Hohoho! Look, guys, we know Christmas is still a couple of months away, but when these images of Ikea's 2016 Christmas collection landed on my desk (or in my inbox, even), I couldn't help but get a flutter of excitement for the season ahead. Maybe it is the Scandinavian in me, as I tend to favour very Scandi-like holiday decorations (and interior in general, to be fair), but I LOVED pretty much everything about these images. According to Ikea, the collection is inspired by Swedish folk from the 1800s, and they have used plenty of simple and natural materials such as yarn, wool, linen and wood, which all tend to feature heavily in Scandinavian homes, both for Christmas and also in general. The collection is in true winter colors such as grey, black and white with seasonal touches in red and silver, with the idea being that you can keep a lot of these cozy decorative elements up all winter long. The collection includes lovely lighting and plenty of fairy light to create a warm and cozy atmosphere. Combine this with soft fabrics, seasonal decorations and warm colors and voila; your home in winter proof and full of perfect Scandi 'hygge.' This is what Karin Gustavsson, Creative Director at IKEA Sweden has to say: ‘For me, Christmas is about my loved ones. That’s when you have time to hang out, eat together and have fun together. When I decorate home, I prefer natural colors so that I can have it there all winter. I want to preserve the feeling a long time.’ One of the things I miss most about home at Christmas time (apart from the snow!) is the way Scandinavians are much better at making the whole month of December into this cozy preparation for the holiday season, and slightly less about just the crazy shopping frenzy for Christmas Day, which (no offense) I think there is a lot more of here in Ireland. Unfortunately. In Scandinavia, the whole of advent (the weeks leading up to Christmas) is more celebrated as an event almost in itself, with people often inviting friends and neighbours over to their houses for baking of all the traditional cookies (seven different kinds), sampling the homemade mulled wine or jusy cozying up, with a lot of candles and baked goods, and enjoying being together. Now, did these images get YOU in the Christmas spirit?