10 Steps To Festive Fun

Melbourne’s most gracious host, Chyka Keebaugh, reveals her secrets to a stylish – and stress-free – Christmas.

- Sarah Pickette

For Chyka Keebaugh, Christmas is definitely the most wonderful time of the year. “I’m obsessed with Christmas!” says the businesswoman and blogger who made her name planning extraordinary events. “I don’t understand it when people say they haven’t decorated the house or they’ve left their shopping to the last minute. I like to start thinking about gifts mid-year and I love planning a theme for how I’ll decorate my home.”

This year, Chyka has chosen on-trend forest green to flow right through her Melbourne home. “It’s important that everything is cohesive and there are touches of Christmas in every room.” That could mean miniature trees on the kitchen bench, a subtle waft of cloves drifting from candles in the hallway and beautiful bars of fir-scented soap in the bathrooms.

“Life moves fast these days,” says Chyka. “It’s more important than ever to embrace the festive season as a time to slow down and gather friends and family around you. This is our chance to reflect on the past year – and have a little fun in the process.”

1 CHRISTMAS STARTS AT THE DOOR

“I hang a wreath on the front door every year; that’s my announcement to the world that we’re a family of Christmas lovers! We have a tradition we stick to every year: we pick a date in December, get the whole family together, order pizza and pour some bubbles. then we decorate the tree and hang the wreath. this year I’m going with a beautiful silver dollar gum wreath tied up with an enormous satin bow.”

2 TAKE IT OUTSIDE