Living by the maxim “remain true to yourself,” interior designer Linda Stewart’s Salem house showcases her love of classic design and a collection of sentimental items all year round.
Glass doors, clerestory windows, and skylights let in natural light, which adds warmth and a feeling of peaceful comfort. Stewart, who spends time in her garden every day, has interior colors and textures that mirror the outside.
According to Stewart, the driving force is nature. Simplicity and harmony in color, texture, and shape are the aim of decorating in order to produce a unified aesthetic. This makes it possible for people’s eyes to travel from one side of the room to the other without jerking.
She decorates for the holidays without straying from her creative philosophies.
She decorates her elegant home with a carefully chosen overlay of red and green holiday happiness in December. On the white mantel in her living room, two green vases that have been in her family for 60 years are set alongside two new candlesticks that are similar to the old ones in terms of shape and color. Beneath a simple rectangular mirror and cast-metal twig sconces, the candles are nestled in fresh greenery.
Stewart, who characterizes her style as simple and clean, complementing rather than competing, stated that such sconces would not look good next to an elaborate mirror. That’s what I find visually appealing.
The aroma of freshly cut greenery fills the air, and after the holidays are gone, the Christmas tree and garland are turned into garden mulch.
In the garden guest home, flora highlights a big spherical artwork above the unpainted wood fireplace. A pear tree that used to grow there was used to make the mantel. Natural slate surrounds the fireplace.
When developing her house and guest house, Stewart collaborated with Beth Rhoades, the third-generation proprietor of C&R Design Remodeling in Salem. Depending on the situation, light fixtures are controlled by a dimmer that allows them to adjust the illumination level.
Although I dislike overhead lighting, Stewart explained that it has a purpose. While the light chandelier over the dining table is on high during a dinner, the mellow light from table lamps creates tranquility in her home’s living room.
Her home hosted a sit-down Thanksgiving dinner for three generations of her family, and they will be returning for a laid-back Christmas buffet and New Year’s party.
Rhoades likens Stewart’s decorating style to a little theater stage, where there is only one main actor and a few supporting cast members.
It’s easy to want to make a big statement during holiday celebrations, but that’s not the point of the season, which is to relax, spend time with loved ones, and spend time together, Rhoades stated. Being in an overly crowded environment takes your attention away from such emotions.
This is what Stewart and Rhoades advise:
-
Resist filling in empty spaces. There is already so much artificial stimulation out there now that it s overwhelming, said Stewart. Meaningful items need to stand alone to be appreciated.
-
Hold on to holiday pieces but change their setting every year. I admire that Linda does not copy and paste, said Rhoades. She looks at the colors outside to decide where everything will make an appearance each year.
-
New purchases that relate to a memorable piece in shape, color or style add to a cohesive look. But don t be tempted to try the latest trend if it doesn t relate to you or your house.
Family traditions
Herman Bookman’s 1932 home in Southeast Portland features heirlooms and handcrafted decorations atop a mahogany mantel.
Holidays are a time for customs, whimsical displays, and heartfelt décor. A red-plaid sofa pillow and a live poinsettia will work for some folks. Others desire to be surrounded by handmade decorations, family antiques, and an abundance of sparkling lights.
According to Portlanders who have shared their approach to festive décor with readers of The Oregonian/OregonLive throughout the years, let the spirit of the holidays lead you.
Simple places to start: Place fresh plants over a doorway or on a large windowsill to highlight a home’s architectural elements. And add a little assortment of important holiday items, such as ceramic cottages or gnomes wearing pointed red hats, to the areas where you spend the most of the winter.
Do you need anything quickly? Place a red-flowered live plant on the table.
These holiday decorating ideas from others may serve as inspiration for a simple touch to your house:
Don t forget surprises
In the Southwest Hills of Portland, a 1910 Grand Craftsman with emotive silver and white décor depicting a winter wonderland has a snowy owl perched on its windowsill.Graves, Mark/The Oregonian
Grand Craftsman A1910Five cherry trees are encircled by holiday lights in Portland’s Southwest Hills, which also outline the roof.
A cozy, living, and family-oriented home is created inside with century-old character, classic moldings, high ceilings, modern art, and chrome fixtures.
The proprietors’ year-round concept that family and pleasure are more important than fancy and trendy is used while decorating for the holidays.
They look for a Christmas tree on a farm the day after Thanksgiving. After overindulging on Thanksgiving, the owner claims that the trip is especially satisfying. They also spend time in the living room, adorning it with nostalgic silver, white, and mercury glass ornaments.
