How Scandinavia’s cosiest festive traditions (candlelight, folk-art figures and a little gold) can turn your home into a winter hideaway this year.
There is a reason the Danes are so good at Christmas. When the days shrink to a few grey hours of daylight, Denmark doesn’t fight the dark. It lights a candle against it, then another, and then another. The result is hygge: that hard-to-translate feeling of warmth, comfort and closeness that has become the country’s most famous export.
After a few years of trend-led, colour-of-the-moment Christmases, Danish style feels like a return to something deeper. It favours candlelight over neon, heirlooms over throwaways, and a handful of meaningful pieces over a tree buried in tinsel. It isn’t about spending more. It’s about choosing things you will love bringing out of the loft every December for the next twenty years.
Candlelight is the heart of it
If you take one idea from a Danish Christmas, make it this: light your home with flame, not just with bulbs. Danes burn candles through the whole of advent, often starting with a kalenderlys, a tall calendar candle marked with the days to Christmas and burnt down a notch each evening. On the table, an advent wreath holds four candles, lit one by one on the four Sundays before Christmas.
The effect is gentle and golden, and it changes a room completely. Group candles at different heights on the mantelpiece, cluster tea lights in glass on a windowsill, and let a pair of tall dinner candles anchor the dining table. Low light, lots of it, is the trick.
This is where a sculptural candle holder earns its place. Curated Living’s Wise Queens Candle Holder – £174, is a small procession of hand-painted crowned figures in deep ruby robes, holding tall candles aloft. Paired with a dark painted wall and a sprig of red berries, it is exactly the kind of mantelpiece moment the brand had in mind when it urged readers to put Christmas Queens on the mantelpiece this year.
The three kings, and a very Danish tradition
For many Danes, Christmas doesn’t end on Boxing Day. The season stretches through to Twelfth Night on 5 January, the eve of Epiphany, known in Denmark as Helligtrekongersaften. It was traditionally marked by lighting a three-branched candle, one flame for each of the Three Kings.
That makes the Magi a lovely thread to weave through a Danish-inspired scheme. Curated Living’s Wise Men Smoke figures, three kings riding horses in soft dove grey, charcoal and cream, have the charm of old European folk carving. Their cousins, the Wise Kings Ruby, stand tall in turbans and crowns of rose, gold and deep red, with painted robes that look lifted from a centuries-old nativity.
Each piece is hand-cast in resin, then painted by hand. That is the same spirit as the carved wooden figures handed down through Scandinavian families, where the decorations tell the family’s story as much as the season’s. As Curated Living puts it, these are heirloom pieces designed to “create new traditions.”
Folk art, faces and a touch of the sacred
Danish Christmas has always had a folk-art streak. There are the red-capped nisser (mischievous little household elves said to live in barns and attics), straw ornaments, and the famous woven paper hearts, or julehjerter. The oldest surviving woven heart is believed to have been made by Hans Christian Andersen himself.
Alongside the playful sits the reverent. The Mary Ruby Candle Holder is a serene figure in a ruby cloak over a star-scattered gown, cradling the Christ child beneath a gilded halo. Placed alone on a side table or at the centre of a candlelit sideboard, she brings a quiet stillness to the season that feels very much in keeping with the Nordic Christmas mood.
For a playful counterpoint, fold a few paper hearts from red and white card and tuck them into the branches of the tree. It is an easy afternoon craft, and a lovely one to share with children.
Red, white and a little gold
The classic Danish Christmas palette is red and white, the colours of the Dannebrog flag. It turns up everywhere: in tablecloths, paper decorations, candles and baubles. Keep it grounded with natural textures such as linen, wool, pine, dried oranges and plenty of greenery.
Then add just a little gold, which catches the candlelight beautifully. Curated Living’s Holy Night Golden Wreath is a delicate filigree ring of stars, angels and tiny nativity scenes in burnished gold. Hung on a dark wooden door or above a fireplace, it glows rather than glitters. It’s a grown-up alternative to the usual fir wreath, and one that will last for years.
How to bring Danish warmth into your home this Christmas
Start with light. Swap harsh overhead lighting for lamps and candles in the evenings, and give your mantelpiece or windowsill a candle focal point.
Choose fewer, better pieces. One beautiful hand-painted figure will do more for a room than a box of throwaway ornaments. Buy with the next twenty Christmases in mind.
Stick to a simple palette. Red, white and natural materials, with gold as the accent, will always look calm and considered.
Extend the season. Leave your kings on display through to Twelfth Night, and consider making 5 January an evening of candlelight of its own.
Make something together. Paper hearts, dried orange garlands and pine-cone decorations are all traditionally Scandinavian, and cost almost nothing.
Where to buy
The Curated Living Christmas 2026 collection is in stock now at curatedliving.co.uk and in the brand’s shop in Haslemere, Surrey.
- Candle Holder Wise Queens: £174
- Wreath Holy Night Golden: £175
- Homeycomb oversize sculptures £21.25
- Set of three wise men candle holders. £333
- Candle Holder Mary Ruby: £106.25
- Heirloom figurine candle holder angel dove ruby. £106.25
About Curated Living: Curated Living is an independent lifestyle and homeware brand offering a carefully chosen collection of elegant, stylish and handcrafted pieces selected for their character and charm. Sourced from around the world, the range spans authentic vintage finds, contemporary homeware, home scents, and bath and body collections, alongside statement lighting, textiles, jewellery and one-of-a-kind designer pieces.
Prices correct at the time of publication.
