Holiday Decor & Design

By Poki Hampton

When Dona and Kevin Kiesel moved their family to Beau Chene 28 years ago, the couple immediately began remodeling their new home.

“That year, we only put up a tree with white lights, nothing else,” Kiesel said.

Since then, a lot has changed. The family looks for ways to incorporate their faiths into their holiday decor and observances.

The Kiesel’s decor this year is courtesy of Dona’s friend Leslie Boudreaux, whose out-of-the-box approach borrows heavily from nature.

“We are a blended family with relatives who are of the Jewish faith, and we love the holidays. Over the years, our holiday decorations have morphed into a combination of both Hanukkah and Christmas,” Kiesel said.

“The great thing about Leslie is that she gathered plants, twigs and branches from the sides of the road and from my backyard and made them into something wonderful,” Kiesel’s said.

On the front porch, Boudreaux filled large antique urns with birch logs, pine boughs, metal spheres and large sugar pine cones. Smaller white urns filled with white poinsettias, holiday greenery and more sugar pine cones sit nearby.

“I use sugar pine cones because they are large enough to show up in big arrangements, and they are plentiful,” Boudreaux said.

The antique, four-paned door is embellished with a holiday wreath, greenery, iridescent French blue bows and more pine cones. The Bevolo Gas and Electric gas lanterns are also adorned with greenery and the same blue bows.

In the entrance hall, an antique Florentine chest is topped with a sunburst mirror wrapped in greenery. One of Leslie’s original landscape acrylic paintings and mounted Black Forest Roe deer antlers hang over the chest. The stair rail is decorated with a fresh pineapple, variegated pittosporum, greenery and lemons. More greenery, sugar pine cones and blue ribbon lead up to the second floor.

In the dining room, an antique mirror is decorated with pine boughs and a wreath while the painted buffet is topped with an antique French bowl filled with Christmas balls, pine cones and greenery. The table is set with the family’s heirloom china and crystal. Greenery and bows adorn two antique candelabra stands and a vintage chandelier.

The neutral tones of the living room are accented by the blue spruce tree decorated with mercury glass and crystal ornaments, white doves, glass icicles, blue leaves, iced branches and iridescent ribbon.

“I love how Leslie carried the blue decorations and greenery throughout the downstairs,” Dona said. “She was able to use what nature has given us along with our family’s collection of antiques and heirlooms to create a truly beautiful holiday environment for our family to enjoy.”