Will the spirit of Christmas return this year?
Story by Carol McGarvey
Photography by tim Abramowitz
Featured in November/December 2021
We at Welcome Hone Des Moines have been invited into so many lovely homes decorated for the holidays. The beauty of those holiday trims covers all aspects of the festive season.
Many homeowners do their own style of decorating, lugging plastic tubs down from the attic or up from the basement. They have boxes and boxes of family treasures, items made at preschool or Scout meetings. They would not feel right NOT putting them on the Christmas tree. They are part of the family’s history, the lore of the holiday tradition.
Still others call on the help of a designer who brings showy and elegant decorations and trims, sometimes with a designated theme, and many times with more than one tree.
Central Iowans love to decorate for the year-end holidays. If you’re a kid at heart, this is your season. The more, the merrier. Some of the decorating is determined by the style of the home. Is it Tuscan? Then an old-world theme might be appropriate, filled with greenery, trees, branches, and pheasant feathers. Display your collection of nutcrackers and trim the mantel with candles and greenery.
Is the home clean-lined and an open-concept? Then a modern or contemporary style might be in order. Perhaps red and green aren’t your colors of choice. Then go with gold and silver or blue and white. Make it your own.
There’s primitive style, too, filled with quilts, baskets, and gingerbread houses. What could be cozier than a display of vintage Santa Claus figures? Let the snow fall and decorate cutout cookies for fun. Set the table with holiday china.
No space is spared in holiday decorating. With swags of greenery and colorful ribbon tied in large bows, the backs of dining chairs get the holiday treatment, too. So do some chandeliers, which can carry off strings of wooden beads, strands of pearls, or swags of holiday ribbons.
Christmas of 2020 was cut short by the never-ending COVID pandemic. Without question, things were pared back. There were fewer gatherings, holiday parties, brunches, and cookie exchanges. For that reason, many homeowners didn’t decorate to the hilt as they might have done otherwise.
How will this year fare? Only time will tell as we inch our way back to normalcy.
But in spite of all that, as the popular holiday song says, “It’s [still] the most wonderful time of the year.”
Enjoy! •
