Eco-friendly Christmas suggestions from Pia Capdevila

The holidays are just around the corner and we all feel the excitement for these very special dates. The streets of our city are lit up, we probably already know who our Secret Santa is by now and are thinking about what our resolutions for the new year 2022 will be.

Nevertheless, Christmas is one of the times of the year when the most excesses occur: more shopping, more food, gifts, company dinners, and, of course, increasingly spectacular Christmas decorations that adorn every corner of our cities and homes.

En conjunto y durante las fiestas se produce un aumento de los deshechos, que llega a alcanzar, de media, hasta un 25%. De este elevado volumen de desperdicios solo un 2% se recicla, según las estimaciones.

At Núñez i Navarro, we want our Christmas to be as pleasant as possible for the planet. We aim to convey the excitement of the season beyond words, and also express it through Christmas decorations. However, from a sustainable perspective. Decorating with recycled and sustainable materials, in addition to saving money while protecting the environment, will also provide an excellent excuse to spend time with family.

If you're tired of traditional Christmas decorations and are looking for something innovative and original, why not try sustainable decor? Today we're discussing this with a professional in the field, Pia Capdevila, a professional interior designer who was in charge of decorating the interior of one of the apartments at the NN Promoción Illa Augusta, who defines this festive season with the word “Light, because it's now that we dress up our homes, transform them, and fill them with magic. We are increasingly aware of the well-being that our homes convey, and we even recognize how their appearance can have effects on our mood”.

With the guidance of Pia Capdevila, today we offer you some sustainable ideas that you can easily incorporate into your table this holiday season to impress your guests and “enjoy the holidays in a different, brilliant, and daring way”, because remember: sustainability is not synonymous with austerity and, as Capdevila says, “less is more”.

Centerpieces remain a symbol in these celebrations. If you want to get a more sustainable centerpiece, we suggest using pine, fir, or eucalyptus twigs that we can prune or find. We can shape the branches by joining them with wire to our liking and decorate them with low-energy LED lights or candles.

Capdevila has a fondness for eucalyptus and fir leaves because, “whether fresh or dried, they add a warm touch to the tables”, and from her experience, she notes: “I like to decorate the centers with garlands and wreaths of a wide variety of greens, with large leaves especially at the base of the centers. I also tend to give them personality with the occasional Christmas touch like red-painted leaves, ribbons, beads... “

When we take an interest in the trends of 2021 regarding colors and sizes for centerpieces, Capdevila recommends “combinations of red, green, and gold on one hand; and blue, black, and white on the other. As for the sizes, I like the centerpieces to be eye-catching and to fill the table, but at the same time to be comfortable enough to serve the food. If the table is very long, it will be necessary to repeat the centerpieces along it so that they don't look disproportionately small.”

Dress your table with cotton tablecloths and reuse them whenever you need to, unlike disposable paper tablecloths. Fabric tablecloths will allow you to optimize cleaning time afterwards, where you can use toxic free cleaning products, natural and made from lemon, vinegar, or baking soda.

To incorporate tablecloths into our halls elegantly, the interior designer recommends that “the tablecloths, besides having a neutral tone, should dress the table down to the floor. The pattern should be on the overlay, the table runners, or the chargers, which will be responsible for adding color to the table”, she points out.

If neutral colors don't convince us and we want to show off more color, Pia Capdevila gives us options for all tastes and suggests “tartan tablecloths, which wonderfully accompany this season; or Toile de Jouy prints, which give a romantic touch to spaces”. Bold prints should not scare us, as they are easy to combine. To do it in the best way, the interior designer often “mixes them with neutral linen bases or with touches of velvet, to play with the prints on napkins, chargers, and with decorative ribbons”.

Between appetizers, first course, main course, desserts, nougats, and coffee, we'll need to keep our hands and the table clean. And is there a better solution than nice washable cloth towels that can be used on other occasions?

By using cotton napkins we will avoid using paper ones, which are practically impossible to recycle after being used as they contain food residue; and thus we will give our space personality.

In this case, we must consider the predominant color of the set to avoid disrupting the aesthetic and to seek harmony: “If we use patterns like tartan or toile de jouy, we can use napkins in the shade of the plain pattern or also with the same pattern as the tablecloth. If we use solid bases, we will have more options to use patterns on the napkins.”

For this utensil, Capdevila recommends folding the fabrics in original ways to create a beautiful and neat visual effect: “I like to gather them by making a knot or with a ribbon or a string”, which we can always retrieve from our wardrobe, “and hang some Christmas element on them like a flower, a detail from the tree, etc., and I usually place them on top of the plates.”

Dishes and glassware

Dare to mix and match your dishes! With a bit of imagination and the courage to mix colors, any setting can become the ideal Christmas scene by adding small details.

Regarding glassware, opt for red or green glasses and cups, which you can also use throughout the rest of the year. These colors, which we always associate with these celebrations, will help you dress the table with a more festive spirit.

Decorative elements

When it comes to decorating our spaces, every detail matters. Beyond the fabrics that dress the tables, we can also decorate bottles, glasses, and plates that we are going to use to create an unbeatable Christmas atmosphere on our tables.

An original idea: use dried oranges for decoration. Simply slice the oranges thinly and bake them at about 80º degrees for two hours. Once out of the oven, you can hang the slices using colorful threads and strings, and decorate bottles, door knobs, and even use them as decorative balls for the Christmas tree.

Taking advantage of the idea, Pia Capdevila also recommends pomegranates, as they are an easy and convenient fruit to use in Christmas decorations because it's a seasonal fruit, and moreover, its colors help us create arrangements around the traditional Christmas colors, as they perfectly combine with shades of red, green, and gold.

If you use pomegranate as an ingredient in your Christmas menu, also use the peel that covers the fruit and write the name of each of your guests on it to indicate their place at the table. They will surely remember it!

There are many ideas that we can incorporate into our tables so that sustainability and style go hand in hand during these festivities, although imagination will undoubtedly be your best ally for decoration.

Take the first step and make a difference in the upcoming family gatherings with eco-friendly decorations that are more respectful of the environment.

Your guests and the planet will thank you. Happy holidays to everyone!