Stylish gift-wrapping ideas

The same velvet ribbon looks completely different when you first use a length of dark and then move to a length of light on top. Lara's colour scheme works in part because the hues are so intense, creating a depth of contrast that you wouldn't find if you were using only pale colours, say, or just neutrals.

Be unconventional
Turn the tables—use the kraft paper as the accent, not the base wrapping, on a couple of presents. Use tissue or rice paper in pink as the main covering to stir things up a bit, and treat the kraft paper as ribbon, cutting a thin length, crimping the edges and securing in a band around the package.

Go non-traditional
Both in choice of wrapping materials and colour selections; here we've worked with unusual burgundies, pinks and natural colours. Other themes to try are yellows and greens; silvery blues and reds; gold and brown; white, blue and natural; silver and pale, pale green—the choice is yours.

Deconstruct the elements
Keep them guessing by wrapping individual pieces of a gift separately. Parcels that are all the same size don't have as much decorative give-and-take as those with diverse outlines. Stack your items, line them up, tie an unusually shaped object onto a more conventional box, or wrap one thing inside another.

Be particular
This is the place for the finer details, so be a perfectionist. Remember to remove price tags, trim frayed ends on ribbon, make sure your lines are straight, and to keep corners of wrapping paper sharp.

Read more in Decorating and Seasonal Decorating