This Season’s Hottest Holiday Hues
Style at Home
Published October 12, 2009
United Features Syndicate
When you’re a home décor retailer, it’s a bit like living at the North Pole: It’s always the holiday season. As soon as the decorations are down for the season, we’re off to market to pick out next year’s. Our warehouse fills up with holiday décor in spring, and by summer, we’re transforming the stores into winter wonderlands. Call me crazy but I love living Christmas year ‘round because I get to check out the new holiday trends early in the season. To get your holiday decorating juices flowing, here are a few of the great looks you’ll see this season:
Ice Blue
This chillingly beautiful color is subtle and enchanting, and it’s taking the holidays by storm. Designers are pairing it with silver and white for a cool monochromatic effect. You’ll also see ice blue adorned with pearl accents, which gives it a warmer, more elegant feel.
I love to combine ice blue ornaments and ribbons with greenery that looks like it was plucked from a frozen forest, like bare sticks sprinkled with clear or silver glitter, evergreen garland that seems dusted with snow or boxwood wreaths that appear to have been caught in the season’s first freeze.
Nostalgia
Name the era, from the groovy ’60s all the way back to the Victorian age, and it’s big right now. Spark up your tree with reproduction ornaments or hunt for the real thing at antique stores and flea markets. Then fill in with clear glass ornaments, which are also wildly popular this season. Whether they are garden-variety globes or uniquely shaped, embellished works of art, glass balls work on every tree, no matter the theme, because they are crafty chameleons.
Another nostalgic trend is the reinvented country look, which is now less cutesy and more homespun. I can’t get enough of this season’s rustic country trims, like burlap ribbon, twine and wool plaids. I also adore the simple ornaments, hewn out of wood or made out of twigs.
Winter Woodland
Since my decorating inspiration often comes from nature, one of my all-time favorite holiday looks is winter woodland. I will never grow tired of this classic look, with its hunt club fabrics in red, green and navy, and its animal-inspired accents, like antler-shaped candle holders. Every season I reinvent this cherished theme so it always feels fresh and new.
Green Galore
No matter what shade of green you use in your holiday decorating this year, it’s in. The traditional pairing of hunter green and red is back, plus other well-loved combinations, like apple green and black and white, celadon and pink, and sage and brown.
A great way to work your preferred shade of green into your holiday décor is to use gorgeous ribbons, gift wrap and greenery. For instance, if you like the color combination of apple green, black and white, tie a black and white plaid ribbon around a few ornaments on your tree. Hang a few ornaments that feature these colors. And wrap your packages in green paper with black and white ribbons, or the reverse.
Heavy Metal
Gold, once the hallmark of Christmas, fell out of favor for a few years. But it’s staging a big comeback this season, gaining ground on silver, which is still our biggest seller. There is something so regal and magnificent about featuring these beautiful metallic finishes during the holidays, so I fill my tree with both.
To work more gold and silver into your holiday décor this season, all you need is a can of silver and gold spray paint. Repurpose tired old globes by sprucing them up with a coat of silver or gold paint. Mist found treasures like pinecones, nuts and branches with silver and gold, then work them into your displays.
