4 Home Tour Dazzlers Offer Holiday Decor Inspiration

Ready for New Year's Eve
Designers: Martha Angus and Eche Martinez, Martha Angus Interiors

In this 5,000-square-foot Menlo Park home, the designers wanted to express a chic and festive New Year's Eve ambience to match the homeowner's modern taste. All the added holiday pieces will transition nicely to a year-end countdown. Martinez says, "We wanted to concentrate on what would look great during the day and wanted to design with items the client can keep and repurpose."

The homeowners' long dining table is made up of three separate enameled outdoor tables from Sue Fisher King to allow for easy reconfiguration. The festive centerpiece is a collection of baby cypress trees and geometric glass trees that bring a different perspective to the time-honored Christmas tree shape.

Artwork: Eche Martinez; pendant lights: Plug Lighting

To create the tablescape, Angus and Martinez rested deep purple silk flower balls from the San Francisco Flower Market on mercury glass vases from Crate & Barrel. The metallic placemats are made of cut safety paper from Tap Plastics.

On each table setting is a napkin wrapped with a hot-pink personalized acrylic ornament. The names are written with a Sharpie marker and can be wiped off with alcohol for the ornaments to be reused. Custom acrylic ornaments are also found hanging on the tree and as accents around the house.

Mercury glass hurricanes: Raj, Crate & Barrel; silver glass trees: Paz, CB2

Serving refreshments is simple with this double-door 1950s white lacquer bar from Vermillion. The family who lives here has traveled during the holidays for the past eight years, and they are excited to celebrate Christmas at home for the first time with their three young children.

Reinterpreting the more traditional red and green palette, Angus and Martinez used purples, oranges and turquoises to complement the existing metallic accents. A Saarinen Tulip Table in the corner is a dedicated kids' dining and play area.

The home was designed by Palo Alto architect Steve Borlik and is a new take on the California ranch. The floors throughout are limestone.

The open living area leads out to the backyard, featuring an outdoor dining area and a fireplace. In keeping with the modern jewel tones, Angus and Martinez added baby chartreuse cypress trees and glass ornaments as a simple outdoor centerpiece. The backyard has artificial turf and a play structure for the kids.

Acrylic plastic is used for these gift boxes, wrapped with glittery organza ribbon. An arrangement of narcissus covered with moss and playful birds dresses up this living room console.

Tip: "Make sure the small areas get just as much attention as the larger social spaces," Martinez says. "Create intimate moments in areas that are not in the main spaces for adults. And don't forget to have something special for the kids."

White glitter wrapping paper: Paper Source; grosgrain and silk ribbons: Britex Fabrics

In the formal living room space, Angus and Martinez used chartreuse baby cypress trees to bring color to the side tables. Felt snowflake ornaments on the mirrored coffee table look like they're floating on a pond, and Murano glass vessels corral ornaments in jewel colors.

Tip: "Make sure the home smells amazing," Martinez says. "We always say that silent killers are invisible, so once you're done prepping and cleaning the house, remember that scent brings in an extra experience to a space for your guests." Whether with fresh pine or scented candles, make sure to engage all the senses.

The designers lifted the family's tree to make more room for presents underneath. The same hot-pink acrylic pieces used for the table settings repeat as ornaments on the tree and as gift tags for the wrapped presents.

"The clients had an amazing art collection, and we didn't want our decorations to compete with the artwork," Martinez says. "We wanted to make sure the holiday decor was cute but not overpowering." Below the mantel artwork by Polly Apfelbaum, the same glass trees used in the dining room tablescape repeat; a simple handwritten initial on a felt snowflake designates each family member's stocking.

Stockings: West Elm; glass ornaments: Sputnik, CB2

Nature-Inspired Home
Designers: Dmitra Anderson and Nancy Evars, Evars Anderson
Florist: Marisa Lyssand Garden and Design

Native landscaping and repurposed materials shine in this 1973 Menlo Park home decorated to an elegant minimum. At the entry a simple bay leaf and eucalyptus garland wrapped around the staircase provides a fragrant welcome to the home's open floor plan. Anderson says, "The garland is something that lasts the whole holiday season and will continue to give off a great seasonal scent."

Make a Long-Lasting Eucalyptus Holiday Wreath

"The homeowner has a very minimalist style," Anderson says, "and we were inspired to keep the decor organic and use natural elements and a neutral color palette." The home was designed by Palo Alto architect Cody Anderson Wasney; the ceiling beams are repurposed redwood beams discovered within the walls during renovation.

In the informal dining space, Anderon and Evars created a leafy green centerpiece with mandarins picked from the family's backyard tree. The fresh citrus colors are an ideal match for the homeowners' existing furniture. "The idea behind the fresh centerpiece is that the homeowner can also repurpose it in another part of the house," Anderson says.

Chairs: Forest Chair, Janus et Cie

Each table setting has its own metallic silver lacquer tray and a sparkly ornament to add a subtle seasonal shine to the nature-inspired tablescape.

