As the world hurtles helter-skelter towards the end of the year – with a feeling of uncertainty around each corner that excites my banking friends and terrifies the rest of us – is there anything more reassuring than the thought of taking to hearth and home with family and friends this Christmas? There is not. And I predict that this year, as never before, the very idea of “home” – of closeness to the people and places we love most – will be what is important in the long dark nights of December.

To begin, then: light is the most fundamental of Christmas decorations. I live by the light of candles and fires, especially as we wake in darkness and dusk settles at three o’clock in the afternoon. The flickering light of a candle or log fire on a grey winter day is alive and produces the most beautiful colour that I know. If you are going to decorate your house with nothing else, it should be with candlelight.

Then, a day or two before Christmas, I like to go into the woods and fields to gather great branches of ivy and holly. The glistening green of their leaves is the perfect foil to the light of a candle in a polished Georgian silver candlestick. Placed across the mantle shelf of your chimney piece, or hung around the ceiling, or on the dining table, the effect is arresting, simple and perfect. And just in case you think this is purely the preserve of the country-dweller, it is reassuring to know that most cities are full of wild places where ivy grows. Canals, derelict corners, the edges of parks – the adventurous and intelligent forager will find everything required.