Real stories · Christmas without the ladder

Christmas up at the window in ten minutes — and the light still comes through

Christmas at the window in ten minutes, without losing the light — that's what these curtains turned out to be. I'm 67, and in our house 'decorating for Christmas' has always meant an expedition: the loft ladder, the box of lights that tangle themselves in storage out of spite, and Malcolm's annual speech about his back. By the time it's all up, I need a sit-down and the room is darker for it.

What I wanted was the festive feeling without the expedition — and without giving up my winter daylight, which is scarce enough as it is.

Then I found the Aurelinneva from a British label called York Boutique — a pair of sheer white voile panels with a border of red baubles, pine branches and snow printed along the top and edges, like a garland that someone else has already hung.

The clever part is that the garland is printed on the voile itself. Because the fabric stays sheer, the daylight pours straight through — which is why the room looks festive AND brighter, not festive and dim the way it does with heavy Christmas drapes. And they're made with a simple rod pocket: you slide them onto the pole you already have. No hooks, no ladder, no loft.

The garland is printed on sheer voile — which is why the window turns festive without the room losing a single hour of daylight.

At £24.95 for the set of two panels — half the usual £50 — it cost less than the replacement lights I buy most Decembers. There's a longer drop size too, also at half price.

They have since survived Winnie's close inspection and earned Pauline's highest scrutiny — she had to touch the border to believe the garland was printed, and then asked for the link before her coat was off. I did check before ordering that I could send them back if they looked different in our light — you can, within a fortnight, and the delivery's free.

If your Christmas decorating is also an expedition you keep postponing, do have a look. The Aurelinneva is rated 4.7 out of 5 by more than 280 customers, comes as a set of two panels in two drop sizes — and December has a way of arriving early.