktail
This 500ml bottle of espresso martini will serve the whole family. Made of Chase vodka, Caffe Borghetti coffee liqueur, Missing Bean cold brew and a generous helping of salted caramel, it’s packed with quality ingredients to rival your favourite cocktail bar.
Cocktail Society Salted Caramel Espresso Martini Bottled Cocktail, £26, The Cocktail Society
Conker Decaf Cold Brew Coffee Liqueur
Get all the joy of an espresso martini but without the fear of it keeping you up all night when you buy the Conker Decaf Cold Brew Coffee Liqueur. It’s got the complexity of cold brew with a boozy finish, instead of the sweet and syrupy taste of a regular coffee liqueur. A top choice for refined coffee lovers who still want a tasty cocktail.
Sipsmith Sipspresso Coffee Gin
Sipsmith’s Sipspresso gin is made with real coffee and perfect for those who enjoy a coffee cocktail but can’t stand vodka. It works for much more an espresso martini, too, and is a great choice for gin-lovers who like a twist on the classic G&T.
Kocktail Espresso Martini & Cocktail Shaker Gift Pack
With everything you need to make a tasty espresso martini for two, the Kocktail Espresso Martini & Cocktail Shaker Gift Pack is perfect for those who enjoy a cocktail, but don’t want to buy all the ingredients needed to make it. Simply add to the included cocktail shaker with a generous helping of ice and strain over your martini glasses.
Even the perfect machine is useless if you don’t supply it with high quality coffee beans. We’ve tried all of these blends and edible boxes to make sure they’re up-to-scratch and packed with interesting flavour.
Cartwright & Butler Share a Treat Gift Set
Home of tasty hampers for those with a sweet tooth, the Share a Treat Gift Set from Cartwright & Butler ticks every box. It comes with ground coffee to put straight into a french press or coffee machine, and some fresh cookies and biscuits that are perfect for dipping.
We particularly liked the chocolate chunk biscuits, which were rich and crumbly. Choose from all sorts of sleeves to complete your box, but Happy Christmas would be the obvious choice!
Balance Coffee 6 Month Coffee Subscription
If the coffee lover in your life enjoys trying different blends from different regions, the 6 Month Coffee Subscription from Balance Coffee will hit the spot. You can select your grind preference or opt for whole beans, and let the automatic delivery do the rest. Every bag contains Arabica beans, grown and harvested on sustainable, fair-trade cooperatives, and we were able to detect so many interesting and complex flavours when testing compared to commercial-grade alternatives.
Balance Coffee 6 Month Coffee Subscription, £62.99, Balance Coffee
Whittards Coffee Of The World
Go around the world in nine coffee blends with this Whittards set. Each box has something different to offer, and because they’re omn-grounds, they can work in a french press or coffee machine equally. Our favourite was the Mocha Djimmah coffee, which had a light roast and plenty of complexity.
Whittards Coffees of World, £28, Moonpig
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The multicooker market is flooded with big names like Instant Pot and Ninja, so you may be wondering whether this lesser-known brand is worth a shot. However, with the best-selling Pressure King Pro under their belt, Drew & Cole are quickly building a name for themselves when it comes to electric pressure cookers and multicookers.
See: the best slow cookers
The Cleverchef Pro is a very affordable multicooker that comes in two sizes, I reviewed the 4.8 litre model which is ideal for four-person recipes but there’s also a 5.7 litre model which is better for larger households. It’s easy to use, doesn’t take up too much space, and offers the same functions as most other multicookers.
Reasons to buy:
Reasons to avoid:
Specs
Image credit: Ideal Home/Helen McCue
The Drew & Cole Cleverchef Pro comes in a surprisingly neat box, it’s easy to lift and remove it from the box. I was pleased to see very little plastic packaging, the majority is easily recyclable cardboard with just a few plastic bags.
The Cleverchef is a compact multicooker that doesn’t feel too big and cumbersome like some other brands. The charcoal exterior has an uncluttered control panel that consists of just one dial and a back button, giving it a neat and streamlined appearance and it’s certainly better looking than other multicookers I’ve reviewed.
The lid slots effortlessly into place and there’s a padlock symbol to indicate when it’s in the locked or unlocked position. While the lid isn’t hinged, it does have an integrated tab that slots into the back of the cooker, this holds the lid so you don’t have to put it on the counter if you don’t want to. On top, the pressure valve can easily be switched between the closed and release positions, but for safety it’s advisable to use tongs or wear an oven glove when venting steam.
Image credit: Ideal Home/Helen McCue
When not in use, the basket and trivet can be stored inside, even the power cord can be disconnected and popped inside for easy storage. The instruction manual is thorough, but doesn’t include any recipes, for these you’ll have to download the app or head to the website.
When you switch on the Cleverchef, the main menu first prompts you to choose a cooking style from the following: pressure cook, slow cook, multicook, steam, sauté, sous vide, DIY and keep warm. Once you’ve chosen a cooking style, it then lists pre-set cooking programs by food type. Each pre-set program has a default time and temperature, but these can easily be adjusted if necessary and you can also add a delay timer at this stage.
Image credit: Drew & Cole
All the pre-set programs are listed in the instruction manual, which details the default time and temperature as well as the available time or temperature range. So, if your particular food or recipe type isn’t listed, you can easily choose the program that most closely matches the time and temperature you think you need. I found the controls really intuitive to use.
