Decked out for a cause
Christmas Fantasy House benefits Ronald McDonald House
By mid-October, Tom and Diane Schaitel had already put their fall decorations away, and some rooms in their Muskego home were completely decorated for Christmas. ❚ They had also put away many of the small items that normally accent their 10,000-square-foot, colonial-style home. ❚ This was all done in anticipation of the approximately 16 area interior designers who would be coming to their home in early November to turn it into the 2017 Christmas Fantasy House.❚ The event, which will benefit the Ronald McDonald House Charities of Eastern Wisconsin, will run from Nov. 8 to 12. ❚ Diane Schaitel said that when they were asked last year to open their home for the event, they quickly agreed. ❚ “We love the kids,” she said. “It’s really all about the kids. My daughter and I stayed at a Ronald McDonald house and we know its importance. We are honored to be able to do this for such a great cause.”
Diane added that she and her family also will benefit by participating in the event, as nearly every area of their home will be beautifully decorated. The couple have six children and 30 grandchildren.
A retired interior designer, Diane said she and her husband were looking forward to seeing what the designers would do, but that decorating their home for the holidays was nothing new. He works in construction and is co-owner of KS Energy Services in New Berlin.
“We put up six trees every year — at least,” she said. “One is off the living room next to the staircase, there is one in the kitchen, in the pool room, the basement, the girls’ sitting room on the first floor, one on the front porch” off the entryway and also one on the gazebo off the porch.
“I put a lot of decorations inside, too,” she said. “The bedrooms and bathrooms are all decorated.”
Gail Johnson, co-chair for the event, said when all the decorators are finished, she expects the home to look spectacular because “it’s a family-oriented and cozy home that will look beautiful decorated.”
“Each year the decorators try to outdo themselves from the previous years. Every room will be a fantasy. The home has a big two-story living room with a twostory fireplace and a large indoor saltwater swimming pool with an area that has a whirlpool. The decorators will use their own decorations to accent more than 18 rooms as well as the pool,” she said.
The home, built by the homeowners just five years ago, has four levels and was designed with family in mind.
“I come from a family of 11 brothers and sisters, and my husband has nine,” said Diane. “When we have the family over, you should see how the kids run through this house, and that’s exactly what we wanted.”
The main floor has a large entryway; the living room (which has a vaulted ceiling); a large kitchen with an eating area that has a large window looking into the pool; a master suite with a sitting area, a spa-like bathroom and an oversized walk-in closet; a room the homeowners call the girls’ sitting room that can double as a dining room, and a sun room.
The second level has an office and the top floor has a catwalk, three guest bedrooms, bathrooms and a sitting room.
Rooms on the lower level include a large media room with two rows of comfortable seating, a craft room, a family room with a bar area, a game room the homeowners call “the billiards room,” and a second game room that one day will hold slot machines and other gaming equipment. The homeowners call that space the casino room.
Nikki Bruneau, who is the media coordinator, also worked as a volunteer decorator this year when she turned the bar area into the Sweet Shoppe with the help of Nancy Buntrock.
“We decided on a red and white theme,” she said. “We will have real sweets tour-goers can buy at the event and on the same level we will have the hall of trees. All the gift baskets will be in the billiards room, the silent auction items will be in the casino room, and the craft room will be the holiday boutique.”
Another volunteer, Liz Schutz, donated her time to work in the Mickey Mouse bedroom with her twin sister, Theresa Frinzi. They are the owners of Twins Flowers & Home Decor, New Berlin.
Schutz said the room already had a Mickey Mouse theme that Diane had created for the young boys in her family, so all they had to do was enhance the area with holiday accents.
“We used blankets in dark red so that the Mickey Mouse artwork on the walls that Diane had added pops when you walk in. We also added two Christmas trees, and we also turned the closet into a little TV or reading room.
“Diane painted the dresser that’s in the closet in primary colors — red, green, yellow, and blue — and she also had a Mickey Mouse TV that we put in there.
“For the trees we made Mickey Mouse ears by putting three glitter balls together. We also used gold circular place mats to create mickey ears” on the door, she said.
One of the most stunning rooms in the house is likely to be the living room, which will be decorated just prior to the tour by designer Kara Mallouk, corporate visual merchandiser for all 16 of Stein’s Garden and Home locations here.
Mallouk said this is the fifth year she will be donating her time to the event, and that in addition to the living room she will also accent the stairways and the catwalk that are all accessed from the living room.
“Our theme is pine cone cabin, which will give an elegant woodsy feel. Because that room has a two-story fireplace made of natural stone, we will work off the natural color palette of the fireplace. … The palette will be shades of green, brown, tan and deep red. But we’ll also have solid golds that will make it more elegant.
“We’re going to use a lot of natural birch, pine boughs and winter berries. That will be how we bring in some red to make it more Christmassy.
“We’re going to have all the railings done in pine boughs and garland and each post will have a bow and more pine boughs and garland. And everything will have lights.” She estimates the room will have 10,000 lights.
And a large tree in the room will have more than 7,000 lights.
“They’re called cluster lights (by Majestic), and the tree will be just radiant,” she said. “It wouldn’t even need ornaments, but we are going to adorn the tree with ornaments in a natural way in keeping with the theme.”
She added that the room will also be accented with holiday pillows, arrangements will be added to tables, decorations will accent bookshelves, and two large nooks on either side of the fireplace will be decorated.
In addition to all the work being done on the interior, the exterior also will be decorated, with lights by Christmas Decor by Swimming Pool Services, Waukesha.
Tom Schaitel said he believes these lights will have a dramatic effect.
“You’ll be able to see the lights from a distance when you’re driving up,” he said, while adding there will also be a 12-foot Christmas tree covered in white lights on the gazebo off the porch. That tree, which the couple put up themselves every year, will be put up this year by fantasy house committee members with the help of Christmas Décor.
The entryway and an adjoining porch were also decorated by Celeste Zaffrann, a committee member, and Betsy Peckenpaugh, an artist and owner of Uncommon Walls, Milwaukee.
There, Zaffrann said they created an area called Santa’s Snack Spot, where Santa can sit and relax after delivering all the packages to the homeowners’ grandchildren.
“There will be packages for each of the Schaitel’s grandchildren. They’re wrapped in brown butcher paper and each one has a bow and a tag with the child’s name.”
In addition to all the volunteers who are decorating the home, Johnson said more than 500 individuals are expected to help in other areas.
“There will be room docents, people selling raffle tickets, people working in the boutique and sweet shop, and there will be volunteers driving our free shuttles.”
She said the event is in its 25th year and that for the first 21 years, money earned went to the American Cancer Society. In 2014 it was decided that the money would go to the Ronald McDonald House. To date, more than $2 million was given to the American Cancer Society and about $220,000 to the Ronald McDonald House.