thegardenisland.com
THE GARDEN ISLAND
Friday, December 8, 2023 • B3
Not much space, how to deck the (small) halls Kim Cook ASSOCIATED PRESS It seems like the frost hasn’t even hit the pumpkin before “holiday cheer” starts showing up everywhere, from social media feeds to the aisles of CVS. ’Tis the season to decorate. But if you’re in a small apartment, there are limits to what you can do. A fullsize artificial tree might take up half a room. You might have limited shelving for trinkets. How can you let your holiday flag fly when you don’t have much space to do it? Here are some seasonal style ideas that max the merry but won’t eat the room. And that store easily. Set the stage A monochromatic palette is a good place to start, says Todd Carr, who runs the botanicals and homewares shop Hort & Pott in Freehold, New York, with partner Taylor Harrington. “It helps keep the holiday décor cohesive and ties together pretty much whatever you do. I love green on green, for example – but take inspiration from your space,” Carr says. Think stacks of books, a scarf, and ornamental design elements like candlesticks and natural or faux greenery. No room for even that? “Just adding bows and streamers of ribbon in
PHOTOS VIA ASSOCIATED PRESS
Left: CB2 has a new collection of transparent, opaque, and reflective glass and metallic ornaments that give traditional holiday icons like gift boxes, snowmen, trees and reindeer a fresh twist. Right: Tempaper’s Christmas Village peel-and-stick decals can be put on a wall or window; great if you’ve got hardly anywhere to decorate for the holidays. with it’s own zippered storage bag. CB2 has a suyour color will add a fesper-slim one in several presentation’s good.” tive feeling to a tight CB2 has a new collection different heights. You don’t have to load up a tree with space,” Carr says. of transparent, opaque, and reflective glass and me- ornaments, either. Bring in sparkle tallic ornaments that give Brynn Whitfield, a star of traditional holiday motifs a Get up off the floor “Use your walls and ceilBravo’s “The Real Housefresh twist. There are amwives of New York City,” ber glass balls that look ing to get festive,” advises has a social media followlike bubbly champagne; a Carr. “Garlands are gortrio of modern pines in ing for photos of her geous draped on booksmoky hues; milky-white one-bedroom Manhattan shelves or chandeliers. glass snowmen; stainless apartment. She says small And wreaths aren’t just for steel orbs; and mini pressquare footage shouldn’t the front door. Suspend a stop you from celebrating. ents in mirror-finished foraged pine branch over “Get clever with surthe dining table with some steel. cup hooks and floral wire, Artificial trees with a faces! Guests truly don’t and decorate it as you care about the size of your slim profile work well in apartments. Get one pre-lit would a tree. table or how big your tree “Or put a potted amarylso you don’t have to store is. You can impress them bulky light strings. Balsam lis in a hanging planter, and with the right decorative Hill’s got a Norway Spruce, fill the base with everpieces,” she says. “Everything looks better when the for instance, that comes greens for an uplighting,
Sixth-straight drop: Average long-term mortgage rate falls to 7.03 percent, lowest level since August ASSOCIATED PRESS LOS ANGELES — Home loan financing costs eased again this week, as the average long-term U.S. mortgage rate slid to its lowest level in four months. The average rate on a 30-year mortgage dropped to 7.03 percent from 7.22 percent last week, mortgage buyer Freddie Mac said Thursday. A year ago, the rate averaged 6.33 percent. The last time the average rate was lower was in early August, when it was at 6.96 percent. Borrowing costs on 15-year fixed-rate mortgages, popular with homeowners refinancing their home loan, also declined this week, with the average rate falling to 6.29 percent from 6.56 percent last week. A year ago, it averaged 5.67 percent, Freddie Mac said. This is the sixth straight weekly drop for rates, echoing a recent pullback in the 10-year Treasury yield, which lenders use as a guide to pricing loans. The yield, which in mid October surged to its highest level since 2007, has been falling on hopes that the Federal Reserve may finally be done raising interest rates in its bid to tame lower inflation. The average rate on a 30-year home loan climbed above 6 percent in September 2022 and has remained above that threshold since. In late October, it reached 7.79 percent, the highest level on records going back to late 2000.
magical arrangement that takes up little space.” Tempaper’s Scandinavian Holiday tree decal has folk-arty Nordic Christmas ornaments like reindeer, hares, stars and stockings instead of branches. It’s large enough to take the place of a real tree, and the peel-and-stick feature lets you lift it off the wall easily when the season’s over. Unless you love it so much you decide to leave it up all year as artwork. There’s a white winter village set here, too, that works nicely on a window, as well as removable decals of illustrated laurel branches, wreaths and a pretty Festival of Lights menorah.
Decor that stores well Flat-pack ornaments that don’t need to be protectively stowed in a special container are a boon to small spacers. For instance, Loll Designs’ minimalist, contemporary Christmas trees and reindeer fit together with simple slots, and are easy to stash under a bed or behind a cupboard. Magic Ornaments has sets of glitter- and mirror-finish ornaments; pull the drawstring and you’ve got a 3-D decoration. Each set comes with balls, stars, angels, snowflakes, a tree topper and 40 feet of ribbon garland. When the holiday’s done, everything flattens back down to be stored in a cardboard envelope. Add sensory ambiance “A warm glow is key to a cozy, wintry mood,” says Carr. Try switching lamp bulbs with high wattage or cool light to ones that cast a more golden glow. The softer light makes even the sparest of holiday décor feel homier. Scents can also bring home a nostalgic holiday vibe. Nest New York’s Holiday wall diffuser refill combines pomegranate, mandarin, pine, cloves, cinnamon and vanilla into an aroma that’s spicy and seasonal. Spices, musk and golden amber evoke a nice vibe in Pura’s Winter Noir diffuser refill.