While scrolling through the menus the display screen is illuminated blue, but when cooking or preheating, the display turns orange so you can see at a glance that it’s cooking, which is a nice feature.
Image credit: Ideal Home/Helen McCue
I picked the chicken madras recipe from the Drew & Cole app for my first meal. It utilises the sauté setting first to fry off the spices and the chicken. This is really easy, and not only did it mean I didn’t need to dirty a separate frying pan, but it kept all the flavours in the cooking pot. After sauteing and adding the rest of the ingredients, it’s just a case of putting the lid on and selecting the pressure cook function, followed by the curry chicken program.
The curry took just 24 minutes including the heat up time. I allowed the pressure to slow release for 15 minutes and then released the rest manually, which just requires flicking the pressure release switch so the steam can escape. The result was a fiery curry with very tender chicken, a great result for what felt like minimal effort. My only complaint would be that it was a little too runny, I’d have preferred it thicker, but having said that, you can just switch the sauté function back on and let it reduce further if you’re not too hungry to wait.
Image credit: Ideal Home/Helen McCue
To go with the chicken madras, I made Indian spiced basmati rice, which is another recipe from the app. I emptied the curry into a saucepan so it was easy to keep warm while the rice cooked. Then I added the rice, water and spices to the clean pot, locking the lid into position with the pressure valve closed and selecting the pressure cook function. The recipe uses brown basmati and I selected the brown rice pre-set program which takes just 20 minutes, although there was an additional six minutes to heat up. Unlike when you’re cooking on the hob you can walk away and not worry about it boiling over or boiling dry, so it’s super convenient.
Image credit: Ideal Home/Helen McCue
At the end of cooking I flicked the pressure release valve to the vent position so that the steam pressure released fast, it’s good to have it near an extractor fan during this stage due to the large amount of steam released. The finished rice was stickier than I’d usually expect for basmati rice, but cooked through and a perfect addition to the curry.
Image credit: Ideal Home/Helen McCue
While browsing the app for recipes I kept coming back to the Nutella brownie recipe and in the end, I couldn’t resist giving it a go. With just four ingredients, it’s a great recipe to make with kids. Once the ingredients are combined into a cake batter, the mixture gets tipped into the cooking pot. This recipe called for the Multicook function and then the ‘bake cake’ pre-set with the time adjusted to 30 minutes.
See also: the best stand mixers
I was sceptical about the results, not to mention how I’d get the finished cake out of the pot, however at the end of cooking the cake tipped out of the pot with ease. It was more of a cake than a brownie, so if I made it again, I’d definitely reduce the cook time. That said, it had a pleasant texture and while it wouldn’t win any awards at the local village fete, for a quick no-fuss cake, it’s not a bad option.
Image credit: Ideal Home/Helen McCue
This seemingly simple task was actually the trickiest of all the things I made in the Cleverchef Pro. The instruction manual says to fill with water up to the halfway line on the pot, then steam the broccoli in the basket on top of the trivet, but I had to reduce the amount of water as the steaming basket was sitting in it. There’s a broccoli steam pre-set which takes six minutes, although the total cook time including the pre-heat was 13 minutes. After this, the broccoli was still very hard and in the end, I put it on a further three times to get the broccoli steamed to the correct texture.
Image credit: Ideal Home/Helen McCue
I knew something wasn’t right so tried again, but this time I added just 1cm of water to the bottom of the pot. I still had to run the broccoli steam program twice to get perfectly cooked al dente broccoli, but the result was much better with less water in the pot. So I’d say if you’re planning to steam with the Cleverchef Pro, you’ll have to be prepared to experiment to get the results you’re looking for.
Image credit: Ideal Home/Helen McCue
I was disappointed that there was no mention in the instruction manual about whether the parts are dishwasher safe or not. Nevertheless, nothing was tricky to clean by hand, the cooking pot has a non-stick coating, and nothing stuck to it during my tests, so it was easy to clean as was the trivet and basket.
There’s a bit of fiddly cleaning to do around the pressure release valve to make sure it’s free of debris, but this is the same for most electric pressure cookers. The lid can be submerged in water for easy cleaning and the base doesn’t get dirty but is easy to wipe over should you need to.
Image credit: Ideal Home/Helen McCue
While it’s not a brand that immediately springs to mind when you’re thinking about buying a multicooker, in use, I felt that the Cleverchef Pro cooked just as well as some of the other more premium models available and it certainly doesn’t feel like it’s missing any functionality. If you’re new to multi-cookers and electric pressure cookers, you’ll benefit from the pre-set programs that take the guesswork out of cooking lots of different foods. The pre-sets give you the confidence to use it more often by providing a starting cook time and temperature that you can adjust to suit your own preferences.
I enjoyed trying out recipes on the app and created some delicious meals using the various functions available and despite the difficulties I had when steaming broccoli, I think that given the affordable price tag, it’s a good choice.
Helen McCue is a freelance contributor who trained as a Home Economist. After starting her career in the food industry, she moved into home appliance reviews, utilising her cooking skills and experience to put all kinds of products to the test, and over the years has reviewed hundreds of home and kitchen appliances for a variety of publications.
Having completely renovated her current house, Helen reviews kitchen appliances from her open plan kitchen at home in a beautiful Berkshire village. When she’s not working, Helen can be found enjoying the local countryside or dreaming about her next house renovation project.
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