The kitchen, dining area, and family room serve as hiding places for felt deer, soft snowy owls, and other woodland animals.
On the built-in sideboard in the dining room is a miniature winter hamlet, complete with spinning ice skaters and fake snowflakes in front of laser-cut wood structures.
The family does something out of the ordinary after adding sparkles to their house: they cease decorating. That gives you more time to enjoy the holidays.
Homemade decorations
A family from Portland uses oranges, limes, and grapefruits that have been dried to create vibrant, organic decorations.
An early modern family in Southeast Portland creates vibrant tree decorations every winter by drying grapefruit, lime, and orange slices and then tying a candy cane-striped string through each one to hang on a branch.
The family also decorates indoors with a variety of cedar branches and mossy twigs, tacky trinkets that make people smile, and an abundance of lights to combat the cold and gloomy winter weather.
In terms of presents, they exchange white elephant presents with their large, extended family and put together necessary kits for those in need.
Another family uses crystal candlesticks with tree-shaped candles to arrange a formal table inside a little English Arts and Crafts home across the Willamette River. One of the little daughters has penned the names of family members on red-bordered table seating cards.
Christmas cards are tied to red and white ribbons hanging from kitchen cabinets, and the kids create handprints for tree decorations. Instead of gifts, this family would rather get picture cards of their pals.
Collections on display
Santas adorn Brick House Beautiful’s kitchen’s large windowsill.
Northeast Portland’s famous century-old English cottage, Brick House Beautiful, appears to have been built for the holidays. There are niches to create a vignette for treasured collections of miniatures and other holiday decorations, and the pitched living room ceiling permits a towering noble fir tree.
A black lacquered tray with glass and crystal candlesticks of various sizes and shapes from garage sales and thrift stores sits on a small square table in the corner by the fireplace.
The owner’s great-grandparents brought some of the antique ornaments, which are preserved in a glass fruit bowl, from Austria-Hungary via Ellis Island in 1903.
A variety of Santa Clauses may be found on the broad kitchen windowsill, and snowmen can be found in the dining room’s built-in, plastered niche.
Additional methods for showcasing a collection:
-
It s time to show off your retro Santa mugs, wooden nutcrackers, Fitz & Floyd ceramic boxes and snowy ceramic cottages.
-
Well-loved items will have imperfections. Some figurines may have fallen over and lost their hats, but glue puts everything back together.
-
Clear out a bookcase or the top of a buffet and group similar items. Add greenery, miniature trees or ornaments to enhance the look.
-
Before you unpack and display everything you ve collected over the years, select only the ones that allow you to surround yourself with happy memories.
Table setting
The table is prepared for Hanukkah and Christmas in the Danish tradition.Boyd, Thomas
A 1910 High Arts and Crafts home in Portland’s West Hills is decked out to celebrate Hanukkah and two different forms of Christmas: American and Danish.
The distinctive blue-and-white design of Royal Copenhagen tableware is displayed on a breakfast table in the nook off the kitchen. The table linen, purchased in Israel by a family member, has an embroidered menorah.
Gold-foiled chocolates that resemble coins or Hanukkah gelt are strewn across the dishes and glassware with gold rims. One is awarded as a prize to the dreidel toy spin winners.
Christmas is celebrated both on Dec. 24, when gifts are opened after dinner and a dance around the tree in the Danish tradition, and on Dec. 25, when treats from Santa are pulled from stockings above the fireplace, as in the U.S. tradition.
On the dining room buffet are tiny elves surrounded by miniature cups holding rice porridge and other pixie food in the Danish tradition.
A Scandinavian Christmas Eve dinner might include roast duck, goose or pork, sometimes served with boiled or sweet potatoes, red cabbage, beets and cranberry jam. Dessert may be ris a l amande, a rice pudding with whipped cream, vanilla and almonds with hot cherry sauce or risengrod, a hot rice pudding.
A whole almond is hidden in the dish and whoever finds it wins the mandelgave, typically a marzipan pig.
More tabletop ideas:
-
Embrace the seasonal darkness using the soft illumination of candles. Arrange wooden candlestick holders of different heights and wood tones in small clusters on tables, windowsills and other safe surfaces.
-
Place a mirror as a base on which a toy train can circle a tiny village.
Edible traditions
A plate of holiday cookies are set out for a cookie exchange.Steven Gibbons/Special to The Oregonian
A 1928Tudor Revival housein Southwest Portland lends itself to formal entertaining. A crystal chandelier hangs over the dining table covered in white linen and crowned with silver candelabras. Picture-perfect blackberry, pumpkin and chocolate peanut butter pies are sliced with silver knives.
