Throughout the month of December, The Glam Pad will be featuring holiday decorating tips from some of our favorite interior designers and tastemakers starting today with Christian Ladd. Based in Texas, Christian is a traditionalist who loves to create a juxtaposition of modern pieces with antiques and heirlooms. Her style is crisp and classic yet unpretentious, and we are huge fans. Welcome, Christian!
-Our number one tip for decorating for the holidays remains the same as our decorating tip year around: our most special pieces are antiques and timepieces such as Herend or china passed down within our family.
-Perhaps our second most important tip is again one that we like to abide by all year long – set the table! While it may not be realistic all the time, the holidays allow for the perfect excuse to use special pieces and china that you may not use often otherwise.
-We always place live flowers and plants throughout our house. Our favorite thing to add to our dining table and breakfast table is an arrangement of paperwhites. They are quick and easy to plant and they bloom quickly. They are a classic Christmas plant in our household and are a departure from the typical Poinsettia.
-I am a big fan of silver. I have collected Wallace Silver and Reed & Barton’s Silverplate Holly Bell ornaments for years, and I like to place them almost everywhere except the tree. I usually place them in a bowl or serving piece to set out on my coffee table, and I also incorporate them into place settings. They are date marked, so I use the ornaments with my children’s birth years as their place cards.
-Incorporate color! It is perfectly acceptable to veer away from the typical red and green holiday scheme. I always set colorful blown glass ball ornaments in glass bowls throughout my home and also like to add them to garland.
-Include items from travels. My favorite pastime is traveling. As is true with all pieces in a home, Christmas decorations are so much more special if they have meaning behind them. Our tree is filled with handmade star ornaments from San Miguel and they are our very favorite part of the tree.
-Take the time to gift wrap presents. A beautifully wrapped gift is much more special than gifting something in a bag (time permitting). This isn’t always realistic, we know! It’s a tip that also creates a more streamlined look while the gifts are still living under your tree until the time of gifting…
-A wreath is not just for the front door. I like to hang preserved boxwood wreaths wherever I can – on the inside of my windows, on the backs of dining room chairs and from mirrors, just to name a few…
-Sometimes you have to DIY. Garland for example, often needs a little “sprucing”. We like to tie ribbon to garland leading up stairwells and we have also tied small pieces of string to ornaments to attach them to garland laying atop fireplaces before. Little additional touches like those go a very long way.
-Last but certainly not least, decorate whenever you please! After all that 2020 has entailed, we found ourselves getting into the holiday spirit much sooner than we typically do and it has brought some much-needed joy!
Thank you, Christian, for these wonderful and festive tips! To learn more about Christian Ladd, please visit her website, and you can also follow @christianladdinteriors on Instagram for daily inspiration. Please click here to read The Glam Pad’s Style Profile Q&A with Christian, and here to read her gift ideas for everyone on your Christmas list!
