Interiors: Christmas in purple and gold

Christmas in purple and gold

Christmas in purple and gold

Christmas in purple and gold

Christmas in purple and gold

Fancy a right royal Christmas? Look to regal shades of purple and gold to create a majestic environment.

All right, you might not go to the lengths we have here, decorating an entire wall in a gilded, almost-snowflake patterned wallpaper, and teaming it with a stunning purple console table from Heal's.

But there's no reason not to theme your decorations in this way. There's been a great hoohah about whether it's more eco-friendly to have a real tree or a fake - and we're still not entirely sure where the truth lies.

But if you want a gold tree that doesn't drop needles all over the place and you can use year after year, you're probably going to want to go down the artificial route.

If you have a gold tree, it's probably best not to adorn it with gold baubles. That doesn't mean ditching all those accumulated over the years. Instead, pick a bowl in a contrasting colour and just fill it with them.

Or, if you're feeling arty-crafty, you could try to recreate the bauble tree on offer at Next.

For the tree itself, look for baubles in striking shades of purple and pink. We've gone down the metallic route, but if that's too glitzy for you, opt for a matt version instead.

When it comes to giftwrap, there's lots of beautiful paper in the shops. But if you have a tricky-shaped gift or you are a bit cack-handed and always seem to get covered with sticky tape and end up with ill-folded corners, don't panic.

Look for hat boxes and gift boxes, such as those at Zara and Sainsbury's. Just nestle a bit of tissue paper in the bottom, pop the present on top, and wrap some co-ordinating velvet ribbon round it all.

Admittedly, when it comes to the presents under your tree, you can't legislate for the giftwrap your family chooses or for the cards friends send, but it's all about a bit of judicious placement.

The lurid, ill-wrapped ones can be nestled towards the back of the tree, while it's the work of a moment to organise your cards so the ones that fit in with your colour scheme are more prominently displayed than the ones that don't.