It might seem early to be talking about Christmas decorations, but past experience has taught me that you need to act fast to get the most stylish and best-value ones. Even if that means Christmas shopping in early October.

Last year, my big loss was missing out on Habitat’s £5 statement green stripe paper star decoration. I spent too long dithering over whether I needed one or three (the answer is always three). By the time I decided, it had flown out of stock, and it was only October. I’ve been waiting patiently for a year, and I’m happy to announce that it is finally back in stock, but act fast; they’re already becoming like gold dust to get your hands on.

Paper stars are always a staple festive decoration, but over the last two years, larger, colourful and striped iterations have been a big breakout christmas decor trend.

‘Scandi-inspired Christmas stars have been popular for a while now. But in the last couple of years, they’ve become a major focus of so many people’s Christmas decor,’ explains Ideal Home’s Room Decor Editor, Sara Hesikova. ‘And this year, pretty much all the major high street brands and retailers we love buying our Christmas decorations from have jumped on the trend. Compared to previous years, the favoured look has evolved, though as brands are leaving the uber minimalist styles behind in favour of stripes and layered, snowflake-reminiscent shapes.’

This year, M&S has launched its own £15 striped paper star in red and green colourways, and they’ve been selling like hotcakes. IKEA has also brought back its own ever-popular STRÅLA star lampshade in a bold red. However, Habitat’s XL paper star remains both the best-looking and best value for money at £5.

I was alerted to the Habitat Paper Star last year by Ideal Home’s Room Decor Editor, who spotted it in person at the Habitat Christmas preview and was blown away by just how big the decoration was. Measuring 75 cm across, it is about the size of a computer monitor or a backpack; it delivers a big impact for a fraction of the price of similar-style decorations.

Last year, the star was only available in a green stripe, but this year Habitat has brought it back in a red stripe too. Red is always a staple festive colour, but burgundy and red stripes are set to be massive this Christmas, especially with the ongoing trend for rich, dark, juicy reds going strong in the rest of the interiors world.

I’m planning to snap up three of the red stars to display on the wall in my pink living room as the backdrop for my Christmas tree. That is, if I can get my hands on three.

The stars are already showing as sold out for many locations in the green colourway, and currently I can only find two of the red stars for collection at my local Argos. So if you want to snap any up, I’d recommend acting fast.

Alternatives

If the Habitat paper stars are currently all out of stock in your local area for delivery and collection, I’ve tracked down a few other statement stars and snowflakes that give this classic scandi decoration a joyful spin.