Home for the Holidays
By
Leslie Shankman-Cohn,
ASID
T'is the season. Thoughts of warm fireplaces,
sugar plum fairies and family and friends
coming to visit are starting to fill the
air…Oh, no! Family and friends are
coming to visit! You’ve got to get
those decorations up (please don’t
tell me that you’ve left them up since
last year).
Before you start dragging out those old,
tired, and moth–eaten angels, take
a few minutes to really plan your decorative
design scheme this year. Decorating your
home for the holidays follows the same design
principles as selecting new paint, furniture,
or flooring. These principles include style,
color harmony, repetition, balance, and
more.
The first step is to sit down with a nice
“hot toddy” and make a few choices.
Decide whether you want your design scheme
to be formal or informal; country or “cutesy”;
well, you get the picture. . Do you want
formal silver candlesticks or little snowmen
with luminaries? Do you prefer a traditional
velvet tree skirt or a homespun quilted
version? Deciding on the degree of formality
can give your decorating both focus and
harmony.
Choosing a color scheme will make all of
your decorating decisions easier. Select
a color scheme based on things you already
have, on a favorite holiday decoration,
or the colors traditionally associated with
your holiday. While red and green are the
traditional colors of Christmas; the colors
of Kawanzaa are black, red, and green; and
blue and silver are associated with Chanukah.
For a change, you might consider using a
monochromatic scheme in which only one color
(with its variations from light to deep)
is the dominant theme. No matter what colors
you choose, add interest with proportion
and texture. Varying the size of ornaments
and decorations will add interest and balance.
Also, be sure to introduce some texture
by using ribbon, garland, painted branches,
matte and shiny finishes, and so forth.
Add consistency throughout your holiday
décor by repeating colors, themes,
and decorative elements. If you are using
red beaded fruit, for example, then use
it on your front door wreath, on your stairway
garland, on your Christmas tree, and in
your centerpiece. Gravitate towards decorations
in your chosen theme: african fabrics and
artifacts for Kwanzaa; menorahs and dreidles
for Chanukah; nutcrackers and mistletoe
for Christmas. Save the electronic dancing
Santa and reindeer for the stores. Your
home should be warm and inviting, not overwhelming.
Remember, there can be too much of a good
thing. Sometimes simplicity is the most
elegant decoration.
Combining an odd number of elements can
often make arrangements more pleasing. Vary
the sizes of the elements used in your holiday
decorations. Use items of different heights
or at different levels to showcase objects.
Remember, as in the basic principals of
design, accessories arranged in a triangular
format (tall, medium, low) are generally
more pleasing to the eye. A combination
of line styles, vertical, horizontal, round,
curved, diagonal, and wavy, will add both
interest and dimension to your decorations.
Your house is now glowing with the holiday
season, music and eggnog are soothing your
harried soul, now its time to prepare for
all those guests who might be visiting overnight
or (gulp!) longer. With a little planning
you can stay cool, calm, and collected
with a house full of guests ….no,
you can’t move to a hotel and leave
them in your home. However, at the risk
of sounding like a “certain Martha”,
here are some ways to make your guestroom
more comfortable, hospitable, and inviting.
The biggest problem with most guest rooms
is that they double as a storage space for
our junk. If you have to use your guest
closet for your own things, conceal clothes
neatly in a hanging bag and leave room for
hangers for your guests. An empty drawer
would also be nice. Don’t crowd every
square inch of a guestroom with knick-knacks.
Make sure there is room for your guests’
luggage, coats, and personal items. Even
those of us who have to fit guests in a
library or home office can make them feel
comfortable. A screen or well-placed drape
will provide privacy.
Supply everything that guests might ask
for, so that they don’t have
to ask.
- A basket of amenities such as you would
find in a boutique hotel (admit it, you
have a collection of all those cute little
shampoos and soaps you took from the hotel
every time you went somewhere…here’s
your chance to show off where you’ve
been!)
- A bath towel, a hand towel, and a facecloth
for each guest.
- A tray with a flask of cold water, and
as many glasses as there are guests.
- A small bowl of fruit and a couple of
packages of nuts or a granola bar (we
all get the munchies in the middle of
the night)
- Fresh flowers or a bud in a bud vase.
- A basic alarm clock is a necessity.
A phone, or at least a jack for a laptop,
is a nice addition as well. Be sure to
put a pad of paper and a pen next to it.
Now that you’ve covered the basics,
other things you might consider could be:
- A list of useful nearby services or
sites. You might include a local map,
some tourist brochures, and directions
to your home. Keep a list in your computer
and update it regularly.
- A set of keys to your home. Make the
set available to your houseguests so that
will feel free to come and go as they
please without disturbing you.
- Provide security instructions for houseguests
on any security systems, gate codes, or
other procedures that may be required
by your neighborhood. Type them up and
make photocopies if these instructions
are detailed. Also note any pool rules,
parking restrictions, snow emergency laws,
etc.
- Some good (decorating!) magazines, book
classics, or a newspaper…. current
editions, of course.
Some guests would never think of changing
the sheets. Fortunately, not everyone is
averse to some light housekeeping. Keep
another set of clean sheets available for
guests who insist on leaving the room as
clean as they found it. (And make sure to
invite them over again soon!)
Your house is now decorated to the fullest
and looks beautiful, just like the magazines.
Your guests are warm and cozy, feeling at
home and comfortable. Now it’s time
to gather everyone together to spin the
dreidle, light the Kwanzaa candles and stuff
the stockings…ah, the new all-American
family.
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