Festive home style with a dash of Oriental chic

If you want to add a little Christmas sparkle to your home, let us inspire you with some of our favourite looks for stylish table settings, all with an added dash of Oriental chic.

We love this sophisticated combination of black and gold, with glamorous dark glassware, understated foliage and atmospheric lighting.

Recreate the look with our yoke-back side chair in black lacquer, birdcage table lamp and silk cushion in golden taupe. Add candlesticks at different heights and scented mirrored tea light votives around the room for a glowing warmth.

The Christmas table below again uses lighting to great effect, this time with accents of red for high drama.

We love the grand arrangement of burgundy hydrangeas and the glass nightshades, reminiscent of Chinese lanterns. You can add a touch of Oriental drama with red accessories from the Shimu collection. Below is our silk cushion in claret red, a silk and carved stone tassel for wall decoration (with a double happiness symbol to bring Christmas joy) and wire and canvas Chinese lanterns, each of which casts a gorgeous glow when filled with a tea light.

For our final look, we’re styling a table made from distressed wood, reminiscent of the reclaimed elm we use in much of our handcrafted furniture, with patterned ceramic rice bowls and dramatic gold highlights. You can match the look with pieces from our collection including our solid wood table in rustic elm from the Chinese Country range and our small white hand-painted ceramic ginger jars.

You can find all these pieces plus lots more handcrafted Oriental furniture and Chinese antiques online at shimu.co.uk. Why not also consider a visit to our West Yorkshire showroom, close to the Leeds/Bradford ring roads. It makes a lovely destination for a Christmas shopping expedition and we’d be delighted to welcome you.

All the table settings I’ve featured here (and more) can be found for your inspiration on our ‘Chic Christmas Style’ Pinterest board. You can also now follow us on Instagram.