Home for the holidays

A stately, magnificently preserved three-storey house forms the backdrop to Jane Kesselman’s Winnipeg garden. Situated behind a white picket fence on a street lined by a canopy of majestic elms, her idyllic garden attracts passersby.

In a unique collaboration between a writer, a homeowner, a local floral designer, and a Red River College photography instructor and his students, the gracious interior of Kesselman’s home sets the stage for this holiday perspective.

Taking her cue from the outdoors, Kesselman has skillfully infused her everyday decor with botanical motifs and nature-inspired elements that can be found in warm, visually textured fabric accents for cushions, window swags, lampshades and classic wallpaper designs. The rich tones of deep mahogany and century-old quarter-sawn oak woodwork with its original finish underscore the interior’s old-world flavour while working seamlessly together with Kesselman’s uncluttered sensibility and love for vivid, contemporary artwork and design.

On a snowless day in mid-November, I joined Kesselman for a creative brainstorming session with Gloria Sawatzky, floral designer and co-owner of Beyond Flowers. It began with a walk-through as Kesselman and Sawatzky identified which rooms to decorate and which focal points were the most important.

After taking notes and measurements of the fireplace mantel in Kesselman’s living room as well as the long wooden banister of the central staircase located in front of the main door, Sawatzky was ready to create a fresh, organic-yet-seasonal look that would complement Kesselman’s personal style and create a warm holiday glow for guests and family.

Kesselman had enlisted the help of Sawatzky and the staff at Beyond Flowers on many previous occasions and had total confidence in Sawatzky’s ability to work her magic.

Returning one week later, I had a chance to see the stunning results. A live mix of long-needle pine and cedar decorated the length of the wooden banister, draping down the length of the newel post and trailing like an elegant gown onto the hardwood floor. Sawatzky created a continuous length (nine meters) of greenery, which also included a hand-strung garland of hazelnuts, each separated by a gold-coloured bead.

Compared with short-needle pine, long-needle pine holds its needles better, Sawatzky says. Even as the greenery begins to dry, it generally stays intact for the duration of the holidays (so long as no one slides down the banister).

The display also included two giant sugar pine cones, each nearly 45 centimetres in length.

Kesselman’s wooden fireplace mantle runs the width of her living room (4.5 metres). Here, too, Sawatzky created, onsite, a tapestry of fresh long-needle pine and cedar, layering and draping the greens along the top of the mantel.

She added magnolia leaves and evergreen boughs of fragrant Carolina Sapphire cypress with its understated blue-green colour and silvery tints. Sawatzky says the softly textured Carolina Sapphire adds intriguing contrast to the flat, scale-like leaves of the cedar and the rich two-toned colour of the magnolia leaves. It’s important, Sawatzky says, to choose a basic number of materials and textures that work well together and won’t drop their needles.

Scale and height are also important, and these elements were achieved with the addition of a pair of large, silver reindeer that Kesselman purchased a few years ago and two tall containers filled with greens that were placed on either side of the centre mirror.

For an elegant centrepiece on the coffee table in the living room, Sawatzky placed several pots of crimson amaryllis flowers into a large silver bowl with a polished and hammered exterior that Kesselman uses for festive occasions. For the finishing touch, Sawatzky tucked in red-tinted stems of huckleberry and added a layer of fresh moss for a woodsy aroma.

Silver accents can be found throughout Kesselman’s home, including the kitchen where she has assembled a countertop vignette of miniature lemon cypress trees in distressed mercury glass vases, the perfect complement to a remarkable pair of vintage mercury glass pendant lights that hang from her ceiling.

On festive occasions, the dining room is one of the most important rooms in our homes, as friends and family gather round the table. Together, Kesselman and Sawatzky staged the dining room, setting a gracious scene with fresh-cut greenery and roses. First, Kesselman placed her favourite dishes, silver cutlery and delicately etched stemware and, alongside, folded, bleached cotton napkins, which were hand sewn by Kesselman many years ago, and stenciled with a stylized, oak leaf burnished with a hint of gold fabric paint.

On a central fabric runner, Sawatzky artfully arranged a garden of delights. Various containers — including 10 cm gold-accented ceramic containers and larger glass terrariums with vintage bases filled with creamy roses, sprigs of oregonia and Carolina Sapphire in beds of moss — created delicious layers of colour. For the centre arrangement, Sawatzky chose a gold boat-shaped vase that she filled with five cream-coloured roses, magnolia leaves and an abundance of greenery for an extravagant display. The height of floral arrangements should always allow guests to converse comfortably without anything obstructing their view, Sawatzky says.

Above, champagne-coloured glass balls with varying textures dangled discreetly from the crystal chandelier. The sideboard, opposite the dining table, was a symphony of symmetry with echoes of the textures and plant materials on the dining table. Anchored by large-scale white containers of faux boxwood, the woodsy, natural theme was repeated by pillar-type tree forms including lemon cypress. Take a bough, Sawatzky and Kesselman.

What is any festive occasion without photography to capture the moment? Enter James Kerr, a fine art photographer who teaches the professional photography program at Red River College’s Notre Dame campus and who is the former owner of Pixels 2.1, a photo gallery in Winnipeg’s Exchange District that was the largest dedicated photo gallery in Western Canada. Joined by two of his students, Haley Pischke and Alex Izatt, together they took numerous photos and shared tips for indoor photography.

Start by thinking outside of the box. "Rather than holding your camera at eye-level, stand on a stool or ladder, get down on your knees or on your tummy. This offers a more unique perspective and ensures that you can capture most of the room," Kerr recommends.

If you have a digital SLR camera, put your flash on top of something, a cabinet for example. "For a beautiful diffused light that won’t bother anyone’s eyes, cut out the handle to fit an empty milk jug over your flash" Kerr says.

Interestingly, twilight — the time between day and night when the sun is below the horizon — is the perfect time to take indoor photos in the winter, James says. Outside at that time, the light is a beautiful blue, whereas indoors, with incandescent lighting, the light is yellow. Blue and yellow are complimentary colours. Twilight doesn’t last long, though, so plan ahead.

Shoot across the room, James says, when family and friends are talking to one another. It isn’t difficult to take great photos indoors even when there are tree lights and candles. "When you focus your camera, be sure that your light reading is on the darkest area. If you are using an iPhone, just touch your screen on the darkest point and everything brightens," Kerr suggests.

colleenizacharias@gmail.com