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HOME
Decking the halls and every room in the house.
— by Terri L. Jones
Sure, we may scale back our decorating a bit when the kids aren’t home or we may skip the holiday hoopla altogether and take a cruise. But when ours is the “go-to” house for friends and family, it doesn’t even seem to matter whether there’s a chimney for Santa to slide down anymore. Many of us are still decorating with abandon!
“I usually start right before Thanksgiving and I’m usually decorating all the way until Christmas Eve,” says boomer Doris Ann Kane, who decks practically every hall — and room — throughout her house at Christmas. Her favorite find last year was pink velveteen-covered wire poinsettias with glittery stamens. This boomer, who is known for her eclectic decorating style, uses these floral touches on a tree in her living room, a wreath, doorways and even the headboard of her bed.
While people aren’t shopping quite as much because of the economy, they are refreshing what they have, says Sharon Coleman, owner of Tinker’s on Westwood Avenue, which sells the pink poinsettias as well as other home décor she describes as “traditional with a big twist.” “People want fun back in their lives,” she explains, and by doing something as simple as “putting a leopard-print ribbon through the tree,” they can inject some pizzazz into their yuletide décor.
According to Coleman, jewel tones dominate this year while pink — from bubble-gum to fuchsia — is still hot in Richmond homes dressed for the holidays. Not only is it mixed with citrusy lime greens, but you’ll also find it happily married with Christmas reds. “I can
probably sell more Christmas [décor] that is pink and red than any other color by far,” she claims. Natural elements are also “in.” As a counterpoint to the profusion of color and sparkle at Tinker’s, you’ll find warm-toned peacock feathers, moss-covered Styrofoam balls, owls and abstract branches decking doorways and the 40-plus trees throughout the store.
While boomers are keeping it current with a few new pieces each year most of our decorating is still grounded in some vestige of Christmases past. “Some [boomers] have very elaborate collections, which will be some of the last things to go when they de-clutter,” says Suzanne Davis, Certified Aging-in-Place Specialist and owner of I Design Interiors, Inc. She often designs bookcases with electrical requirements for boomers’ lighted holiday villages and even plans storage for their ever-growing collections after the holidays.
“I tend to add a new Santa to my collection annually,” says Teresa Sutton, who has amassed about 50 ceramic, wood, resin and glass Santas. “Having a collection is important — either one that has been passed down from ancestors or one that I can pass on to my grandchildren.”
As for trees, many boomers have more than one. In addition to her poinsettia-covered tree, Kane decorates a huge tree with family ornaments collected through the years, as well as one for each of her college-age daughters’ bedrooms, the master bedroom, bathroom, sunroom and kitchen.
Whether boomers choose hot pink or Christmas red, leopard print or candy stripe, it seems that holiday décor is how most of us express our Christmas spirit.
Sutton, who spends weeks combing through magazines and climbing atop stepladders to prepare for the season, says, “I believe there is never a time that your house can look as good as it does at Christmas!”
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Terri L. Jones is a freelance writer living in Richmond, VA.
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