Festive decor to add comfort and joy
Whatever your celebration, ’tis the season for a little style
Regardless of what, why and how you celebrate the season, it’s an ideal time to be cocooned at home with family and friends. While being warm, dry and with those we love is a blessing, a little festive decor always adds to the comfort and joy. Whether you go with a traditional treatment or a more modern, multicultural kind of merriness — that’s up to you and your sense of style.
Time-honoured motifs run through the seasonal decor of just about every culture and faith. Light is one of those recurring themes, serving as a symbol for Christians, Jews, Sikhs, Hindus and Jainists. But even the sturdiest secularist can’t deny the cheering effect of a roaring fire, string of twinkling lights or cluster of flickering candles.
New LED lights are more efficient than previous generations, but glimmer need not gobble any energy at all. A pillow trimmed with a glittery ribbon, or a spangled treeshaped cone throws a shiny glow, while placing candles on a mirrored tray amplifies their effect.
The scent of fresh greenery can instantly trigger holiday associations. Treat yourself to an armful of evergreens from your local big box store or trim a few branches from a tree on your own property. A basket full of live greens in a non-functional fireplace, nestled with battery-operated candles, provides a seasonal decor focus that won’t take over a room.
Old-school versions of wreaths — another perennial symbol — are being reimagined, but still nod to nostalgia. This year, Rona showed a delicate wreath that looked like a swirl of twigs studded with tiny LED lights, while Home Depot offered one made out of red, petal-like curls of cut wood.
Decorating expert Karl Lohnes thinks mixing holiday ornaments with seasonal food and drink offers a twist on traditional decor. He likes the idea of “trayscaping” — creating a tray filled with decoration that can be carried from room to room. “That way, you don’t need to do up every room in the house and it’s always easy to offer guests a treat. Or think about how nice it would to carry it up to the bedroom to offer your partner as a nightcap,” he says.
Lohnes likes to add a colour-coordinated festive beverage, and a pair of pretty glasses, to each tray. “You could use a bottle of red wine, and fill the tray with burgundy ornaments, pine cones and some festive candles.”
A bottle of one of his holiday favourites — Baileys, with distinctive red, gold and chocolatey tones — would work well with on-trend bronze accessories, complemented by cinnamon sticks and oranges, he adds.
If you do stick with the red and green, you’ll be echoing long-repeated traditions thought at least in part to reflect the role of holly, ivy and mistletoe in ancient tree cults and winter solstice rituals, meant to ensure the return of spring. Regardless of what you believe, that’s an uplifting thought — especially when you’re shivering at a streetcar stop on a wintery afternoon, waiting to get home to the ones you love.