Christmas is almost here! Kids around the world are excited and so are their moms & dads! As fun as it is to get ready for Christmas, it IS exhausting!
I’m going to sneak in one last Christmas house tour before the season is over. It’s a room I did for the Holiday Idea House. This is a photo of Lantern Court, where the Holiday Idea House used to take place.
Now you may be surprised at the peacock blue walls – that’s the color I had to work with. In Colonial America this blue was a sign of wealth. It was the most expensive pigment one could buy and painting trim and wall color was a demonstration of wealth and social stature.
The dining room was a multi-purpose room. It would welcome guests and host dinners as well as dances. While the HIH dining room was built long after the time of Colonial America, my goal was to capture the essence of that time since things like the paint color & application, arched built-ins and no center chandelier are clearly aspects of the period.
I looked to Colonial Williamsburg for a bit of inspiration. {BTW, my husband proposed to me in front of the Governor’s Palace in Colonial Williamsbug. He was dressed in full Colonial garb and people thought he was one of the “interpreters” who worked there. Here’s the proof:
While in Williamsburg, I took a class on holiday decorating. We all think of using fruit as part of the traditional colonial way of decorating but in reality, fruit was much too expensive to decorate with – especially in the winter! If you love fruited “della Robbia” wreaths and garland, you can read all about how it became associated with Colonial Williamsbug in the link above.
In keeping with the Colonial Revival tradition, I did use fruit in my decorations. However, I also incorporated violins & bows as well as tea cups, pots and even forks and spoons! I wanted my Christmas tree to show the multi-functional aspect of the dining room in Colonial times.
I was able to change out the art in the room to pieces that were more in keeping with my theme. My husband has an extensive collection of Colonial-period art and he lent a few pieces to me for the HIH tour season.
My sister created a few arrangements for the room – copying ones I had seen in Colonial Williamsburg or online. I also used simple greenery to decorate the backs of the chairs and the shelves of the windows.
In the end, the room was one of the favorites I’ve done – even with the peacock blue walls!
I hope you’ve enjoyed our Christmas Tour of Homes these past couple of weeks.
Have a very Merry Christmas!
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