Warner Moore
Warner Moore
Interior Design
475 N. Highland, #12 A
Memphis, TN. 38122
901.848.9832
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I love getting out the Christmas boxes each year. Unpacking old friends that I have collected over the years. The time-honored tradition of Christmas is a joyful thing, and thinking of creative ways to display your Christmas collections can be exciting. If you have collected or inherited beautiful glass ornaments consider not placing some of them on the tree. Vintage glass ornaments have a certain luster that new ornaments do not. Instead of the tree, consider placing them in large clear glass containers and use them on your mantle,console or sideboard. One can also tie them to Christmas garland that hangs over doors, mirrors or mantles. Collections of things, Santa Clauses, Christmas villages, snowmen, etc. can be displayed in interesting ways. The top of a console can be turned into a winter wonderland! Lay green sheet moss first. Then place the pieces to look like an outdoor scene. Once displayed sprinkle faux snow over the entire village. You can also use your collection to adorn the dining room table center piece. The collection will create a permanent center piece throughout the season to be embellished with fresh flowers as needed. Use greenery as a base and build on top of that. Hanging vintage ornaments on your tree will give it a wonderful look of studied grace and longevity. A truly traditional look. If you don’t have vintage ornaments they are easily acquired on EBay. Even a vintage tree topper will set a nostalgic mood. Another way to use a collection is on the mantle. Placed in and around Christmas garland draped across the mantle gives it an important place to shine. Nutcrackers are among the most popular collectibles. Massing them on a table or by the fireplace is distinctive but there are other ways to use them. Try tying them to your tree, if it is large! Fishing line is the perfect medium with which to secure them. One can also place them in small groupings throughout the house. All collections should be enhanced with greenery and, or flowers to give them an attractive foundation. Christmas is a magical time of year. Feel free to experiment. There is no way to go over the top at Christmas! May you have a joyful and merry Christmas!
Cindy McCord
Cindy McCord Design
1289 S. DuBray Place
Collierville, TN 38107
901.610.3907
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For those of you who know me best, it comes as no surprise that there is a fascination and love for the place we call “HOME”. For me personally, I love to walk in a room and let it tell a story. Don’t get me wrong, I thrive on new beautiful things, BUT balancing it with personal and meaningful collections, gifts from family and friends, and passed down items from generations make a perfect and special home. When I look back at items given to me over the years such as ornaments, snowmen for my collection, and other pieces, it’s not the gift or occasion I remember the most but the conversation and sweet memory of the person who gave me the gift.
It’s nice to be able to walk in a room and reconstruct the moment and relive it! I want my home to be a place of comfort and provide memories that reflect strength and character, which made me who I am. My precious mother has passed many beautiful silver, crystal, china, and linens down to me, and just last Christmas we sat for hours and looked at each piece and she told me the story of “who it was from” and how they were related to me. I wrote all of it down and plan to do the same one day for my twin girls. These are memories that I carefully guard and deeply cherish.
It’s nice to be able to walk in a room and reconstruct the moment and relive it! I want my home to be a place of comfort and provide memories that reflect strength and character, which made me who I am. My precious mother has passed many beautiful silver, crystal, china, and linens down to me, and just last Christmas we sat for hours and looked at each piece and she told me the story of “who it was from” and how they were related to me. I wrote all of it down and plan to do the same one day for my twin girls. These are memories that I carefully guard and deeply cherish.
Rachel Gray
Rachel Gray
Interior Design & Consulting 496 S. Main St. # 201
Memphis, Tennessee 38103 901.443.5454
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In any other circumstance, a teenager with a bottle of brandy and a box of matches is, undoubtedly, a recipe for disaster. But, consider that this situation happens once every year on Christmas Eve night. On this sacred occasion, and historically throughout my years and those of my forebears, we gather around the dining table to welcome the pièce de résistance of the meal… the plum pudding, or more commonly known as “figgy pudding.” As we wait with bated breath, the aforementioned teenager assumes the coveted role and liberates the pudding from the confines of its steaming mold, plates it on a glamorous platter, douses it with copious amounts liquor, and delivers it to the table en flambé with great pomp and circumstance. Whether your holiday traditions are big or small, these traditions lend a certain magic and spirit to our everyday lives. Consider extracting certain elements from your holiday decorations or holiday traditions and incorporating them into your home interiors post holiday. Since I am the sucker in the family who actually goes to great lengths creating the plum pudding months in advance of December 24th, relatives would send me family pudding molds through the years. I normally don’t collect things, but somehow, these molds collected me, along with a set of pewter ice cream molds. Most of the pudding and ice cream forms are antique and works of art. So, instead of keeping these objects stowed away, I decided to display them on the bookshelves off of my dining room. The installation is impressive and eclectic…a wash of dusty, silvered objects in varying sizes that can be articulated on a whim. While the objects are old, the combination suggests a modern-day sensibility. This holiday, watch those teenagers around your brandy, and re-imagine your holiday treasures.
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