Deck the Halls With Holiday Flowers

Soon it will be time to start decorating for the holidays. Festive designs and accessories are already beginning to appear in your local flower shop, and many designers are scheduling appointments with their customers to create custom designs for their homes. Whether you hire a talented professional or hang the wreaths yourself, you’ll get the most impact for your money if you plan a coordinated look among your decorations.

Working With A Holiday Theme

The best way to create a well-designed holiday decorating scheme is to work within a theme. Every wreath, swag and centerpiece should be true to the concept. For example, a “Jolly Christmas” theme might feature lots of Santa Clauses in various representations, and be executed in a traditional red, green, and white color scheme. “Victorian Christmas” could be opulently done all in white and gold and lace and velvet, with angels and old-fashioned toys.

Popular Holiday Themes

European designers have identified four holiday decorating trends which will be popular this year.

• Inuit (meaning Eskimo) celebrates the beauty of natural materials, such as mosses, branches, and dried grasses. The feeling is subtle, cool, and textural, with white, gray, and earth-tones being the dominant colors.
• Glow is warm and sensual, making strong use of metallic elements which reflect light and featuring reds and oranges as the prominent hues.
• Classics has a feeling of quality and tradition, utilizing luxurious woods and fabrics, rich jewel- tone colors, and sumptuous flowers and fruits.
• December is expressed in soft colors and simple, traditional, nostalgic motifs such as stars and angels and religious themes.

Christmas Decor Traditions

Each of these trends is really just a reinterpretation of a timeless design concept. Most people have a collection of holiday arrangements and accessories, which they have been accumulating over the years, and have become cherished traditions in the home. Some of these may already be appropriate to one of the new trends. Frequently, these items can be updated and embellished with the addition of a fresh bow or some new ornaments or accessories. Simply choosing a particular color and pattern of holiday ribbon and using it throughout your decorated areas can modernize and unify the total look.

Start by visiting your local florist. See what’s new in the store, and talk about possible theme ideas, which might work in your home. Choose a new wreath for your door or an arrangement for your coffee table, and go from there, letting the shop’s designers suggest ways of revamping your older decorations to blend with the new and create an updated, coordinated impression. And let the jolly decorating season begin!