Next door, a large front window frames a Christmas tree, lemon cedar topiary and clues to the action inside a1931 Tudor-style house.
Here, a long, narrow dining table is the epicenter of an annual mother-daughter cookie exchange, where up to 35 grandmothers, mothers and daughters offer their best brownies, fudge and sugar cookies in all shapes and flavors. Each takes home her handpicked assortment of three dozen cookies.
It s a fun and easy way to get together with a lot of friends at one time, says the hostess.
More food ideas:
-
Apples picked atMt. View Orchard
in Hood River can be made into warm apple cider seasoned with cinnamon sticks.
-
For more inspiration, readGumdrops and a good-natured GingerBread Jubilee competition are on display in Medford
Christmas tree
Every ornament on each of the three decorated Christmas trees holds a special meaning to Mary Tyler-Allison.Steven Gibbons
The owners of a1929 Tudor-style housein Southwest Portland fell in love over holiday decorations. He proposed to her after helping her add garland to her mantel. She said yes.
After they married in 1988, they bought their first, and so far, only home. One of the motivating factors was the 15-foot-tall ceiling in the living room that could accommodate a tall Christmas tree.
Over the decades, friends have given them ornaments shaped like birds with feathered tails as well as silver orbs and adornments of all sizes. Looking at their tree, the couple says they feel as if they re taking a walk through time.
Some tips:
-
Ornaments can be a mix of vintage pieces, pricey blown-glass gifts and attractive, inexpensive baubles.
-
Hide unsightly light cords by winding them up and down every branch.
-
If you don t have a tree, place scented, fresh greenery on a table, mantel or stair railings to set the mood for the holidays.
Flowers and foliage
A simple red orb hangs above flowers on a table in the breakfast room in a North Portland home.Beth Nakamura/The Oregonian
Owners of the1926 Barde mansionenhance its Mediterranean-style architectural details with flowers and foliage found on the property near Washington Park. The front door greenery is a cluster of pine and fir branches, white rhododendrons, scarlet field berries and red-leaf bamboo.
The wreath on the balustrade above the entrance portico and a smaller version on the wrought-iron stair railing were made with locally grown noble fir and cedar.
While others might be tempted to overwhelm with holiday garland, the drape-less, tall windows in the conservatory share one grapevine wreath, and chandeliers are dressed simply with sprigs of holly and red berries.
A center table in the entry hall has an arrangement with dark green magnolia grandiflora leaves and red viburnum stems that continue the red, green, silver and gold holiday theme.
Purple hydrangea, silver and gold astilbe sprays and silver snowflakes add color to the 10-foot-tall Christmas tree at the base of the sweeping staircase.
More greenery tips:
-
The fresher the greenery, the better.
-
Various lengths of fresh western red cedar, Douglas fir and noble fir garland available at garden centers and farm stands can be draped across doorways and bookshelves.
-
Oregon-grown flowers and foliage like ilex berries are available at farm stands and florist shops.
-
Oregon Coastal Flowers
creates crystallized branches by applying white paint and opaline flakes. The Tillamook farm also makes glittered branches using a base paint of white, silver or gold, and adding clear, gold, silver, mix or opaline flakes.
Outdoor sparkle
Bows and ornaments dress up tapering conifer trees on both sides of the dining room’s arched window. A wrought-iron window base holds a handful of poinsettia plants.Beth Nakamura/The Oregonian
A restored1929 Mediterranean housein North Portland s Overlook neighborhood faces a boulevard and backs to another street, allowing lights, cedar swags and ornaments, inside and out, to send out holiday cheer on all four sides.
Reusable bows bring a pop of silver color to tapering conifer trees set against the snowy-colored stucco exterior walls, a tall, old-fashioned nutcracker stands on a front balcony and garlands woven with white lights outline the tile roof.
Easy to add:
-
A potted plant with red blossoms, berries, leaves or bark on the front porch.
-
A wreath with a ribbon color of your choice on a front door, fence or gate.
-
Outdoor tree ornaments that can withstand wind, rain and snow.
Janet Eastman covers design and trends. Reach her at 503-294-4072,[email protected] follow her on X@janeteastman.
Note: Every piece of content is rigorously reviewed by our team of experienced writers and editors to ensure its accuracy. Our writers use credible sources and adhere to strict fact-checking protocols to verify all claims and data before publication. If an error is identified, we promptly correct it and strive for transparency in all updates, feel free to reach out to us via email. We appreciate your trust and support!
