Holiday decorating
As a sentimental person, I really relish the holiday season. In my decorating for this special time of year, I like to approach it with a balance of magic and livability. I believe that our strongest memories are the ones that have many layers of experience—so my only rules for holiday decorations are it must feel warm and authentic, and be something you’re willing to do year after year.
Amaryllis in the window. Plant in early November for a Christmas bloom.
That said, it is really easy to over-do it on holiday decorating, IMO; there are just so many options. One way to keep it cohesive while still feeling really festive is to pick one thing about your decor to really lean into the effect of abundance, and let the rest be more minor touches. For example, I love fresh greenery and love to bring a lot of nature inside. I really think it makes a psycho-somatic difference to have greenery that is (mostly) real—that is where the magic feeling happens, from the wonder, the calm, the abundant natural beauty in an unexpected place. The rest of my decor is not very elaborate, but it feels abundant and cohesive because of the focus room-to-room on greenery and florals.
I think one of the magical things about this time of year is how, in an ever-changing, fast-paced world, it stays constant and (mostly) unchanging. I love the idea of multiple generations sharing the same sentimental memories together. My children are at peak formative-holiday memory ages (3 & 6), so for me, consistency is the heart of the holiday. I want to share with them the things my grandparents shared with me. I want them to feel the traditions of family to carry forward into their own future families, each of them putting their own individual spin on our “family classics.”
So, here are a few of my favorite decorations. I encourage you to take from these what you love, and to revisit your own childhood memories and mine those for the things that inspired magic for you.
For our Homeworthy Holiday House Tour, I wanted to do something extra special in the entryway. My very talented friend, Lee Matalone of Field Floral, and I dreamed up this giant garland that would ‘grow’ out of the banister and bring the wallpaper based on an antique French etching to life.
Pears on the mantel are one of my favorite simple decorations. Test them to make sure they stand at the grocery store. If they are a little wobbly, but otherwise a beautiful specimen, wad a bit of masking tape to create a ‘heel’ for the wobbly end.
The tree is our centerpiece. It is filled with multiple generations of ornaments and all the unique ones have a story. They are collected over time, from all over the world. They are not all “ornaments”, but little childhood toys, souvenirs, small picture frames, things our kids made, things we made as kids, etc. You really can think outside of the box with these adornments. To create unity, we also have some sets of decorative glass ornaments, silver balls, acorns, mushrooms, icicles, and the repetition of these pieces helps to balance out the randomness of our ornament collection.
*I know a lot of design-oriented people more recently have started to do a new “theme” and colorway for their tree every year, often buying different ornaments, ribbons, etc. as a fun creative project. I strongly advocate against this, because, the memories of our tree matter and are so much stronger when we return to the same one and overlay many years of that magical collective experience on it. Leave the decorative trees to commercial spaces, hotels, and restaurants. Instead, I suggest channeling that creativity and craving of novelty toward a wrapping paper concept. Ditch the gift bags, find a glorious paper and sumptuous ribbon (simplicity here has so much power—see above!), and do all your gifts in this theme. Or develop several coordinating concepts, one for each family unit (or person)—it makes it very easy to identify and sort presents come Christmas Day!
I love to allow the greenery to sing at the table, too. Here I did a simple advent wreath with local magnolia and a mix of artificial sugared pomegranates and fresh black plums. The staggered height of the two sets of silver candlesticks adds visual movement to the table. I tied a single sprig of fresh holly to the back of each chair with a thin velvet ribbon.
Paper stars hung from the ceiling using Artist’s tape and filament wire create a beautiful, magic in the family room. The darkest room of our home, it is where we watch TV and get cozy. I hung a beautiful and convincing faux cypress garland from Crate & Barrel asymmetrically at the two entrances to the room, balancing the short end with a 3-yard length of red velvet ribbon and adding a few sprigs of fresh holly and greens to make it all look ‘real.’
The kitchen tree displays my collection of food ornaments and is fixed to the countertop using Museum Putty.
A 3 yard length of ribbon can be tied around your regular throw cushions to dress them up for the season.
Some tools that help me to create these effects:
Artist’s tape - to tape the stars to the ceiling and the pendant light cords to the window sashes
Museum putty - used to fix the kitchen island tree to the countertop, but so useful for any 'breakables’ prone to being knocked off a surface
filament wire - light duty for stars and heavy duty for fresh pine window swags outdoors
suction cups with hooks - for wreaths on glass doors
matte scotch tape - nearly invisible on gift wrap
sharp fabric scissors
pendant lights for paper stars in windows
ALL Images courtesy of Art/artefact OR Chris Tranchina, the videographer for our Homeworthy tour.
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