Ever since she was a child Sarah Bannister was in love with Christmas, not just for gifts to find under the tree and Santa's sack, but especially for the decorations. Even as a child she enjoyed helping her mother decorating Christmas trees, there were always three, each a different colour depending on the furnishing of the room. Her passion for Christmas and its decorations have become a real work in progress over time. During the year, Sarah searches for special combinations and trinkets that can be used to dress the magnificent Christmas trees that are created to be in harmony with the dining tables and their respective rooms.

"It's very important that there is harmony between the colours," says Sarah with her beautiful British accent, "I love to decide which plates, cutlery sets and tablecloths will be used and then the tree is based on the relevant setting or colour scheme." Mainly she looks at what's in the house, such as the colour of dishes and glasses or table linen available. It is also important to consider the colour of the room and the style of the furniture, to coordinate the setting.

Sarah begins designing the table taking into consideration the colour of the tablecloth and the theme of the tree and then continues to create a beautiful centerpiece. And a respectable Christmas table must have candles. At this point she can decorate the tree, firstly there must be plenty of fairy lights and then as an example the forest tree is mixed with forest fruits and flowers, orchids, roses, elves, fairies, birds, birds nests and owls, using a predominance of natural colours, like green, brown and ochre, and then filling it out with other gold and copper leaves and ferns. Her Italian shop, which is actually an antique shop located in Sutri, Viterbo, is already decorated by October. It really seems to enter into a magical world; this shop might be in Diagon Alley, the famous Wizards’ street in the Harry Potter books. The designer buys mainly objects she likes that give her pleasure and since she's a nice lady and rather eccentric, the store reflects her taste and her passions. Here you can find pretty much everything and Sarah has so much fun in mixing particular objects with decorations, combining them all together to make truly unique and original tables. Now famous for her trees and tables, as well as being an antiques dealer and decorator, she’s become a real Christmas Interior Decorator, presenting television programmes on how to prepare and decorate homes for this unique moment. For those who want a further taste of this magical world, she will be broadcast on Leonardo (Italian SKY channel 418) on 21st of December at 20:30.

Merry Christmas to all!

For more information www.sarahjbannister.com