Real stories · Christmas that fits in a drawer

I love a Christmassy house and hate the boxes in the loft — these four cushion covers solved both

Christmas that fits in a drawer — that's what these turned out to be. I'm 67, and I love a Christmassy house. What I don't love is the January part: the boxes, the loft, the ladder, and Malcolm standing at the bottom of it offering opinions. Every year I want the living room to feel festive, and every year I buy slightly less because I know it all has to live somewhere for eleven months.

What I wanted was Christmas cheer with no storage bill.

Then I found the Selviannea set from a British label called York Boutique — four Christmas cushion covers: a Santa, a tree, a reindeer and a snowman, all in cream and gold that looks like carved plaster rather than a paint factory explosion.

The trick is that they're covers, not cushions. They slip straight over the cushions already sitting on your sofa — there's a hidden zip along the edge, so on they go in a minute and the room is suddenly festive without a single new object entering the house. And here's the part I'd underline twice: in January they unzip, fold flat, and all four disappear into one drawer. No box. No loft. No ladder committee. The listing is honest, too — the design is a high-definition print, not embroidery — and in real life it photographs like relief work; two visitors have now touched the snowman to check.

They're covers, not cushions — they slip over the cushions already on your sofa, and in January they unzip, fold flat and disappear into a drawer. No box, no loft, no negotiating with Malcolm about the ladder.

The set of four was £19.95 in the sale, half the usual £40 — less than a supermarket poinsettia that's compost by February — and with a fortnight to send them back and free delivery, there was no risk in looking.

They went on in November-spirit early, because I wanted the trial run: the room went festive in four minutes, Winnie claimed the reindeer corner within the hour, and my granddaughter has appointed the snowman 'hers'. That's the set adopted, then. It comes in three sizes, so measure your cushions before you order.

If you also love a Christmassy house but dread the boxes, do have a look. The Selviannea set is rated 4.7 out of 5 by more than 270 households, it comes as the full set of four designs in 40, 45 or 50 centimetre sizes — and being the cheerful sort of purchase it is, it sells fastest of all as December gets close.