Holiday Chandelier

Chandeliers are always a part of any holiday celebration as they set the mood for this family room.  We took a plain greenery wreath of artificial pine and secured it to the underside of the fixture. This allowed us to nestle berries, magnolia leaves and artichokes into the pine and weave wired ribbon to soften the decor. An embellishment worthy of applause!

Decorating the Entry Staircase

All kinds of decisions must be made for each entry we encounter. Individual style, budget, and emphasis all come into play.

With this entry the tree took center stage. The garland needed to be lush green and lit to be seen from the front drive and the emphasis was only placed on the newel posts. Ribbons often play a central role in decorating focal points of stairway garlands. This one started with wired ribbon and poinsettia picks and leaves were added to compliment the tree nearby. Careful attention is always paid in attaching garlands so woodwork is not scratched.

Ribbon is not always necessary to complete a garland for staircases.  Enough picks and ornaments placed in perfect points offer just the right amount of top dressing.

We have created fresh elements to add to existing artificial greenery garlands for this client. The wired stems of the garland are used as a way to pinch in fresh pepper berry, seeded eucalyptus, and magnolia leaves; a great way to bring fabulous holiday aroma to the whole house. These elements dry naturally and are removed after the season is over.

Creating a Christmas Mantle

Mantles present many challenges but there are many different solutions to achieve a well designed mantel to fit your style.

We took the art from this mantle  and replaced it with a natural wreath with matching topiaries to compliment and flank a coordinating garland. A few gold gilded magnolia leaves added to natural pine, stems, cones and berries adds just enough sparkle to this hearth room fireplace. Gold urns for the topiaries speak to the leaves and give a festive holiday feeling.

                                       

You don't have to remove art above the fireplace to add holiday trim, instead we framed this art with simple berry topiaries in clean white urns; just enough to get our client in the holiday spirit without hassle. Using her lidded vessels already in holiday color helps unify the look.

Another example of leaving art above the fireplace is this religious piece that speaks volumes to the Christmas holiday, underscoring it with a greenery garland and adding colors to compliment the art as well as the room in picks and ornaments. We dangled some lightweight ornaments off the edge to create more depth and movement, which provided more interest to a mantle design.

4 Simple Steps to Decorating a Designer Christmas Tree

Decorate a designer Christmas tree this year by following these simple steps:

 

1. Light Like a Pro

Our rule of thumb for the amount of lights that should go on a tree is 100 bulbs per foot. It may take more for a fuller tree, especially if few ornaments are going on it. Place your lights at alternating depth from the center to the branch tips. This will make it sparkle with brilliance! Remember to spread the load of the fuses on the strands according to instructions and don't plug more than recommended end to end as it will blow the fuses. Natural trees like the one shown above require plenty of lights but few ornaments. 

2. Collaborate What You Have 

Trees that have a lot of collected sentimental ornaments need not look jumbled. We make them unified and pulled together by using the same ribbon treatment throughout the tree and/or by using the same color pics or stems. Sometimes buying larger ornaments and spreading them throughout the tree as a base will work too. After these elements are in place, your sentimental collections will stand out but feel pulled together and purposeful. 

3. Adorn the Boughs to Scale

Make sure to buy enough ornaments to correspond with the size of your tree (about 15 for a 9' tree) and the size of your room. We recommend buying several large ornaments, some medium, and finishing with smaller ones. Larger ornaments should be tucked deep inside the tree and smaller ornaments on the tips of the branches, this way we create lots of depth and texture, which make for a more interesting design. 

4. Finish With Flare 

To finish the tree with a designer look, we add height by using tall stems of glittered branches or grasses and leaf picks. This makes a fountain-like burst at the top of the tree and adds a bit more drama than an angel or star perched on top.                                                           

Quick Kitchen Sink Solution

Kitchen sinks present the opportunity to add some softness to a corner, as long as it can be easily cleaned. A little foliage next to a complimentary accent ties the look together. This project requires little effort and maintenance, but gives warmth to the metallic tone of the sink. 

An Intimate Wedding in Rustic Elegance

An intimate reception was held for a couple who chose to marry out of state and then celebrated with family in the bride's hometown. This event was all about her home and her family, so everything was designed around rustic elegance with her Midwestern roots in mind. 

 The Oak Hills Country Club had just the right ambience for our bride's celebration, featuring a spacious ballroom, lovely architecture, and plenty of seating while allowing ample opportunity for decoration.

Dessert and cocktail stations were laid out in a serpentine fashion, removing the tendency towards crowded buffet style lines, encouraging relaxed mingling and conversation.

The bride wanted the main culinary event to be focused on her grandma's homemade pies, rather than her cake. Ed LeFebvre at Cupcake Island achieved our bride's vision by thinly icing a simple three tier cake and wrapping it with burlap ribbon. This kept the spotlight on grandma's pies while the cake itself became part of the elegant rustic decor.