This year, Avenue asked three well-known designers to show us how they deck the halls and trim the trees in their own homes. Using a blend of their favourite things and the trends of the season, each designer reinvents traditional holiday decor and offers some inspiration for rest of us.
On the subject of Christmas trees, Jenna Pryor won’t budge: “My husband is trying to get me to go faux, but there’s something about the smell of a fresh tree.” This year, like every other year, the couple – their baby boy in tow – will tie a tree to the top of the car and bring it home to decorate. “It just feels like Christmas,” she says.
At home, Pryor begins her yearly ritual of removing each ornament from its box and hanging it from a tree branch, ever so carefully. “I love the process,” she says. This year, her tree has been appointed with luxe ornaments, in gold and silver, and strung with delicate warm white lights.
While the tree goes up on December 1, Pryor decorates the rest of the room after Remembrance Day, each year. Her take on Christmas decorating is a lot like her design sense, more generally. “I’m classically inspired, so the spaces I design, I want them to feel timeless,” she says. To that end, Pryor’s furniture is a blend of antique and vintage pieces – like the crystal chandelier hanging from the ceiling and the white lacquer sideboard – and modern pieces, like the slipcovered couch and tufted velvet ottoman.
There’s plenty of glitz in the room, like the gold decals on the wall above her mirror and the white wreath with gold ribbon hanging in the window, but Pryor shies away from traditional Christmas colours or motifs. “I’m not a reindeer kind of gal,” she laughs.
When the decorating is finished, Pryor likes to entertain – she even brings out her good china and crystal, precious as it may be. “I use it and love it when I use it,” she says, “but I breathe a sigh of relief when the party’s over and nothing got broken.”
