How Cool People Decorate For the Holidays
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Twinkle lights, an heirloom collection of ornaments, banisters looped with fluffy evergreen garlands, grandma’s special Christmas platters: All staples of the holiday season for many a household, ordinary and wonderfully unique at the same time. But as we enter another year of decking the halls, we wanted to know: How are the experts—the designers, the creators, the enviably chic, the cool people—bringing the festive vibes this time of year?
What we found was a wide variety of decorating philosophies and traditions—including some decided breaks from tradition—and plenty of ideas to inspire new, unexpected ways to make merry in your own home.
Ken Fulk
Decorator and interior designer
Ken Fulk is as much a magician as he is a maker of gorgeous, dynamic spaces—a master curator who creates his own fascinating worlds within the realms of residential and commercial design. Nowhere is that on clearer display than in his new, treasure-filled retail location in West Hollywood. With the holiday season upon us, he’s also focusing on festivity at home.
“I always look for tension in a styling moment—you need the contrast of new and nostalgic, shiny and natural, deep greenery with pops of color and sparkle,” he says. His favorites pieces to source include two-toned fresh magnolia garlands (bonus: it’s mess-free), vintage silver (“anything with shine, from mismatched candlesticks and champagne buckets to old antique trophies shined up and used as a vessel for bright amaryllis”), and taper candles (he favors an extra tall, 24” version in red, gray, or olive green, available through KenFulk.com).
The bottom line: “Be generous with everything, from decorations and candles everywhere to extending those extra invites,” he adds. “The holidays are about generosity, so don’t be afraid to make a real effort.”
Julee Wilson
Content creator and beauty-editor-at-large
A longtime beauty editor and lifestyle expert, Julee Wilson is also a mother of two young boys who like to start holiday festivities ASAP. She lets the kids decide the color scheme a few weeks in advance and has the ornaments ready to go. “Then, after Thanksgiving dinner, we bundle up and head out to get a real tree from the stand around the corner, and then we get home, blast Christmas music, and get to work decorating.”
“My parents were always very intentional about having decorations with Black Santa, Mrs. Clause, elves, toy soldiers, etcetera,” says Wilson. “Now, whenever I see a Black holiday decoration, my heart sings. I also make sure the boys have Black culture-centric pajamas—we love the ones from Hendrix + Lenox.” She tops it all off with a glittery gold star that projects lights up on the ceiling. “It’s the one decoration that stays constant every year.”
Christene Barberich
Entrepreneur and editor
As the founding editor of the digital media pioneer Refinery29.com, Christene Barberich brought her keen eye and adoration of vintage maximalism to the masses. In recent years, she has turned her attention to the value of the micro with her weekly newsletter A Tiny Apt, which chronicles her approach to personal style, spaces, and advice for navigating challenges in both home and life.
When it comes to holiday decor, Barberich draws on her own childhood Christmas. Her family tree, at home on Long Island, was “trussed up with pops of shiny things and also (always) pops of weird things,” she recalls. “My mother's favorite holiday thing to break out of storage every season was always the bubbling Christmas lights. In the 70s, they got very hot and honestly could have set the whole house on fire, but I still love them to this day. They have a pop-art/Memphis/Dan Flavin kind of vibe that I find very appealing.”
Before she kicks off the decorating, Barberich always clears the decks. “It may sound kind of boring, but I recommend doing a deep clean and a donation drop-off before things get nuts. It’s important, in my humble opinion, that we remind ourselves that we always have more than enough of everything, and when we share some of that ‘extra’ with local charities and organizations, it makes room for all manner of new things to emerge in our lives—and not just during the holidays.”
Other must-haves include: a great playlist (“this one is very fun!”) and warm, festive lighting (she recently became obsessed with these timer flameless candles from Target). “I am also a sucker for all manner of organic materials, and a bit obsessed with LaChaume and the wheat centerpieces they make in their Paris atelier. They're beautiful and sculptural and so special. They last a long time, too.”
Rebecca Gardner
Founder and creative director, Houses & Parties
When it comes to the holidays, Savannah-based stylist Rebecca Gardner, founder of the highly celebrated and sought-after event and interior design collective Houses & Parties, has strong opinions about garlands: “One is dinky.” Instead, she recommends using three. “You can wire them together, or ask the local nursery to make it,” she adds.
There’s more. “I beg the Christmas tree lot for extra branches and wire them to the thick garland so it’s really lush and asymmetrical. Then I decorate with floppy loops of layered ribbon—specifically, a wired five-inch ribbon on the bottom and a luxe, double-faced satin on the top.” Candy houses are an at-home must-have as well. Pro tip for anyone celebrating in a muggy climate: “Savannah is too humid for gingerbread so I use FedEx boxes and royal icing. It’s fun to play architect!"
