Design Hints
Behind the Scenes
Margie Moser spends months creating lavish holiday displays in every nook and cranny of her Graham, Washington, home. Here's how she pulls it all together:
• Grand Garlands. Margie builds multiple garlands every year to grace doorways, shelves and more. For those heavier garlands above doorways, she begins by hanging faux greenery from wall-mounted cup hooks. Next, she works in layers to attach ornaments, one color, shape or pattern at a time, attaching them with ribbon or small hangers. Finally, she weaves small battery-powered light strands into her arrangement.
• Luxe Lighting. Every chandelier in Margie’s home is dressed up for the holidays. She starts with a base of greenery or berry vine and adds beads and a bevy of ornaments hung at varying heights from small hooks or lengths of ribbon.
• Detailed Displays. Odd numbers of like items, especially groups of three, seem to work best in vignettes, Margie says. After all of her accents are in place, she sprinkles a dusting of faux snow around each grouping as a finishing touch.
• Window Wonderland. White tempera paint and snowflake stencils are Margie’s tools of choice for decorating her windows. Window treatments are not a necessity since she lives on a private lot, but she does put up swag-topped sheer valances for holiday glamour in the family room. Other windows are crowned with garland or shelves decked for the season.
• Tremendous Trees. Every year, Margie selects a different theme for her family room Christmas tree, such as this year’s black, white and silver palette. She arranges lights first but keeps them turned off while decorating. Beaded sprays and florals go on next, tucked in amid the branches and arranged in a large bouquet at the top. Then come the glass balls, one color at a time. Occasionally, she clicks the lights on to see how it looks and then hangs more ornaments where needed. When the tree is complete, she surrounds it with coordinating packages.
Written by Lisa Sloan
Photographed by BlackstoneEdge.com
Styled by Donna Pizzi
