The kids are coming home from college. You’re hosting a party for your husband’s firm. Your parents are flying up from Boca. Then there’s New Year’s Eve and that Super Bowl party in February. With so much effort going into preparing your home for the holidays, it often feels like you are putting the decorations away before you’ve caught your breath.
But for the savvy hostess, holiday décor is no longer about untangling miles of Christmas lights, plunking red candles on the mantel, and getting out the Santa coffee mugs. It’s an opportunity to create an ambience of elegance that your family will enjoy until the first crocus blooms. The trick isn’t to do a costly home makeover but to add warmth and glamour with carefully selected accessories.
In 2009, he won the Philadelphia Trophy for the most distinctive focal point. And isn’t that exactly what you want for the holidays?
Jane Panasiti-Watkins, owner of Bittersweet Farm in Newtown Square, calls her store “Just an adorable little house filled with ‘farmhouse elegance.’ I grew up in central Pennsylvania farm country surrounded by lovely things,” she explains. “My mother had an incredible sense of style and what I’ve created here is a reflection of her ability to add charm and beauty to any room.”
Each room in Bittersweet Farm, from the parlor to the kitchen, is filled with delightful decorative accessories and furnishings for every room in your house. But what keeps Panasiti-Watkins busy during the holidays is designing artificial floral arrangements in containers supplied by customers.
One customer who said, “I don’t do artificial,” quickly changed her mind after seeing Jane’s magic. “I like to do unexpected mixes,” she says. “Cherry tomatoes and sunflowers in a tool box planter and all sorts of things with pine roping, pepper berries, and twigs.”
She goes all out for Christmas at her store, with handblown glass ornaments, folk art Santas, and wooly, hand-crafted animals to hang on the tree. (Ask Jane about her feather trees.) Her bestseller for the holidays is an evergreen and citrus “cake candle.” It smells so delicious even when it’s unlit, your guests will be tempted to take a bite. But don’t wait too long, the cake candles sold out early last Christmas.
Ellen Sarafinian, founder and designer of Dezins Unlimited, believes in small changes that yield big results. “Start with your entrance. If you have an overhang, use an artificial arrangement to set the holiday mood, mixing greens with berries. If your curtains are on a rod, it’s easy to switch to warmer tones for winter such as burgundy, pumpkin, or cranberry.”
But your dining room is where you can create a grand illusion. “We can change the whole look by simply using velvet covers on end chairs, adding a festive table runner, and a floral centerpiece of an apothecary jar filled with ornaments,” says Sarafinian.
If you prefer live holiday floral arrangements to artificial, visit Michael Petrie at Handmade Gardens in Downingtown. Formerly a designer at J. Franklin Styer in Concordville, Petrie always walks away with a prize at the Philadelphia Flower Show. In 2009, he won the Philadelphia Trophy for the most distinctive focal point. And isn’t that exactly what you want for the holidays? “We specialize in container planting. Clients bring in a favorite family heirloom, antique, or found object and we do the planting for them,” Petrie says. His winter arrangements might include curly willow, blueberry branches, moss, and blooming amaryllis.
You never know what you’ll find at Handmade Gardens, from succulents in samovars to orchids in tea pots. Petrie uses object trouvé, or found objects, to create planters and garden art. “We make wreaths out of raspberry cane branches, curly willow thistle, and sumac. We also make them out of things we collect.”
Have you ever admired the illuminated ornaments hanging in the trees in Rittenhouse Square? Those are Petrie’s creations and you will find them in time for the holidays at Handmade Gardens. “It’s an open-weave vine ball from the Philippines that we wrap with colored lights. You can put them on shrubs, lay them on the ground, or use them inside your home. It’s much easier than stringing lights on a tree.”
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