A new home we decorated this year is truly that, a new home. We got a call from a friend of a friend that they were going to need help with Christmas decorating this year in their new home, the catch was that they were moving into their new abode just a little over two weeks before Christmas, but we took on the task and it’s turned out great. The homeowner said she really liked the look of silver and gold but nothing too over the top, she also likes a somewhat natural look. She told me she wanted me to decorate the staircase, a fireplace, and around the front door, so I gathered supplies and decorations and Donna and I dove in. Donna took care of the tree that they had already set up and I took care of the specific areas the homeowner asked me to decorate, here’s some pics and a peek at how it turned out and I’ll give you some more info along the way, Enjoy!!!
The fireplace is a beautiful concrete mantel so anything you put up here is going to look great. I started with 2 green garlands, draping them across the top of the mantel and down each side. I then added silver and gold mesh ribbon, tucking and pinching and adding it to the greenery. I then decorated with shatterproof gold and silver ornaments of varying sizes, I’ve gotten to where I use shatterproof unless the client specifies differently, it’s so much nicer if you drop an ornament and it bounces on tile or wood floors instead of shattering. The last thing I added to the garland was large pine cones with white tips, the whole look is elegant and classical and the pine cones add a little bit of rustic and mixes beautifully with the sparkle.
Another view of the fireplace, this was really a quick and easy installation, the great thing is that if the homeowner ever wants a little more color we can easily add a few red ornaments and completely change the look of this and all the pieces.
I attached the ornaments to the fireplace garland using Christmas tree hooks, I wrap the hooks around a piece of the garland and they won’t fall out. The large pine cones are gently laid on the garland and “nestled” into place.
I tackled the staircase just like the fireplace, starting with greenery then adding layers of mesh ribbon, ornaments, and pine cones. All the decorations really stand out beautifully against the dark color of the wood work and the wood floors. When I added the pine cones we all just went “Ahhh”
Here’s a little better look at the staircase from the side, I’m very happy with the way it turned out, but more importantly so is the homeowner.
There are two sides to this staircase with the shorter side being in the dining room.
I clustered two pine cones together wherever the garland went up and I attached it to the staircase.
This is the newel post at the bottom of the stairs, I have two pine cones hanging one on each side of the post and large ornaments on top, the ornaments add sparkle as well as hiding the mechanics of attaching the pine cones.
The last thing was the front door, using a drill and mortar bit I drilled 7 holes around the front door and inserted anchors in the holes, I then put screws in the anchors and I used these to hold the garland and decorations around the front door. Again, it’s all about layering with green garland, lights, mesh ribbon, ornaments and pinecones. It turned out great and we came back with a couple of wreaths for around the lights on the front of the house on each side of the entry, I decorated those with just silver and gold ornaments.
I hung lots of ornaments by themselves and also made clusters of ornaments by stringing several ornaments on a piece of florist wire and wiring it into the garland.
I started at the top center of the garland and worked my way down each side of the garland, this way I was able to have each side mirror the other. The sides don’t always turn out exactly alike but pretty close.
The porch is very protected, but the wind does get to it, but so far it’s held up well.
There you have it, new decorations in a new home for a new client, I look forward to helping this lovely family for hopefully quite a while and see what fun stuff we can add next year after they’ve had time to settle in. Have a great Monday!!!
