In the "Designer Decorations" story in Sunday's Distinction magazine, ownership of a house was stated incorrectly. The house decorated by Daniel Proctor of Kirk Design is owned by friends of Mr. Proctor. The Sun regrets the error.
For the holidays, most of us want to be surrounded by things that are meaningful and personal. A child's handmade ornament is more important this time of year than elegant handblown glass.
Professional decorators -- interior and floral designers -- feel the same way. Most of the designers we talked to prefer family treasures to the newly purchased and highly styled this time of year; and they like to use fresh, natural materials in their own decorating.
FOR THE RECORD - CORRECTION
Because of their training they may be better than we are at making that well-loved Christmas angel work in a stunning design for the holidays. But all of them had some inventive suggestions on how to use those family treasures or fresh greens -- suggestions you could incorporate into your own holiday decorating.
Janice Olsen, J. Olsen Interior Design
Janice Olsen has small children, so she doesn't have the time to decorate her house as much for the holidays as she might otherwise. But she does papercraft as a hobby and plans to make collages, decoupage boxes and pots for planting poinsettias with gold and other colored papers.
She likes to use collections of candlesticks to make arrangements around the house, mixing all sorts and shapes with different-colored candles.
For a very special centerpiece for a holiday table she takes a large, old mirror and lays fruit, cheeses and flowers on it. "The mirror reflects the colors beautifully," she says. Thomas Williams and partner Robert Hale decorated a Worthington Valley couple's house for a holiday party on two levels. In the living room that overlooks the sun room below, they placed a 10-foot tree for adults.
"We kept it green and crystal-looking," Tom Williams says. They used mirrored ornaments, which spun and glittered, silver fans, pleated silver ribbons and little peacocks. "The house has lots of blue, which was reflected in the peacocks' tails," he says. They skirted the tree in an opalescent, silky fabric.
The balconies and fireplace were hung with garlands and tiny Italian lights, with lots of solid ornaments in two or three coordinating colors.
The tree downstairs in the sun room was for the couple's daughter. It was decorated with Disney characters from all the movies, plus carousel ornaments that rotated. The daughter loved arranging and rearranging the characters.
