Sutton Group - West Coast Realty

Christmas starts with a walk in the park…

Christmas starts with a walk in the park…

As December approaches something inside of me starts to dread pulling out all the Christmas decorations. Don’t get me wrong, I love the holiday season and a house filled with Christmas décor. But let’s face it - the tree lights are a hassle, little helpers pull the Christmas ornaments out all at once, and before you know it, there is general chaos with ornaments and storage boxes everywhere. By December 31^st all the eager helpers disappear, leaving you to the lonely task of packing everything up and dragging the boxes back to the crawl space. Hey, I’m just telling it like it is!

Last year I decided on a slightly different approach. I started my decorating with a walk in the park. It was the day after one of our infamous northwest wind storms and the ground was littered with fallen branches - beautiful evergreen boughs. What a gift! I got inspired and collected an armful of branches, pinecones and added to my collection by cutting more from my own backyard. At home, I placed greenery everywhere – on top of the mantel which creating an instant garland, small sprigs around the base of candles (the battery operated candles available at HomeSense are a safe option), etc. What’s Christmas without a little snow? I added “fake” snow (available at Pottery Barn) to the bottom of a glass vase, placing pinecones and a little greenery on top. To a glass hurricane lantern I added snow plus a twig with red berries.

Of course the family favorite decorations were unpacked in the days that followed but the tired, dated decorations were left in storage. We enjoyed Christmas with the fresh scent of evergreen filling the house. A refreshing change and it was quick, easy, inexpensive, and totally charming.

Contact Kate Lyons:  Best Dressed Homes @ 604.831.2497  or klyons@telus.net