Andrea Schroder’s Holiday Decor Tips
Sense, Scent and Cents
by Andrea Schroder
For me the holidays are where my design approach really shines. I am all about houses being “beautiful living homes.” Here are a few things to remember when decorating this holiday season:
1. Sense
Decorating for the holidays must make sense. A friend of mine sets up a train set on her kitchen island during the holidays. Whenever I see it, I wonder how hard it must be to have the major kitchen working space gone for at least a month. Décor cannot get in the way of living. Another example is the stair rail. It should still be usable when walking down the stairs, so making sure that the garlands hang in front of the rail, not on top is very important. Do not put fragile ornaments or other items where children or animals could break them.
2. Scent
A big part of holiday memories are the scents that encompass the spaces. We associate many scents with the holidays such as fresh cut pine, homemade gingerbread baking, or a turkey roasting. The purpose of decorating is to create a mood. Scents help create that mood and cement the memories. I love having a real pine wreath on my front door because it looks and smells festive.
3. Cents
This is the year to really make the money stretch. My favorite ornaments when I was growing up were the ones we had created ourselves. It was fun year after year to take out the clothe pin soldiers I made in pre-school or the hand-made felt stockings. In my home, my family and I are making gingerbread people and hanging them on the tree. We string popcorn together to make garlands, and we cut our paper snowflakes. You can spray pinecones with silver and gold spray paint. This time of year more than ever, hand crafted décor is expected and appreciated.
For more on Andrea, visit www.andreadschroder.comKeep it green and simple with 2 more ideas:
December 4th, 2008 at 6:46 pm
That’s awesome, Katie. I was wondering if she’s continuing her design career post Top Design.
December 5th, 2008 at 12:15 am
Wow…way to go little Katie girl…now the designers are seeking you out…Love it! ♥ Bo
December 5th, 2008 at 5:56 am
Awesome! We are starting a second tree to put up with all handmade items. All those ornaments that the kids bring home and making popcorn garlands and all of that. While I still love my snowman tree I really like the idea of having a hands on tree as well – especially for the kids.
December 5th, 2008 at 8:25 am
Hi I stopped in earlyer and went to her blog. I love the arched window. I may try something like that if we get our farm house in Aug of 09. That one is a rehab too. We may never see the end of work on this one.
Grammy
December 6th, 2008 at 12:10 am
Hi Katie! How neat that you have a guest blogger! Great tips and I especially like #2 – scents do “cement* memories. One little smell of spices on the stove and I’m instantly transported back to when I was a little girl in my mama’s kitchen. ;0) I hope you have a wonderful weekend!
December 7th, 2008 at 7:27 pm
Oh what beautiful scenes I imagine your houses are/will be. I think Andrea did a wonderful job capturing those sorts of images that we can all relate to. And what a treat.
Thank you for your kindness, ladies!
Katie
December 10th, 2008 at 1:21 pm
Loved this guest post! She was my favorite contestant this year – and I felt so bad for her when she came back to help with the final challenge and realized it would have been great for her. But back to her post – loved it! I can’t imagine having a train on my kitchen counter (don’t have an island) – how impractical. And I do love the scent of fresh cut pine. I’m really behind this year – haven’t sent one card or put up one decoration. Having an infant will do that, I hear. This weekend is the time though – I can’t wait to get the tree and decorate the house! I will post photos when I’m done!
January 6th, 2009 at 9:25 am
Wow I’m thrilled that I found this post- I was hooked to Top Design and was really moved by Andrea and how she missed her children! I thought the judges sort of picked on her at times cause I thought she always produced thoughtful and elegant designs. Hope you’re doing great Andrea!