In the family room, the designers used mini Christmas trees and gathered pinecones in a vessel to keep things as simple as possible. The ceiling beams in this space are also remilled and refurbished redwood panels discovered in the walls during renovation.

On the opposite side of the family room, the formal dining space features another find from the homeowners' backyard: the twiggy branch lit up in an oversize planter.

Tip: "Try to bring the outdoors in," Evars says. "Go to your backyard or the park and grab a fallen branch, and place it in a vase and simply wrap twinkle lights around it for a quick and natural decor solution."

Starry string lights: Restoration Hardware

This table setting has a neutral palette with gold as the accent color. Anderson explains, "The homeowner wasn't keen on traditional floral arrangements, so we used big decorative ornaments." The nature-inspired accents are kept subtle with formal monogrammed napkins. One special twist the designers added to the traditional table runner was orienting three of them perpendicularly, connecting each table setting across from another.

Tip: "If you don't have it in your budget to bring in a lot of flowers," Anderson says, "substitute ornaments or candles to create a stunning evening setting." Use ornaments that are substantial in size, not tiny ones that can make the table look cluttered.

Metallic leaves: Pottery Barn; gold flatware: West Elm; hammered gold chargers: Crate & Barrel; napkins: Belgian linen, Frascati, Bespoke Home

The family's Christmas tree is placed in a lower-level entertaining space with a bar area and pocket doors that lead out to a backyard pool. A large swath of burlap serves as the tree's skirt.

Tip: "We created simple centerpieces by using different-colored green small cypress trees with pinecones around it," Anderson says. "Be mindful in using different shades of green."

Art: “The Diver,” by Eric Zener

As soon as you enter through the home's tall double doors, presents left in natural cardboard packaging wrapped with glittery ribbon greet you, setting the tone for the rest of the home.

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Art: Bryant Street Gallery; throw: faux fur, Restoration Hardware; pillow cover: cashmere, Restoration Hardware; accent trees: HomeGoods

The living room holiday decor uses many of the family's traditional collected decorations and has a fireplace with each of the kids' names engraved on it.

Tip: "Keep your decorations so that they go with your home," Westbrook says. "Don't do something completely disconnected from the style of your home. Pick individual elements that are unexpected, but make sure they fit the style of your home."

Wreath pillow: Pottery Barn

In this informal dining tablescape, Westbrook mixed red plaid, gingham and toile patterns. "I wanted the mixed-pattern story to be a playful way to do Christmas but keep it visually interesting."

Tip: "Keep your color scheme tight," Westbrook advises. "If you choose red, green and gold, use it throughout your house so it will keep things tight and congruous in the space."

Twig reindeer planters: Flora Grubb Gardens, San Francisco; tea towel table runner: custom, Christina Frank Sewing, San Francisco; plaid plates: Carson, Pottery Barn

The formal dining table setting takes inspiration from the room's antique-style Chinese painted wallpaper. "I kept the color palette clean and simple, using only green and white," Westbrook says. "I wanted to set the table for an elegant dinner." Each table setting features an ornamental kale. Using food as decor is one of Westbrook's signature touches when he's decorating a dining space; he recommends personalizing each setting with an individual piece of fruit.

Dinner and bread plates: 5486, Moritake, circa 1940s, Garden Court Antiques; salad plates: Christmas Tree, Williams-Sonoma; hurricane candle lamps: Raj, Crate & Barrel

In the family room, Westbrook focused tightly on a traditional red, green and gold color palette, using gold as the only metallic accent.

Ribbon garland: Grandin Road

The kitchen features a painted checkerboard floor to match the foyer floor and subtle Christmas accents to keep the space fun and lighthearted.

Visions of Sugarplums
Designer: Erin Giorgi, Giorgi Girl Designs
Florist: Marisa Lyssand Garden and Design

A 100-year-old iron gate clad with a fresh holiday wreath opens up to a traditional-style home in Atherton belonging to a young family.

The entrance area features custom made, hand-painted wall coverings from Beckman MooreYaki Studio and a custom console that served as the inspiration for the interior design for the entire house. Giorgi decorated with a simple, symmetrical display of greens and ornament trees, keeping to blues and neutrals with copper as an accent color.

Console: Giorgi Brothers

For the table setting, a script table runner from Neiman Marcus served as the primary inspiration. "We wanted an understated elegance and tied individual ornaments to each package with a small green sprig to surround the pepperberry centerpiece."

Tip: Live greenery makes a huge difference in the holiday setting. "It's also important to vary heights, whether you're decorating a tablescape or console."

Dinnerware, glassware: Juliska; gift wrap: document gift wrap, Ballard Designs; ornament: Restoration Hardware

In the daughter's bedroom, the palette is kept light, pink and feminine. Decorative pink snowflakes hang from the curtain rod, and a hot-pink Christmas tree from Christmas Tree Market complements a custom cherry blossom tree mural by Murals by Morgan.

This custom gingerbread house is inspired by the cherry blossoms in the daughter's room.

Holiday candy: Sugar Shack; tabletop accents: William-Sonoma; holiday artwork: Harvest; gingerbread house: Solvang Bakery; kitchen design: William Ohs

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