Trending the Season ...

Dressing your home for the Holidays By Debbie Gardner PRIME Editor It's just a bit over five weeks from the time we clean the turkey roasting pan to New Year's Day, but it seems more time, energy and thought go into how our homes look during the holiday season than any other time of the year. If you're looking for some tips on how to freshen up your decorating scheme for 2005, you're in luck. PRIME recently sat down with local floral designer Lyn Nolan to get the inside scoop on what's hot in home decorating for the holiday season. Some of you may recognize Nolan's name from her association with the X Main Street Corporation, of which she is now director. But Nolan also works extensively with Fini's Plant Stand of Agawam, has her own floral design and event decorating business, Starlight Productions, and boasts more than 25 years of floral and store window design experience. Here's what she's seen in the marts for Holiday 2005: Go colorful, or go natural "I'm seeing a lot of jewel tones vibrant greens, reds, and the deep neon blues, [in holiday decorations]" Nolan told PRIME when we met to discuss trends at Blue Moon Coffee on Summer Avenue in Springfield. And when it came to the color green, it wasn't your run of the mill forest-and pine tree shade. "It was a hot green, a celedon green, or something close to mint," she said "I also saw the color burgundy [instead of red]." "The other thing I noticed was a lot of Mardi Gras colors the purple, bright green and gold." She said she saw the Mardi Gras theme also played out in other accessories, such as the use of masks, and beads. "Lots and lots of beads, beaded garlands, that type of thing," she said. "On the opposite side [of the color trend], I've seen a lot of the use of twigs, berries and natural materials [for the holidays]," Nolan continued. She said one of the freshest new items she saw for natural decorating was an artificial berry that "looks realistic, can stand up to the elements and can be used outside all winter." The eclectic look At one of Nolan's favorite haunts in Marblehead a shop called Treasure Trove she said she saw what she felt was a cutting-edge holiday look that featured a neutral, natural palate. Nolan referred to Treasure Trove as "very trendy, with very unique items ... things you don't find in the Mall." "They are doing a lot with feathers, doves, angels and staying with very soft, cream colors," she said of their take on holiday decorating. "They were also using a lot of natural items instead of santas, reindeers and [those] types of things." Light layering and adding shine Another trend Nolan said she saw played up for the holiday season is the layering of lights on displays. "You start with the tiny, twinkle lights, then layer slightly bigger lights, and bigger lights, so you get a three-dimensional effect," she said. "It's very cool I love the three-dimensional look in displays; I do them every chance I get." Echoing the lighting trend was the use of glittery materials and motifs. "I think you're going to see a lot of celestial themes the use of stars and moons in ornaments and motifs," she said. "I also saw a lot of things with icicles, crystals and that kind of a look," she said. "Decorating that was done with a glittery, iridescent kind-of effect." "Sea"-ing another natural trend "One other trend I've seen and I think it has a lot to do with people spending summers on the Cape or at the North Shore is a lot [of holiday decorating] done with seashells," Nolan said. She said this seems to tie into the muted trend she saw in Marblehead. "A lot of blues and grays, and beiges, the colors of the sand," were used in this theme. "And it's something you can do yourself. It's easy enough to put a string through a seashell and put it on your tree," she said. She said seashells, sand dollars, starfish, dried shore materials and flowers are all the elements one needs to create a chic look for the holidays. "It's also a good reason to escape [back to the shore] and collect your own materials," Nolan noted. "There's a lot more of [those kinds of things] in winter because there's no one there to pick them up!" Have fun and experiment Whatever the hot trends, Nolan said the most important thing is to have fun and experiment with your holiday decorating. "I think the holidays are a great time to go with your imagination and decorate a room in a color you would never do it in like hot pink or lime green you can do a tree in it," she said. "And I think its really fun to have more than one Christmas tree." "I like to do the traditional red-and-green [look], but also another one that's all seashells, or all kids [ornaments] or all fruit, etc."