Christmas Home of the year: Festive finalists battle it out

The terraced house, which is home to Katie and Jamie Morris, is one of the five finalists to be featured in this year’s BBC programme Scotland's Christmas Home of the Year.

It is competing alongside a Greenock apartment with a traditional theme, a Perthshire house transformed with Christmas keepsakes from around the world, an enchanted cottage in Glasgow’s West End and a glitzy townhouse in East Renfrewshire.

According to Ms Campbell-Jones, this year’s line-up offers something to suit every taste, but the Edinburgh offering stands out as the stunning interior is almost all homemade.

Katie Morris says: “In terms of our personal style, I think we were chosen because we don’t shy away from colour and we definitely see the style through the eyes of our six-year-old daughter, Beth.

“We don’t have the biggest house, so perhaps the programme wanted to show what can be done in an average Scottish home.”

Since buying the house five years ago they have transformed the interior with a basement conversion and refigured the layout of the accommodation.

Katie works in health and social care while Jamie runs an event company, Spice Scotland.

With full time jobs, their dedication to decorating at Christmas is impressive. Katie says: “We spend many happy hours making everything - the TV hasn’t been on for weeks. Jamie and I do it in the evening and we make things with Beth, at the weekends and after school.”

Jamie's older daughter, Seren, aged 17, lives just round the corner and the two girls are taken shopping in the run up to the holidays each year to buy a decoration for the tree.

Katie says: “We build on it year on year, for us it is about adding a few things each Christmas. It is a lovely tradition.”

Other than that, the decorations are hand-crafted and the finished house is a riot of colour.

There are four main Christmas trees and another 15 smaller ones dotted around the house.

Katie likes to learn a new skill each year – in 2023 she took an online class in foliage arrangements and, in previous years, she has taken part in a wreath masterclass which now sees her creating her own each year.

She says: “Beth’s bedroom is made of decorations that she has made or chosen. It is very colourful – she already has a seven-foot rainbow on her wall so it fits in with that.

“Her tree is decorated with her favourite things – which aren’t always what you would consider traditional Christmas decorations! She has a display of cushions, some of which were mine when I was a child and were made by my nan.”

The master bedroom, which the couple recently refurbished, utilises leftover wallpaper and paint from that project to give a coordinated look. Katie says: “The wallpaper we made into tree baubles and then painted, so it all matches. I’ve also made fabric Christmas stockings to hang on the mantelpiece.”

There are foliage displays in the kitchen, living room and bedroom. She adds: “The kitchen is a real family space so we have created an elf’s Christmas breakfast for the table, and because the room opens out to the garden there is a lot of greenery in there, and a culinary theme of dried oranges and gingerbread.

“The guest room doubles as a music room so we have used sheets of musical notes to make paper chains.

“The rest of the house is full of garlands, and because my stepdaughter Seren’s name means star in Welsh we have used plenty of stars in the decor, too.”

A few years ago Jamie gifted Katie a lino-cutting kit, a technique for printing that she loved as a child, and so now the family’s Christmas cards are all homemade too.

Katie always has a craft project on the go, year round. She admits to not being much of a knitter or sewer but she has created soft furnishings, lampshades and the master bedroom headboard.

She has an Instagram account to showcase her projects and it was there that she saw the advert to apply for this year’s edition of Scotland’s Christmas Home of the Year.

She says: “I didn't see it till November, so thought we might be too late but the process was quite simple. We sent a few pictures in and were contacted by researchers who wanted to come and take a look.

“We hurriedly decorated a couple of rooms and then were told about a week before filming that we had made it as a finalist so it was a mad dash to get everything done.”

The couple were interviewed in the house and then as judging is done without the homeowners present, they had to leave for a few hours to let the experts assess their handiwork.

Whether or not they win, they’ve enjoyed the process and Katie says that their approach to Christmas is more than about the finished look.

“I think crafting is really good for our mental wellbeing and it is something we really enjoy doing together – spending quality time away from screens and making some great memories.”

In terms of advice for others who would like to emulate the festive look, Katie says that that keeping an eye on the budget is important, as crafting isn’t cheap as you might think. “Reusing and recycling fabric and storing up things like leftover coloured card, wallpaper and paints is vital.

“I think it is something anyone could do – making a paperchain is easy and if it brings you joy then that is all that really matters.”

Scotland’s Christmas Home of the Year is on BBC One Scotland on Monday 18 December, 8.00pm