home YULETIDE TIPS FROM CAROLYN ESPLEY-MILLER
A festive table set with tartan.
1
Run with a theme—natural materials or jewels, say—and throw in an unexpected element. If you’re using burlap and kraft paper, mix in something sparkly.
2
Think “scent, scent, scent,” with warm cider on the stove, and slices of dried oranges on the tree or in a bowl.
3 << The Santa Barbara style-setter and designer chronicles the display on her blog, SlimPaley.com, an addictive potpourri of fashion, design and travel. “We have a collection of old and vintage ornaments,” says Carolyn Espley-Miller, who lives with her husband and two sons (when Espley-Miller they’re home from college). She also attaches flicker-flame bulbs and freshly dried orange slices to the tree, all of which look like bits of stained glass when illuminated from behind. “The citrus is a signature of mine. They make the house smell amazing,” she adds. She turns the mantelpiece into a kind of aviary with branches, decorative birds, delicate nests and a blown-glass dome that encloses petite eggs. And candles. Lots of candles. “I’ll swag the staircase with fresh pine garlands,” she says, “and wire green apples or pears into clusters” at the base. To suggest Christmas in a forest glade, she’ll fill a low basket with moss and bark and layer fresh mushrooms, or she might use a tartan tablecloth to dress a dining table. Last year, she took slips of paper printed with good wishes and tied them to the tree. Some ornaments are always part of the decor, though, like Espley-Miller’s favorite ruby slippers—suggesting, perhaps, that during the `>ÞÃ]ÊÌ iÀiÊÀi> ÞÊ ÃÊ Ê« >ViÊ iÊ i°ÊUÊ
Californians are lucky to have fruit and vegetables in December. Go to your garden or your farmers’ market for a fresh, organic addition to your decorations.
4
Focus on a single color, but use different materials for variety.
5
Toast the holidays with a signature drink. [Last year, she poured marshmallow martinis.] The libation should be decadent. After all, your New Year’s diet is only days away!
Her 1895 house begs for the “more is more” style of holiday embellishment.
SWEET DREAMS Opening its doors last month in Santa Monica, Restoration Hardware’s Baby & Child Gallery fuels the imagination with creative designs. Find safari tents and art crafted out of vintage French maps; mini Copenhagen chairs and chandeliers shaped like hot-air balloons. Highlighting the 7,000-square-foot emporium: registry-ready rugs by Ben Soleimani, and cuddle-worthy bumpers, sheets and shams by Matthew Lenoci— a nursery must. 219 3rd St. Promenade, S.M., 424-280-7140; rhbabyandchild.com.
TABLE AND GIFTS: SLIM PALEY (3). PORTRAIT: D MILLER
SANTA MONICA
FROM LEFT Jourdan
C 124 DECEMBER 2012
Crib, $999. From the Ben Soleimani Collection: Lucia Flatweave, $379-$999, Amari Trellis, $599-$1,400, and Maxime Embroidered Chenille, $329-$849.
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10/26/12 10:35 AM