Decorate your space this holiday season!

The holidays are almost upon us! London has turned on its beautiful lights and put up its Christmas trees, and it may have put you in the mood to decorate your own space. Luckily, shops all around the cities have prepared seasonal displays that can help you do just that. I visited a few of them over the first weeks of November: here is a (non-exhaustive) list of places where you can shop for beautiful baubles and garlands around the city.

Liberty

My absolute favourite department store when it comes to Christmas decorations. Just around the corner from Regent Street, the famous wooden building has installed a beautiful Christmas shop that takes up most of the fourth floor.

From beautiful wreaths, to London-theme decorations, to glass blown baubles, to darling felt animals, you’re sure to find something you like - and contrary to what you might think, some of these decorations are very accessible budget-wise!

My advice: avoid going on weekends, as the store can get very crowded!

Where to find it: Regent St, on the corner with Great Marlborough St. The Christmas Shop is on the 4th floor.

Fortnum & Mason

Another department store - but what can I say, they are beautiful and they have everything. Fortnum & Mason is more often associated with food, and though they have a great selection of Christmas food, they have also prepared a beautiful assortment of Christmas decorations - a lot of them are food-shaped, of course. If you’re a tea fiend like me, you’ll love their tea themed decorations, all in the extremely iconic F&M blue-green.

Where to find it: Picadilly, on the corner with Duke St, St James’s. The Christmas decorations are on the First Floor. Walking distance from LSE if you fancy a stroll after class!

Søstrene Grene

This chain has shops all over London - be sure to pop in one of them for very affordable decorations with clean, Scandinavian aesthetic. They’re also great if you want to shop for stocking fillers!

Where to find it: lots of shops across London. The closest one to campus is at 25 Tottenham Court Rd.

Museum Gift Shops

An underrated place to shop for Christmas decorations - in my opinion, the gift shops in London museums (and other tourist attractions) are top tier and many of them have prepared a Christmas selection that includes decorations. Even if the site itself isn’t free to access, you can often enter the gift shop without paying for a ticket.

My personal favourite is the London Transport Museum in Covent Garden (I absolutely love their sparkly public transport themed decorations), but places like the British Museum, Tower Bridge or Westminster Abbey have a Christmas selection of their own! You can check them out online before going there to shop.

Happy decorating!