Holiday Decorating

by Poki Hampton HolidayDecoratingTHE HOLIDAYS CAME EARLY to Rebel and Charlie Caplinger’s lakefront home in Lewisburg when the 155-year-old center-hall cottage was decorated by four of our designers. They made the cottage sparkle with holiday flair.

Charlie and Rebel spent seven years looking for a home in the Mandeville area. Friends of theirs owned this house and were ready to move after 20 years. “We spent 20 years coming to parties here and loved the area and the house,” says Rebel.

The previous owners had renovated the cottage into a very livable home, and when the >>

Greige Home Interiors decorated the light-filled dining room with two large glass urns, gold metal Christmas trees

and white lighted angels, which are used as favors

Redoux Home &

Market decorated

the kitchen and

bar area with white

reindeer, glittering Christmas trees, greenery and farmhouse-style mini-cottages.

Caplingers bought it, they did even more renovations, adding what is now the main living room with a beautiful, stacked brick fireplace, a spacious open-concept kitchen and a window-walled dining room. “Originally, we couldn’t see the lake from the back of the house, and we wanted a more open concept with a large

kitchen where everyone could gather,” says Rebel. Their family members are avid saltwater anglers, enjoy being on or near the water, and when at home, love to entertain. “We wanted open spaces where we could entertain and surfaces that were low maintenance.”

Brittany Taylor and Debbie Howell from Redoux Home & Market decorated the island in the kitchen using mixed metals and Santa’s favorite reindeer in sophisticated white with greenery on one end and a simple bowl with ornaments on the other, leaving plenty of room to serve or eat. A brass reindeer bowl filled with ornaments sits on the other end.

Under the cabinets on the counter are white-and-gold cottages and sparkly Christmas trees. A Victorian-style Santa with a wooden sign and blown glass bottles with Christmas trees fill >>

The white flocked Christmas tree and mantle in the game room were decorated by Niche Modern Home with gold ribbons, green and gold ornaments and frosted greenery.

Gilded reindeer stocking holder by Niche Modern Home.

the other area. The bar holds one of the owner’s primitive paintings, with a rustic carved wooden bowl with trees and greenery at one end. To the right of the window are a large brass reindeer bowl amongst greenery, ornaments and a metal Christmas tree.

Greige Home Interiors’ designers Michael Burns and Kathleen McCullough decorated the sun-filled dining room with embossed white dinner plates on gold fluted chargers topped with lighted angels, which are to be used as party favors. Gold etched wine glasses with white linen napkins set a beautiful table. Two glass urns are filled with a variety of cut glass and painted ornaments and metal Christmas trees snuggle into a garland of magnolia leaves intertwined with a beaded gold garland. Two large whitebark reindeer top the glass-front Louis Phillippe cabinet.

Lesle Veca of V Home & Interiors filled the stairwell banister with boughs of pine, gold and silver magnolia leaves and creamy velvet ornate magnolia flowers. Mixing metals in gold and silver hues along with natural and frosted pinecones and large ornaments creates an opulent and striking focal point. Sparkling

feathers and round-beaded bolt brush and frosted fern picks add more glamour. The snow-covered pine boughs and pinecones complete the look.

Steve McCloud of Niche Modern Home decorated the game room in shades of light green in keeping with the subtle colors of the house. Two contemporary framed lithographs and a contemporary candlestick are surrounded by a pine garland filled with pinecones and ornaments. Cuffed animal print-quilted stockings are held with gold reindeer stocking hangers. A vintage-style Santa sits beside a white metal fireplace screen. The whitelighted Christmas tree is chock full of gold-beaded ribbon garland, and assorted sizes and shapes of ornaments in shades of green and gold are mixed with gold snowflakes. “We are a game-playing family and love to spend time in this room, playing backgammon, pool or pachinko,” says Rebel.

She adds, “The festive decorations are so pretty that I feel like I now have a jump on the holidays.”

The stairway banister is decorated by V Home & Interiors

with an abundance

of traditional and

contemporary sparkle, including silver and gold magnolia flowers, large gold ornaments, and frosted pinecones.