The holidays are quickly approaching.  This can bring heart palpitations to many, with the idea of cooking, cleaning, entertaining, houseguests and decorating all looming in the not so distant future.  You start asking yourself, can I stay on my diet?  Will my mother-in-law drive me to a breakdown?  Can I afford to buy presents?  The holidays can bring more stress than joy.  This year we are here to at least ease the anxiety of decorating with a few hip and trendy suggestions to make your home sparkle and positively ooze of holiday cheer!

Wreaths

Cherie Yvette Forsythe, owner of Cherie Yvette Flowers, John McCaffrey, owner of Bittersweet Garden & Floral, and Mary Carol Garrity, owner of Nell Hill’s, are all in agreement that one of the hottest ways update your holiday décor this year is with the use of square wreaths.  Cherie Yvette states, “Square wreaths done in a really deep green Bay Laurel with fruited olives and rosemary is a fantastic look.  It is very Roman Classic but mixed with a contemporary flair by using the square shape.”

At Nell Hill’s they are hanging square wreaths all over the store.  Mary Carol Garrity says, “We hang them on the diagonal and then place a wall sconce in the middle with a drippy candle, the candle is part of the overall aesthetics and not necessarily for lighting, it is a very modern look to spice up the traditional holiday décor.”

Materials

“Pheasant feathers, oak and lichen, magnolia leaves, seeded eucalyptus and pepper berry and all quite hot this season.”  Pronounces Cherie Yvette Forsythe.  These are the materials that her celebrity designers are flocking to in order to create wreaths and swags for this season.

McCaffrey states, “I am seeing trends of using lots of berries, bark, mushrooms, moss and just an all round woodsy look.  Bringing in plants like Echeverias, Agaves and Aeonium as well seems to be very popular.”

Colors

It seems as if the colors this season run the gamut from finding our roots in tradition to forging new uncharted territory in color choices this holiday.  Garrity elaborates, “One of the hottest combinations that I am seeing this season is turquoise blue paired with chocolate brown.  There is also a strong appreciation for the vintage looking Christmas using a cherry red and green.”

John McCaffrey is seeing more toned down hues, “Colors this year seem to be leaning towards whites and creams.  I’m seeing a lot of creams, champagnes and chocolate brown together.  The poinsettias farmers are growing more of the pinks, peaches, plums and marbled colors this year.”

Advice

Mary Carol Garrity has a tried and true piece of advice for holiday decorating, she says, “Get a big urn and put your tree in the urn rather than the traditional tree stand.  By doing this you do not need as many lights or ornaments and it makes the tree appear taller as well as just adding some unexpected whimsy to the same old tree stands.”

This holiday season a splash of the unexpected is possibly the way to go by using square shapes, turquoise and chocolate hues and urns to hold up the tree.  This advice from some of our areas experts will hopefully help to answer any queries as to what is hot and what is not this time of year.  But the best advice is to lean back and enjoy the holidays with your family and friends and try not to ‘sweat the small stuff.’