How to decorate a small home for Christmas in Hong Kong – deck the halls with eco-friendly wreaths, miniature trees, seasonal candles and even faux snow, suggest design experts

Dec 6 , 2021

Bay windows are great for Christmas decorating without using living space. Photo: Getty Images/iStock

Christmas 2021

Create a winter wonderland in your small flat with gingerbread houses, fairy lights, decorative baubles, stockings and a sustainable Christmas tree

The Candle Company’s seasonal candles Snowflake and Christmas Berries, and the Yankee Candle’s Christmas Cookie, Cherries on Snow smell just like the holidays

With coronavirus and social distancing still ongoing concerns, entertaining at home has become a common practice – even in Hong Kong where space comes at a premium. And now the year’s most prominent entertaining season is just around the corner. If you really try, the holiday season can stretch from American Thanksgiving (at the end of November) right through Hanukkah and Kwanzaa, to Lunar New Year at the beginning of February. That’s a lot of entertaining.

Standing tall among those is Christmas. Decking out the halls in this city’s flats can be tricky business; accoutrements that are crucial to the holiday’s most elemental aesthetic have no place in Hong Kong – literally. How many of us have mantels from which to hang stockings?

Terracotta trees as Christmas decorations. Photo: Handout

But that doesn’t mean there aren’t plenty of ways to dress up the house for Christmas entertaining. It just takes a bit of care. “Space may be a privilege for typical Hong Kong homes,” says Colourliving assistant general manager for marketing, Ken Ip. “But we shouldn’t let that dampen our holiday mood.”

Start by getting the lay of the land, bearing in mind that when there’s no eggnog-fuelled evening with family, the space still needs to function as a home, and overloading on knick-knacks could hinder that.

Most flats have plenty of overlooked nooks to exploit, ideal for creating a Christmas vibe that will not demand floor area.

“Many Hong Kong homes have bay window ledges. These are perfect for setting up a Christmas or holiday display,” says John McLennan, executive chair at Indigo Living.

Bay windows are a great resource: extra space for special occasions that doesn’t get in the way of everyday life. McLennan suggests a winter scenario complete with faux snow, a gingerbread house, lights, candles, decorative baubles – perhaps even a small tree.

The living room is where most of us will do our holiday entertaining, and it’s also where most of us would expect to put the ultimate Yuletide symbol: the Christmas tree. The big, bulky tannenbaum.

“Everyone has a preference,” notes McLennan, his being the bigger the better, while recognising that size and price are the most common factors influencing most people’s choices. The simple solution is downsizing. Indeed, miniature versions of most Christmas decor items exist, including trees – Indigo carries a range of miniature trees with matching tchotchkes – and plenty of compact potted plants can work as stand-ins.