There’s a lot of pressure to make a splash, but you can create beautiful festive decor on a budget – just ask the people who do it all year round
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t has been Christmas in the retail world for weeks but most of us are only now getting the decorations out at home. How can you reuse and recycle what you already have to create the perfect festive feel? Shop window-dressers – or visual merchandisers, as they are also known – share their tips for capturing the magic of the most wonderful time of the year.
“Planning spans a full year, so Christmas is never far from our minds,” says Lisa Clemenger, visual concepts manager at Liberty in London.
At Jarrolds, an independent department store in Norwich, planning for Christmas 2026 will start at the end of January, says Julie Blanch, who is head of visual merchandising. “It is weird when, in July, you are absolutely boiling and we are dressing Christmas trees and cutting ribbons.”