Bronson Van Wyck
Event producer and founder, Van Wyck & Van Wyck
“My mother always said there’s no better time to take decor risks than during the holidays, and I couldn’t agree more,” says acclaimed event producer Bronson Van Wyck, the author of Born to Party, Forced to Work, a hospitality guide. An expert in the art of ambiance, Van Wyck relies on seasonal bounty to deck the halls in his own home: “Around Thanksgiving, I love incorporating fruits of the harvest—pomegranates, golden apples, grains, and magnolia—into my tabletop design,” he says. Fresh cedar boughs draped over the mantle fill the air with fragrance.
“This is also the perfect time to start bringing out the silver,” he adds—but also to diverge from or expand on traditions, too. “To take a break from the customary ham on Christmas or turkey on Thanksgiving, my family will choose a different cuisine to inspire both our holiday menu and decor,” he says. One year, they went Venetian, with dishes like risotto al nero di seppia and bacalà mantecato, and a Byzantine-style tree; another year, they celebrated with classic Chinese dishes, partnering the cuisine theme with a Chinoiserie-inspired Christmas tree and mantel. “This approach not only makes the holidays feel more collaborative but also keeps things exciting.”
Ashley Avignone
Designer and fashion stylist
If Ashley Avignone could impart one piece of holiday advice, it would be this: “Decorate early.” Put the tree up as soon as the inkling arrives. “I am usually traveling from the 24th on so I like to get the tree up so I can enjoy it as long as possible. I love all white Christmas lights—it’s so chic—and someday I hope to have a staircase where I can recreate that ‘white light’ moment from Eyes Wide Shut.’” A final word of wisdom for her fellow holiday travelers? “Bring along knit stockings. They’re easy to pack in a suitcase and everyone loves a stocking stuffer on Christmas morning.”
Sally Breer
Interior Designer
Dubbed “Young Hollywood’s Decorator of Choice” and a celebrated designer of residential, commercial, and ephemeral projects alike, native New Yorker-turned-Angeleno Sally Breer has forged a practice that marries bold, original style with a dose of the delightfully unexpected. even insouciant. And so it may come as no surprise that her approach to holiday decorating prioritizes fun.
“The temporary nature of holiday adornment should be a chance to try stuff you might otherwise be too shy to commit to year round,” says Breer. That doesn’t necessarily have to mean kitsch, she explains. More like: “Your ‘products’—as in, your menorah or stockings—don’t need to look like the ones you’ve seen a thousand times. Play with your shapes, create a theme, experiment with making! Use remnants! Even if you’re a mediocre sewer, I bet you can make a tree skirt,” Breer says.
She put this into practice one season when she made stockings in the shape of the first letter of each of her family’s names, using deadstock cotton velvet. “Another year, I decided to make everything fish—including our stockings, dough ornaments, and our tree topper,” she adds.
Claiborne Swanson Frank
Photographer and creative director
Acclaimed portrait photographer and author Claiborne Swanson Frank has built a career on creating, and capturing, the perfect moment, a talent that comes in handy during the holidays.
Her philosophy: Be prepared. “Order all your outdoor planters and greenery the week Thanksgiving. Make playlists. Invest in beautiful candles.” Oh, and plan your holiday drink menu—Swanson Frank’s favorites include egg nog and pomegranate margaritas.
When it comes to Christmas trees, one is never enough: “I place them all over our house, along with garlands and gold and silver pine cones of various sizes.” The greenery goes on with plenty of wreaths, festooned with the same red and navy blue ribbons she uses every year. “I will always love these sweet memories of nights listening to Frank Santra singing ‘White Christmas,’ the sound of kids running up and downstairs, a fire roaring, and a cocktail in hand. What’s better than that?”
Jane Keltner de Valle
Entrepreneur, Paloroma
When former magazine style director and entrepreneur Jane Keltner de Valle was pregnant with her second baby, she was also incubating a business idea: a clean ingredient skincare line for little ones. Not long thereafter, Paloroma—named for her children and launched with her husband, designer Giancarlo Valle—was born.
When it comes to holiday decor, she takes inspiration from her mother: “Nothing was ever cookie cutter,” Keltner de Valle recalls. “The mantel was decorated with her collection of Santas of various sizes and origins, and hung with stockings needlepointed with each family member’s name."
Another family tradition: Every year her mother had silver bells engraved with each child's names and the year. "She has also carried on the silver bell tradition with her grandchildren, so our tree owes a big debt to her! It is filled with our silver bells, ornaments from my childhood and my husband’s, homemade ones the children have created, and ones we’ve collected as a family.”
A pilgrimage to John Derian (or, as she calls him, “the king of Christmas”), a bounty of bows on the tree (inspired by Patricia Herrera Lansing), and an evolving collection of nutcrackers are more must-haves in her holiday scheme, as are Elsa Perreti thumbprint bowls, which she fills with red and green M&Ms.
