Talk about chutzpah. Andrea Hunt must buy Windex in bulk. The marketing professional and her husband, who works in healthcare, live in a slick, art-filled white house full of windows with three boys under the age of eight. Yet, not only is the home warm and welcoming during Christmas – thanks to dark, Jacobean- stained floors and friendly hits of red – it’s also not a hands-off affair.

“With three boys, how can it be?” says Andrea, who adds that the crisp palette and streamlined design scheme is great for a family. “Keeping it minimal helps maintain calmness, and open sightlines mean I can keep an eye on the boys. Living in colour feels chaotic.” This explains Andrea’s penchant for restrained holiday decorating: “I like just enough to signal festive,” she says, “but still feel minimal and clean.”

Sleek kitchen
Andrea loves to bake but admits that this gingerbread house is store-bought. “It would look like a shed if I made it,” she says.
Festive fireplace
Simple flourishes: grey stockings, a rubyred wreath, fresh-cut amaryllis and a boxwood garland strike a quaint Christmas scene.
Holiday tabletop
A controlled colour palette presents a dynamic picture in the dining room. Suiting the home’s streamlined look, the holiday tabletop is elegant and understated, achieved through glass candle holders and crystal wine glasses and restrained punches of red in the amaryllis, table runner and small accessories.
Silver ornaments
Mostly decorated with pretty plastic ornaments, the Christmas tree can handle running children bumping into it, notes homeowner Andrea Hunt.
Decor accessories
Sparkly silver pine cones and a branch of bright red holly berries transform the living room coffee table into a festive vignette in a jiffy.