Inside a Christmas house

by Metropol | November 26, 2025 8:32 am

Christchurch florist Millie MacAlpine found a way to lean into her festive obsession after designing a home with sweeping staircases and eight-metre-high ceilings set on six acres of rustic gardens.

A self-proclaimed ‘Chris-a-holic’ (which you will come to endorse), Millie MacAlpine has always adored Christmas time. Designing and building the aforementioned property on her parents’ land, Greystones, only fueled the fire. “My Christmas visions were in overload, the house really lends itself to next level Christmas decorating,” she says. Hosting friends and family sparked chatter, and Millie’s joy for entertaining, and Greystones Christmas House Tours evolved.

Millie learnt to cater for the “bigger and better” expectations of tour guests, who want to see Christmas in its extremity compared to how they decorate at home. “More is more in our house,” she laughs. With that, and her creative imagination, Millie’s name became synonymous with extravangantly designed and decorated spaces – and some 20 trees – which capture the essence of an exuberant, cheerful Christmas. She found her forté, and her tours flaunt it.

Influenced by incoming trends across fashion and colour, and with bits of inspiration jotted down year-round, Millie fuses modern and traditional looks together, weaving history and generational sentiment. A touch of rustic charm to match the property is the final stitch in the fabric. “The decorating takes a good couple of weeks, but also never ends, as my overactive creative mind is always seeing new ideas and tweaking the existing setup.”

If there’s any time to be excessive, it’s at Christmas – but for the beginner, festive styling can be overwhelming. Millie shares her four top tips to decorate tastefully, yet like a pro. Search Greystones on Facebook for this year’s décor.

Invest: If you’re starting a Christmas collection, it’s always nice to buy the more beautiful, albeit expensive ornaments, that will last a lifetime.
Foundations: You always need a good, solid base, especially at the bottom of your tree so it looks full. I always add extra branches to my trees for a lush effect.
Texture and depth: Use ribbons, fabric, feathers, artificial flowers, bunting… things that will help to add interest, texture and depth to your tree and spaces.
Lights, lights, lights: don’t underestimate luminosity. Fairylights are magical and not just for Christmas, I leave some up all year round.

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