The Twenty-Something Series: My must-have Christmas decorations for rented accommodation

It's basically December, which means: Christmas is here! 

(You may also have noticed a new look in the Twenty-Something Series graphic on this post... I've got a few more festive-themed posts coming up, so figured they deserved a bit of a different look!)

Christmas is like, my time of year. I love it. Once November hits, I'm playing my Christmas playlists, I'm shopping for presents, I'm watching the movies... I love it.

But it's not quite so easy to decorate for Christmas when you're in rented accommodation. Whether that's because it's impractical to store a six-foot tree, or because you simply don't have the money or the space right now to invest in the whole kit and caboodle. Plus, you can't always hang decorations if you can't put pins in the walls.

This year, as you'll know if you read a few of my other Twenty-Something Series posts, I'm in rented accommodation. I'd love to go all-out with my Christmas decorations but when I'll be moving out in a few months, it's just not practical. And at uni, I couldn't have too much in the way of decorations either: but I did have a few things I bought to decorate my room (tinsel. It was mostly tinsel. I'm not counting the leftover Christmas cards or wrapping paper as decorations).

But I'm still determined to make my flat as Christmassy as possible, so here are a couple of my Christmas must-have decorations for rented accommodation.

A tiny tree.

Most supermarkets sell these tiny Christmas trees (fake ones, of course) that light up. Personally, I've not bothered with baubles for my two-foot tree, and there's no star, either, but it still has a great festive feel! I nabbed a two-foot tree for £5 in Asda (AND it came with the batteries for the lights), but in all honesty, the lights were a bit sparse and it didn't have quite as much impact as I'd have liked. Simple solution, though: I just grabbed another pack of fairy lights. And speaking of...

Fairy lights.

They're so twinkly and adorable and if you can't have them outside the house or can't get a tree, find somewhere to drape them inside the house! I've put a string of fairy lights on the cabinet in front of my TV, but can't pin any up elsewhere. My choice is Wilko's warm white lights, for a bargain of £2.50, including the batteries! Honestly, you'd be surprised the number of fairy lights I saw in other shops that were twice the price and then you'd have to go buy batteries, too. (Go ahead, call me Scrooge for wanting to save myself some money...)

Stand-alone decorations.

Card Factory was my go-to this year for a bargain ornament. I got an adorable white wood Christmas tree that's about six inches tall, with gold writing on and a sparkly gold wood star on top. Easy to store, about £1.50, and it looks adorable. You can't go wrong! I also managed to find (again, in Card Factory) a glittery green wire Christmas tree. It's adding a bit of sparkly to my window sill, and for only 99p I'm kind of wishing I'd bought ten of them...

Tinsel.

OH MY GOD. Isn't tinsel the best? Isn't it the most Christmassy thing to ever be Chrismassed? Granted, fairy lights might be a year-round thing for some people (especially the warm white lights instead of the multicoloured ones) but tinsel is very much something that's only for Christmas. Hang it over the photo frames on the walls! Tie it around the doorknobs! Drape it around the tables and cabinets! Add it to your tiny tree, if you like! Wherever you can tuck a bit of tinsel, go for it. It's easy to find whatever colour you like best for dirt-cheap, too. 



Also... I know they're not necessarily Christmas decorations, but Christmas-scented products add a huge amount of festive cheer, for me. Whether that's a Body Shop hand cream, a gingerbread candle, or just baking something with cinnamon. 


What are some of your favourite Christmas decorations when you're in rented/temporary accommodation? Share in the comments below!