“I don’t do Christmas china, but generally follow a green and white palette with my table settings. We happen to have the green spongeware china from Tory Home, as well as some Carolina Irving plates in that color scheme, and some vintage lettuceware ones, so they lend themselves well to a Christmas table.” She also uses velvet bows from Mrs. Alice, tied around white French linen napkins. “And Christmas crackers always!”
Kudzi Chikumbu
Entrepreneur and content creator, Sir Candle Man
With more than 400K followers, Kudzi Chikumbu, a.k.a. Sir Candle Man, is a leading influencer in the fragrance space. His is also the author of Let It Burn, and has a candle collaboration with LAFCO, Heart of the Matter.
For the holidays, he turns to the classics: “I’m a sucker for a signature pine, fir, or spruce scent, though I do like those scents with a twist. For example, Homecourt’s Balsam Fireplace has a touch of spice from cardamom and cinnamon.”
He’s also partial to Woodland Spruce, from LAFCO (note the “grounding palo santo”) and Fir from Trudon (“deep myrrh”). While he’s not one to go full on sugar cookie, he won’t say no to something sweet: An incense like Reisfields No. 8 (“slightly sweet fig”), LAFCO’s White Maple Bourbon, and Maison Francis Kurkdjian's Rose des Neiges (“fresh raspberry and rose”) will do the trick.
As for the non-scent scheme, he prefers simple touches that emphasize the glisten and glow. He skips the tinsel and lights. “Basically, I just want my home to feel like my home. Just a little bit more sparkly.”
Presley Oldham
Jewelry designer
A creator of sculptural and environmentally conscious pearl jewelry, artist and designer Presley Oldham has described his aesthetic as a “a little bit earthy, a little bit elegant.” It’s an ethos that translates to his holiday styling, too.
“I always love having natural decor,” he says. “We buy the scrappy, Charlie Brown looking trees that not many other people seem to want, and decorate with classic lights, minimal ornaments, and a small star I made out of wire and lights. Our friend Ben Lewellyn [of Village Common] makes beautiful, handmade stockings out of his fabric scraps that we hang up every year.” He also carries on a tradition learned from his grandmother, who made sparkly, styrofoam-and-straight-pin ornaments covered in technicolor sequins. “They’re the perfect iridescent pop of color to add to your tree or gather in a coffee table bowl—and easy to recreate for a fun project!”
Wherever possible, Oldham prizes the personal and resourceful over the mass produced: “I use a lot of beads and jewels from my work to decorate my house, so I’m not buying a lot of wasteful, plastic things. I also think a few small touches go a long way: Go to your local tree farm or stand and ask for the branches that have fallen off of trees, and use those to create wreaths or decorate your doorway.”
Anna Brockaway
Co-founder and president, Chairish
Every year, Anna Brockaway, co-founder of Chairish, the treasure trove of furnishings and homewares, hosts 20 people or more for Christmas Eve. Keeping with her Italian heritage, she serves the Feast of the Seven Fishes: a multi-course seafood dinner, served up with all the festive fixings and decorative fanfare, on her grandmother’s Art Deco Haviland China. “I change it up, layering in colorful chargers—chartreuse or persimmon, blue or pink,” says Brockaway. “I’m a fan of an overstuffed table with lots of candlelight, and I love to layer in little lamps with colorful shades.”
It’s also the season her crystal collection comes out, some mid-century Italian pieces, some traditional; a set of turn-of-the-century Murano Salviati opaline coupes are almost certain to make an appearance. “I layer a lot, so sometimes I’ll change up the colors. I also have some older Salviati crystal laced with gold and pink,” she adds. Christmas crackers are the finishing touch she never skips.
Clare de Boer
Chef and co-founder of Roseland USA
Four-time James Beard nominated chef Clare de Boer has no shortage of to-do’s on her plate, often literally. Her two restaurants—Stissing House in Upstate New York and King in Manhattan’s West Village—have been lauded for both their fantastic fare and elegant, welcoming design. In 2023, de Boer also launched a heritage furnishings brand alongside her husband Luke Sherwin. Roseland USA produces heirloom-quality wood beds and tables, as well as a small collection of handmade metal products.
“Simplicity, nature, and generosity are the keys to our aesthetic at Roseland,” says de Boer—a philosophy that also translates to her holiday decor. Punch bowls filled with citrus, hand-blown hurricane lanterns, and abundant pine wreaths fill the couple’s home during the holiday season.
Her advice: “Fewer things on a larger scale enhance the feeling of abundance and simplicity. Light candles and fireplaces.” This time of year, she stocks up on 100 percent pure beeswax candles, hand-dipped by Frances Culley of Root and Tuber, which make the whole house smell like honeycomb. “Our decorations are either handmade to become heirlooms, or destined to be eaten or placed in our New Year’s Eve bonfire.”
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