Almost Ready
I was finally ready this morning to install holiday decor for a client both inside and out; the wreath for the front door was the last thing to be loaded in the trucks. My clients have spent years restoring a beautiful late nineteenth century house; they moved in just weeks ago. Though the landscape renovation just got underway before we ran out of good weather, we managed to get the granite driveway installed. The new front portico and brick walks are still under construction. But being in the late stages of a construction project does not mean they have to forego the holidays.
A formal tree in the foyer is decorated all in red. Glass ball ornaments in clusters and berry picks suffuse the interior of the tree with a red glow. Sparkly red ornaments of all shapes and sizes hang from the tips of the branches.
The space at the bottom of the stairs is a small one. Some of the lower branches of the tree spill into the stairwell going downstairs. A cloud of red sinamay shot through with metallic red threads finishes the tree at the floor. The garland on the stair railings is plain-but for bouquets of berry picks, ornaments and satin ribbons on the newel posts.
My client requested that the ceiling of her dining room be dripping with holiday. I am sure she did not think I would take her request literally-but it seemed just the thing to do. The glass drops pick up the light from the windows, and the chandelier; the whole room sparkles. I can imagine it will look beautiful with candlelight.
We pinned copper and pewter colored oak leaf garland at the top of each beam. Coppery brown manzanita branches were zip tied together in a configuration that would allow for hanging the drops at different levels, and in different planes. Natural reindeer moss is glued over the zip ties. The contrast of the old and somber hand hewn beams with the delicate glass drops-lovely.
The old fashioned cooking fireplace is draped in magnolia garlands which are fastenened at the corners with pewter colored leaf and pod picks. Small custers of brown berries add a subtle shine to the garland. I always hang magnolia garland with the leaf tips up. As the leaves dry, they open, and fan out, giving the garland greater volume. Garland hung with the leaf tips down will dry down, and be smooth and uniform in width. This is gravity at work.
The new portico outdoors still lacks lighting and finishing, but Christmas is next week. The steel topiary towers were custom made for these large pots; they are wound with brown corded lights. As the bed of greens is so massive, we did a mix for textural interest. Large branches of magnolia grandiflora were zip tied together to make a shrubby form akin to the steel topiary form.
These three English made concrete planters are stuffed with mixed greens; their centerpieces are cardinal red twig, red glitter branches and red glitter leaf picks. They make a big splash. The planters are positioned to screen the side door from immediate view, and direct visual attention to the front door.
In the spring, the antique brick walkway porch, and new landscape will dress this area up considerably. But for now, being ready for the holidays is a gesture in a good direction.
Posted on: December 18, 2009 4 Comments
Time To Trim
Once the garland is on the mantle, the wreath is up, and the tree is in its stand, it’s time to trim. Though some say there is no art involved in trimming a tree or garland, there are a few things I think make for a more beautiful result. There are no end of choices for trimming. Some people like natural materials or ornament made from natural materials. Some like a little gleam, glitter and glitz. My personal preference-the ability to change things from year to year. But no matter in what manner I might be trimming, I have a method.
I have clients with what I call family history trees. At the very least the ornaments have been collected over a period of years, and represent the history of the family holidays. Some ornament is handmade by children, family members, or friends. A friend has a tree decorated entirely with birds and beasts of every description and in varying materials. The inspiration for this tree? An ornament of an animal that he gave his Mom as a small child he found wrapped in tissue in her jewelry box after he lost her. His tree is about his memories of her, and their relationship. The ornaments for trees like this tend to be all different materials, and all different colors-how can the trimming be done in a cohesive way?
Woody has amassed a collection of spheres of all types and sizes that he adds to the members of his ark. The round shape is repeated all over the tree, giving the tree an overall pattern the eye can make sense of. I should add that he arranges the animals, birds and insects differently every year. One year he organizes by breed, another year he may organize by color. The family tree pictured above is pulled together visually by means of a bell garland that winds its way from top to bottom. The bell garland signals immediately that this is a family tree, designed to delight the children in the household.
