As this is the last blog post before Christmas day – just 3 sleeps away – Helen and I decided to collaborate on this one to wish all of you a very, very happy Christmas and to share with you some of the decorating we have done in our own homes this year.
We both love to decorate! Helen has been so incredibly busy with decorating the store as well as decorating several customers’ homes, that I don’t know how she managed to find the motivation to do her own! I love the simplicity of Helen’s Christmas designs.
Her mantle and tree are subtle, yet elegant. Her eye for detail is very keen and she sets up her vignettes so that they are balanced in both colour and arrangement. Helen has used lots of sparkling clear glass and silver, combined with natural elements like fresh greens and pinecones that she collected on her long walks in the woods with Hana her dog.
Helen’s tree is a pre-lit, narrow, perfectly shaped ornamental tree that she dresses up beautifully to complement the mantle. It’s full of gorgeous baubles – glass, silver and white. So pretty and sparkling. Helen said that next year she would love to have two trees – the one she has set up now with her beautiful decorator theme, and one natural tree with ornaments that she and her husband are starting to collect as a young married couple.
My decorating is a bit different – I have a lot of decorations which our family have collected throughout the years since we were married 30 years ago! Things that my girls have made and collected over the years and very old pieces that belonged to my husband’s grandmother and mother too. They are not designer pieces, but mean a lot to us and are like little treasures each year as we unpack them from their boxes to hang on the tree.
Our tree this year is a natural tree that was cut down under the power lines on Salt Spring Island for Cannor Nursery, where we bought it. It’s really funky and has branches going every which way! It has 3 leaders, so the poor angel is sitting off centre, which just adds to the goofiness of the tree. It’s a little bit Dr. Seuss-like. My husband insists on having coloured lights in the tree, as well as plain white, which I have to admit, look pretty nice! He also came home last year with old-fashioned bubble lights which add more whimsy to our already loopy tree.
I have a small Charlie Brown tree that I’ve set up in our dining room. It is decorated with white, green and blue baubles and plain white lights.
I have also decorated our family room/kitchen area in mainly green and white coloured baubles and snowflakes. My Florist friend, Claudia Logan whose business is called Twisted Tulip, made this wonderful arrangement of greens with red roses, called “the Grinch”. I absolutely love it!
Every year, both Helen and I and the rest of the staff, find it hard to resist the gorgeous Christmas decorations, ornaments, garlands and accessories that come into the store at this time of the year. There are still many more to choose from, even this close to Christmas! Hope I can restrain myself! If you’ve been inspired to do a bit more decorating before the big day, come in and we can certainly help you with ideas.
We hope that you’ve enjoyed seeing what we’ve done in our own homes. Remember, we have our competition going (see previous blogs for details) and there are still 3 days to enter!
Have a wonderful, joyous Christmas and a happy and creative New Year! Best wishes from Ingrid, Helen and The House Dressing Team!
ps. this picture of Helen, me and my dog Tucker, was taken just before our “Polar Bear” run around the neighbourhood to see all the pretty lights! We came home to a warming bowl of chili and later, a delicious hot chocolate with peppermint schnapps! Yummmmmm!
What a beautifully decorated home! I love the floral arrangement with the bound cedar and that bulb at the end, like something out of whoville! Fab! Thanks for sharing!