Christmas in London: decorations

As you can tell, I have a huge soft spot for beautiful Christmas decorations, which, like most things, I entirely blame on my mum (sorry, mum!). She has the biggest and most eclectic collection of decorations, all picked up from her travels and lovingly cared for over the past 40-odd years. When I was a little girl, I loved the moment when she would disappear into the recesses of a dark closet and proudly emerge with a pile of dusty boxes with "Christmas decos" scrawled on the side. It was all very exciting - even in Australia's 30 degree December heat.

Here's my round-up of the 2007 Christmas collections from London stores, starting with the beauties at The Conran Shop:

Squirrel decoration, £10.95, from The Conran Shop www.conranshop.co.uk (020 7589 7401).

Swarovski poodle decoration, £24.95, from The Conran Shop www.conranshop.co.uk (020 7589 7401).

Swarovski mushroom decoration, £10.95, from The Conran Shop www.conranshop.co.uk (020 7589 7401).

I love the graphic icicle designs and the magenta colour palette on this year's Habitat line-up, which include:

Brush/flocked bauble, £3.50 for a pack of three, from Habitat.

Brush/painted bauble, £3.50 for a pack of three, from Habitat.

Engel embossed angel, £14, from Habitat.

And the V&A Museum can always be counted on for a selection of well-designed decorations:

Jewelled ruby snowflake decoration, £7, from the V&A shop.

Green jewelled star flower decoration, £3.50, from the V&A shop

Orange little cardigan decoration, £4.50, from the V&A shop.

And they've also great an excellent selection of Christmas art cards:

1950s bauble cards, £6 for a set of 10, from the V&A shop.

Bicycle ride Christmas cards, £4 for a set of 10, from the V&A shop.

Beatrix Potter Christmas cards, £6 for a set of 10, from the V&A shop.

The Conran Shop Chelsea
www.conranshop.co.uk
Michelin House
81 Fulham road
London SW3 6RD
Tel 020 7589 7401
Nearest tube: South Kensington

Habitat
www.habitat.co.uk

The V&A Shop
www.vandashop.com
V&A South Kensington
Cromwell Road
London SW7 2RL
Tel: 020 7942 2000
Nearest tube: South Kensington