There will be pumpkins and pilgrims followed by Santas and snowflakes as Lisbeth Maxwell sets the stage for celebrating autumn and winter holidays in her Evanston condo.
“I love creating an atmosphere that celebrates the season with scents and sounds as well as decorations. Holidays give shape and color to what would otherwise be just a blur of days,” Maxwell says.
She is one of many folks who enjoy taking the time to make their place warm and inviting without breaking the bank this holiday season.
Pressed autumn leaves, some spray-painted gold, grace Maxwell’s sideboard. A pair of sparrows wearing orange top hats–a treasured set of Lustreware salt-and-pepper shakers from her grandmother–nestles in a bowl of leaves on the dining room table. Leaves are tucked under a sheer tablecloth and sandwiched between glass dinner plates. A photo from her 2nd-grade Thanksgiving play is displayed with family photos from holidays past.
A basket filled with Indian corn and gourds sits on a ladder-back chair. A grapevine wreath centerpiece holds miniature pumpkins hollowed out for candles. A “Nutcracker” theme will be prominent in Maxwell’s kitchen come December, and she’ll hang several prints featuring Christmas scenes in the bedrooms and bathrooms.
Life can seem so busy and hectic, Maxwell says, that it is important to take the time to acknowledge the holidays and changing seasons, “even if it’s just having a small display that you look at on your way out the door. It’s a comfort to insist on making the time to bring out the cornucopia or the tree ornaments.”
She frequently rotates framed greeting cards, prints and photographs on an antique secretary desk to help celebrate the seasons, holidays and theme parties.
“I have a special fondness for vintage greetings cards, especially from the teens and ’20s,” Maxwell says. “Some of the artwork is beautiful, and they’re so quaint. This is my creative outlet.”
But what if you don’t own a glue gun and don’t know where to start? “It can be really hard for some people to visualize what they want their holidays to look like,” says Kelley Taylor, author of “Holiday Decorating for Dummies” (Wiley Publishing, $19.99). “Take cues from retailers. When you see seasonal merchandise in your grocery or retail store, start planning.”
Taylor suggests starting small by decorating with a swag or a wreath or adding a centerpiece to a table.
“Choose a focal point and dress it up. It can be a fireplace mantle or a picture window where you add a few holiday accent items,” Taylor says.
If decorating the whole house is overwhelming, “commit to doing just one hall or room.”
Many of Taylor’s suggestions apply whether you are celebrating Kwanzaa, Hanukkah, Christmas or the New Year.
“Holidays begin at the front door. Hang a banner, flag or seasonal wreath. Outline the door frame with creative garlands or swags or set potted plants inside the entry to welcome your guests,” Taylor says.
Intimate lighting is also important, Taylor says. “Purchase various shapes and sizes of candles in holiday colors to replace boring white tapers. Group them together in a serving area to add instant sparkle to an evening holiday gathering.”
And think beyond the common strands of outdoor lights. “Luminaries greet holiday revelers and let them know that the festivities are about to begin,” Taylor says.
Gloria Reyes of Bloomingdale celebrates the holidays year-round. A home economist and former food stylist for Quaker Oats, Reyes has a special prop room that holds 25 different place settings, place-card holders, 400 napkins, table linens, ribbons, candles, glassware, vases, place mats, ornaments and other paraphernalia that she uses to embellish her home throughout the year.
“I call it my toy room,” Reyes says. “It’s where I do my staging and try out table settings. I identify a theme and visualize how I want the table to look.”
Reyes arranged goblins, ghosts, gourds and pumpkins on tables, counters and shelves along with orange and brown table linens and flower arrangements to carry the Halloween theme throughout the house. She wrote Halloween party invitations on small plastic bones and hung dozens of black witches’ hats from the ceiling with fishing line.
Swags of fabric will decorate the back of dining room chairs for the upcoming holidays. “Thanksgiving will be totally turkeys or Indian corn,” she says. And Christmas could be an all-white theme, all reindeer or an all-natural theme.
Although she has hosted sit-down dinners for 40 and New Years’ Eve celebrations for 200, Reyes finds decorating for her husband and daughter just as enjoyable.
“My table is always set with a theme even if we aren’t entertaining. Dinner is a very special time for us. If there’s food, there’s excitement and life,” she says.
“I may use two different color placements to create my story or theme and a lot of candles, votives, candlesticks and runners,” Reyes says.
For attractive holiday centerpieces, she floats cranberries and candles in bowls and ties cinnamon sticks around glass votives. Artichokes hollowed to hold candles and fall vegetables affixed to a long narrow board become a striking arrangement.
“I think outside the box and look at objects that I can use in non-traditional ways,” Reyes says.
Look at what you already have, “whether it be a pitcher or a rooster for the center of the table for seasonal color,” Reyes says. “Or you can use a combination of vases. Nothing says it all has to be the same. I always work with odd numbers and different textures. That’s where you create interest.”
Reyes may use a fancy bowl or an oblong dish and fill it with colorful beads and candles of different heights to pick up the color or design of the napkins. “I’m never afraid to mix very formal with very casual. You can create a lot of excitement at your table.”
Keep in mind that it is possible to decorate to excess, Taylor says. “Sometimes less is more. For every [holiday] item placed on a shelf, try to take something off. If you have lots of decorations you can’t bear to part with, try swapping them out and using them every other year.”
“I have a small place so instead of scattering decorations, I group collections–Santas or angels–to keep it from looking cluttered. I don’t want it to look like Christmas blew up in here,” Maxwell says.
Louise Lamb gives her Lockport home a boost by rearranging her living room and dining room furniture with each season. She adds flower arrangements, scented candles, tablecloths, napkins and runners in seasonal colors. She, too, rotates the art on her walls. Autumn leaves, gourds and dried flower arrangements now decorate her tables.
“It brightens things up and gives the whole place a new look. I’ve always done it. It gives my spirits a lift,” Lamb says.
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Kelley Taylor is offering a free online holiday decorating workshop. Visit www.creatinghomedecor.com.
