For the last four years, George and Betty Schaefer have given themselves a magnificent present for the holidays. It is a present that many of us who are tired of untangling the seemingly endless strands of lights can only dream. The Schaefers hire professionals to decorate their Cincinnati home for the holiday season.
Betty began the process by stopping by the Delhi Flower and Garden Centers and pointing out things she liked in the tree displays to one of the designers. Then the designer visited her home to decide how best to work the decorations into the design of the home. In touring the home, Liz Gilkey, head designer on the Schaefer project, says, “You get an overall sense of femininity in the pinks and greens used in many of the rooms. But the dark, rich woodwork found throughout keeps the house from being overly feminine.”
Although the dichotomy works in the everyday nature of the home, it posed a challenge for the designers in using the non-traditional holiday colors in the décor. “We wanted to still maintain the elegance of the home and keep a sophisticated look,” Gilkey explains. The primary thread of pink and green color is maintained throughout all of the holiday decorating, but each room is a little different—primarily because the purpose and level of formality of each room is different. The end result is an unbelievably exquisite holiday display of embellishments that exudes jolly merriment while blending into the everyday beauty of the home.
In the family room, the tree is accented with pink and green ribbons. To personalize the tree, the designers use some of the family’s own ornaments that they have owned for years. For example, George has a military background and ornaments relating thereto adorn the tree. The family’s affinity for Elder High School leads the designer to work “Elder purple” into the mix. The tree skirts are even coordinated with the existing fabrics in each individual room.
In the formal dining room, the color scheme is deep chocolates and rich pinks with touches of crystal throughout. Playing up the crystal, the designers filled the room with snowy, icy decorations to evoke a wintry feeling, but added warmth and drama by incorporating brown satin ribbons, candles, and pink peonies into the greenery used as a centerpiece.
Greenery with rivers of pink and green ribbon along with white lights bring the holidays to the stair railings throughout the home.
In the downstairs entertainment room, the designer created a fun mantel display with overflowing greenery filled with colored lights and amusing polka dot ornaments and merry Santa figurines.
Other than hiring a professional like the designers at Delhi Garden Center, Gilkey says you can still make your home beautiful and ease the pain of holiday decorating by investing in high-quality artificial greenery that you can use year after year, or cut natural twigs of berries and pine. These can be tucked at the tops of paintings or doorways and add holiday cheer to your home without transforming the whole house. Liz also suggests reinventing things you already have by adding fresh ribbon and using lighting in an unexpected way. “You can add lighting to canisters or punch bowls filled with ornaments and change out your ribbons each year. There are some gorgeous ribbons out there.”
As to having her home decorated, Betty says, “The nicest thing is when you have shopping to do, presents to wrap, and cards to send out, it gives you a boost when you don’t have to worry about putting up the decorations. It’s a luxury I’m fortunate to have in life.”