From the moment I stepped into Barb’s home in Holiday Shores, Illinois, I knew this was going to be a unique and fun project.
Barb, a client I met last March at another client’s event, hired me to do a holiday décor installation in her home.
Her house is warm and inviting, designed with earth tones and lots of stained glass and antique pieces. Her view of the lake is breathtaking – the kind that makes you want to sit, stare and relax all day.
But there is no time for that! There’s only a few weeks until Christmas, so to holiday decorating I go!
What made this holiday décor installation so much fun is that Barb wanted to incorporate her love of nature, birds, buttons, and . . . Snoopy. Yes, Snoopy!
As always, I encourage my clients to use what they love in their design style, but to use moderation. For instance, Barb has a button collection – more than 20 wooden boxes filled with buttons – so we incorporated the buttons in a subtle way throughout the decor.
I shopped for ribbon, ornaments, garland, floral picks and décor at Baisch and Skinner in St. Louis. I chose this store because they have a great selection.
Barb’s love of birds and nature fits in perfectly with the rustic look that is so popular right now. I found some great items at Baisch, and ordered the rest of the decorations from RAZ Imports.
I bought the 9-tree in the living room from Select Artificials and found the two flat back trees at Balsam Hill.
We decided to make the tree in the kitchen her “Snoopy tree.” Barb has collected the most adorable ornaments and figurines over the years, and we wanted to show them off.
On the Snoopy tree, I used a white and red button garland with red bows. We displayed her singing Peanuts figurines at the base of the tree.
In the dining room, I decorated another flat back tree with berries and birds and displayed it on her server. We put a runner on her table and used her wooded tray and porcelain birds, but added some new greenery, berries and ribbon.
The mantle has a 9-foot pre-lit garland with burlap leaves, berries, birch ornaments, red berry balls, ribbon and candy cane ornaments.
As always, the biggest undertaking was the tree. I chose a 9-foot slim tree with “pockets.” These allow me to fill in the spaces with big ornaments.
I started my decorating with burlap leaves, berries, poinsettias, bird’s nests and ribbon. Then I layered on the ornaments, using different sizes and textures to add interest and depth.
I found the lanterns on the cocktail table and end table at Home Goods and spruced them up with ribbon, berries and birds to fit the theme of the rest of the house.
The adorable sleigh on the entry table came from Baisch and Skinner, as did the wreath on the front door.
The entire project took me six hours to install and decorate. Barb is thrilled and can’t wait to show off her holiday décor to guests!
Does your home or office need a holiday makeover? Contact Jill at JSB Designs at jill@myjsbdesigns.com.