Garlands are not only beautiful in their own right, they help stitch a visual project together. Once I have put the individual ornaments on a tree, I will add the garland. I can follow the pattern of the lights, spiral down the tree, or make horizontal or vertical stripes. Good garland is wired everywhere-so individual branchlets can be fluffed out, and stand proud of the silhouette of the tree. If I am installing garland outdoors, I soak a section in water for a while to be sure it can hold up to wet weather.
Ribbon makes a great garland. I like a substantial wiring in both edges of the ribbon, so it will pouf out and stay where I want it. I am one of those ribbon-challenged individuals. I glue my bows together, as the ones I make with my own hands are pretty sorry looking. I’ve been known to shorten pants and upholster chairs with my gluegun too. But wired ribbon makes me look good, as it is easy to arrange. After all, trimming the Christmas tree is supposed to be fun, not frustrating.
Lynn’s very unusual and striking Christmas tree is a foam form covered in preserved chartreuse leaves. This form is the most important visual element; there are only a few ornaments. The “garland” is actually aluminum wire that floats around the tree like the rings around Saturn. Only every so often is the wire is secured to the tree. The column vase with a ball top-a purchase at Smith and Hawkins many years ago. I filled the bottom of the vase with white sand-this provides a secure base for the tree. Red tinsel garland, and red and green bead garland fill the ball portion of the vase.
This mantle is dressed in a beautifully made artificial pine garland. Finished in Jeffrey pine cones, it has great textural interest. Now what?
It’s the small bits that bring it to life. Small plain glass balls-shiny and matte-add depth, interest, and density to any trimming project. Clusters of tiny red ornaments look like berries on a tree. Clusters of larger red ornaments hung on the interior of a tree get the tree full of color, just as it is full of light; one’s prized ornaments can be front and center on the tips of the tree branches.
This is a landscape of a different sort, but a landscape, nonetheless.
Posted on: December 16, 2009 2 Comments
Red On Red
What is it about red at the holidays? How it glows-electrifying. It does not seem to matter whether the material is ribbon, leaves, ornament, twigs, flowers or paper, red warms up the holiday. Those ridiculously large amaryllis blooms-I fall for them. Pointsettias come in a variety of different designer colors, but what beats a well grown pointsettia loaded with red bracts? Red on red-even better. Combining red materials of different textures will give your holiday that sumptuous look-all from the color.
We decorated this ten foot tall tree in a foyer entirely of red ornaments. Large and small, glittered, shiny, matte-a range of reds in different textures. clusters of matte red. Under the tree, a cloud of red sinamay. The repetition of red provides for plenty of holiday drama.
Red is beautiful with greens-whether they be the blue greens of Noble and Silver fir, or the green-green of balsam fir. As red has a darker value, massing it makes it read better from a distance. A smattering of red at a distance will look better if it is backed up with white, or a light green.
When red ornament will be viewed from up close, small splashes work fine.. Wine red needs to be up close; at a distance it will look brown or black-brown. For this reason, I think chartreuse green and wine red are particularly handsome together. Red and blue/green-electric on a dull cloudy day.
Red combines amicably with any other holiday color. Red, dark purple and gold has the look of a pageant. Integrifolia dyed red will bleed some if there is rain, or a thaw; care needs to be taken so it does not stain a terrace. Red also fades in full sun; red twig dogwood is your best bet for good color retention all winter. But for that fleeting moment that we have holidays, red is smashing.
The Bulbeck lead pot is the anchoring ornament of this garden-summer and winter. The mass of red integrifolia in a huge pot makes a strong central holiday statement; the satellite grape vine deer sport red holiday collars. I am unable to resist decorating garden sculpture for the holiday season. No doubt this is a character flaw on my part, but I do it anyway. I like to see garden figures with hats and the dogs with collars.
Eucalyptus dyed red is a very dark red. The science of this-the red dye over the green leaf muddies the color. Mixing colors opposite to each other on the color wheel produces various shades of mud. If an orange terra cotta pot seems too orange, a green wash over top will tone it down.
Red in all its sassy glory at the holidays gives me the same lift as red tulips do in the spring, and a new red jacket. A gloomy time of year can be energized by red.
See what I mean??
Posted on: December 15, 2009 5 Comments