Holidays With Heart

Celebrating with style at Seasons Garden Center.
By Dava Guerin

Around the world, cultures celebrate their respective holidays with diverse traditions including elements of music and dance, food, ceremonies and revelry In the United States, the Christmas, Chanukah, and Kwanzaa holidays, among others, are marked by family get-togethers, where the smells of turkey roasting in the oven and the shimmer of holiday lights linger long after the season is over. Memories are created by people passionately taking the time to bring their homes to life, by personalizing their holiday décor and using objects that have relevance in their lives.  From the sappy pinecones that fell from a Douglas Fir in the backyard, to old beads from Grandmom’s jewelry box, putting a bit of heart into holiday decorating will clearly foster a happy memory in the making.

Creating a Personalized Holiday Décor

As the holiday season kicks in to full gear, Seasons Garden Center sheds its master gardener persona, and transforms itself into “master decorator” status. Lush gardens and manicured lawns take a back seat to exterior lighting, tree decorating, holiday interior design and plantings that capture the essence of the season. And, one of the best ways to create a one-of-a-kind theme that reflects the individual tastes of the homeowner, is to listen to their vision for their indoor and outdoor spaces.

Planning can start as early as January, however; Seasons designers will often work with clients quickly, especially if they need immediate help. And even though the process may normally take more than a day or two, having long-standing client relationships often lends itself to interpreting their vision and turning it around on a dime.

Building relationships is the “key to Seasons’ success,” according to Piestor, especially around the holidays, where interiors are the focus. “We have a wonderful client who every season leaves for Florida before the holidays and lets us decorate their entire home for them,” Piestor said. “Then, when they come back for Christmas, they return to a space filled with the colors and textures we both know they love. And, when they leave for Florida once more, we put the entire house back together for them.  The magic of the season comes to life for them because their home was decorated utilizing their vision and our expertise.”

You Gotta’ Have Heart

While bringing “heart” in to the holiday decorating mix may pose some minor challenges, they are usually overcome by a strong relationship with the garden expert, and on-going communication.  Kelly Thompson, Seasons’ master gardener, has been bringing the holidays to life for clients by uncovering what is important to them, and incorporating those thoughts into their holiday décor.

“I always want to know my clients’ interests, preferences, and generally what has meaning to them when I’m designing a room or an entire house for the holidays,” said Thompson. “One person just adored lime green and red, and had a passion for collecting model cars. So, we did the tree in that theme and used the bright green color as an accent, and it was amazing,” she said. “Another person wanted to use only natural twigs, berries, pine cones and other things found in a typical Bucks County garden, so we spray-painted some of the collected objects with gold and silver paint, used twine for the garland, and created a space that sparkled, yet felt warm and earthy,” she added.

“The bottom line is that people should decorate with their hearts around the holidays, so they can have warm and happy memories that will last until the next holiday rolls around,” said Thompson.

Dava Guerin is Bucks & Montgomery Living Magazine’s People Editor.