“Do incorporate your ‘what’s old’ into your ‘what’s new’,” says designer Flora Soames in the ‘dos and don’ts of decorating’ she wrote for House & Garden. It’s a mantra that informs her own fabric designs, which offer a fresh twist on nostalgic patterns, and also her interiors projects, which are rooted in the language of the English country house. The phrase indeed sums up what’s best about the idea of the country house – the constant blending of new things with old things – and about family Christmases that continue in the same house from generation to generation.

West Barsham Hall in North Norfolk was built in the 1900s by Flora’s great grandparents, and is now occupied by her parents, Jeremy and Susanna Soames. “It’s an Edwardian house that was designed for feeling comfortable,” says Flora, “and it’s a deeply sociable house. It’s all about people coming together and having fun, and Christmas is of course the perfect time for that. In terms of decoration, it’s one of those houses where the more you pile on, the more it absorbs. And I’m definitely not a less is more person.”

Helen Cathcart

The house is filled with memories of Christmases orchestrated by her grandparents and later by her parents, and although their traditions are still very much present, there is space for Flora to incorporate her own style as she returns with her children, nephews and nieces. “My mother and grandmother had definite views and quite a fixed, schematic approach to Christmas,” she explains, “whereas I’m not that formulaic. My mother definitely raises an eyebrow when she sees the sparkly pink decorations that I’m now unpacking for the tree. But for me, decorating for Christmas is about making memories. I love that I’ve brought so much of the tree of my childhood into the way that I decorate for Christmas, but also it’s about the new memories that I’m making for our children.”