The Halls Are Decked!

Yesterday design-minded Tweeters flocked to the weekly #DesignTV chat (hosted by Amy Beth Cupp Dragoo and Jonathan Legate) to share holiday decor ideas.  Photos and tips flew fast and furious – thank goodness for the transcript.   If you’re scanning it, keep an eye out for Jonathan’s pictures of Christmas pasts in show houses and client homes (the man has pictures dating back 16 years!), as well as atmospheric shots of Paris and London during the holidays, and the luminous path to his own home.

All the chatter got me in the mood to deck my own halls.  Five hours later, our main living space sparkled.  Read on for how I used tips and sources.

{We eat, work and chat by the fire in our open living space.  Here’s the whole vista, minus the ribbon-scrap strewn kitchen.}

{Last year, Amy Meier held my hand through every step of our holiday decorating. Amy is a dear friend who has been transforming our house room by room over the past year.  She taught me that the eye moves from left to right, so mantle displays shouldn’t be too heavy on the left lest the eye get stuck.  Vary heights and textures to create movement and interest. The Mercury glass urns and demijohns are from thrift stores, Marshall’s and Ballard Designs (Ballard isn’t carrying them this year, though).  I dream of collecting real vintage mercury glass urns, vases and candlesticks.}

{All thumbs when it comes to tying bows?  So was I until yesterday, when I stumbled on Martha Stewart’s illustrated how-to’s here and here, and whipped up these double-sashed tailored beauties.  The mercury glass grapes are an eBay find.}

{These glass orbs aren’t ornaments, they’re vintage Japanese fishing floats from The Roving Home.}

{Mixing in stacks of books breaks up all the silver.}

{About this chandelier: it came with the house.  I don’t like it much, so I keep doing things to it, like painting it gray and smothering it in vintage mercury glass garlands from eBay.)

{With the drawing room decorating underway, we don’t have space for a large tree this year.  A rosemary tree by the kitchen door does the trick, and smells lovely too.  The larger ornaments are from Wisteria; the small vintage bells and balls on the tree are from eBay and Etsy.)

{Those honking glass orbs are from Wisteria, too.  I bought the bottled water for our orange and cobalt Thanksgiving table, but it fits in with this color palette perfectly.}

{I never tire of opening this hutch and seeing those drawers with their worn white enamel pulls.  The tree topper is – yep, you guessed it – vintage from eBay.  Our regular-sized tree dwarfed it last year, so I’ll be on the hunt again next year for a larger one.}

{This awesome metallic bookshelf is from The Roving Home, too. That’s the Mr. as a little boy, and my grandparents on either end.}

{A string of lights tucked between the sideboard and the coach remind me of movie theater aisles.  The bowl is thrifted, and the ornaments are a mix of vintage and Wisteria.}

{My favorite tip from Amy of ABCD Design: fill glass containers with bundles of lights.  In this case I wrapped the driftwood that lives in these West Elm cloche lamps with lights.}

{See how well it works in the evening?}

{Cacti do well under cloches, and only need to be watered every two weeks.  The handled cloches are from Milk and Honey.}

{I’ll leave you with a few evening pictures.}

Tagged as: christmas, designtv, holiday decor