Leanne Carter-Taylor's Christmas is simple, traditional and always includes a vintage twist, just like the treasures in her Sydney store quintessential duckeggBLUE. She has generously given us a pair of vintage English children's shoe lasts (worth $195) for one lucky T&W member. Leave a comment here on the blog for your chance to win - full details below. For more inspiring Christmas ideas and beautiful gifts, read the latest edition of The Quintessential Magazine online.

My Christmas style is simple and understated. I like to give a nod to the festive season but in a vintage way. This will be our first Christmas spent in our newly renovated sandstone & weatherboard cottage (it's taken us 10 years to finally get around to renovating), so I'm looking forward to celebrating Christmas with vintage decorations, old linens for the table top and freshly made wreaths for our front door made from branches and dried hydrangeas (the wreaths are way beyond my talents, so Sydney florist, My Violet will be called upon for these!)  A real Christmas tree is a must . . . there's no room for negotiation on this.

This year I'll be buying gifts for family and friends from any of my 3 stores, duckeggBLUE, quintessential duckeggBLUE and our newly opened men's store, The Man Next Door . . . my husband's wardrobe has never looked as good as it does now!

My failsafe Christmas styling tip is less is more. It's always wiser to edit than it is to add.


Vintage treasures in Edition 6 of The Quintessential Magazine. Photographer - Sharyn Cairns. Stylist - Glen Proebstel.

On Christmas day I keep my sanity by We actually spend Christmas on our own as both our families live all over the world. We like this . . . just my husband & I and our 4 dogs . . . it's very relaxed, we don't have the pressure of entertaining, instead we do as we please- go for a swim, sit in the park, watch TV. . . maybe too low key for some, but perfect for us and very stress free.

All I want for Christmas is breathing space away from the businesses in the way of a vacation or to spend Christmas in the luxurious yet very traditional London hotel, Claridges……now that would be nice!

This Christmas I'll be serving a traditional English Christmas lunch, even if it's 30 degree heat here in Sydney! Even though I've lived in Australia for 13 years I still find it hard to adjust to all things seafood at the Christmas table……

My biggest Christmas faux pas was when Personally I don't think it has happened yet, but there is always time!  I have been known to fall asleep for a few hours during the afternoon over the past few Christmases – would that be classed as a faux pas?



To win this beautiful pair of vintage English children's shoe lasts from quintessential duckeggBLUE (worth $195), leave a comment here on the blog before 5pm (AEST) on Tuesday 3 December 2013. You must be a member of Temple & Webster to enter, and you may only enter once. We will choose our  favourite comment, and will notify the winner via their Facebook page or at the email address attached to their Temple & Webster account (if we are able to ascertain it) by Tuesday 10 December 2013. If we are unable to make contact with the winner via either of those methods within 30 days, we'll choose a replacement winner. Good luck! 
Update: Congratulations to Cate, the winner of the vintage shoe lasts!