Deck the halls with style and an artistic eye

By Ellen Gray
Knight Ridder News Service

While most of us are tossing out rumpled wrappings and sweeping up gingerbread crumbs, Gregory Perry is planning his decorations for next Christmas.

For Perry, a high-school marketing teacher in Ohio who also operates a part-time interior-decorating business, decking the halls is a passion, a quest for ideas, bargains and unusual items.

His signature look is lush, elegant and flirting with excess. Consider his directions for creating a mantel decoration like the one over his fireplace: "When it falls off the mantel," he said with a laugh, "then you know you've gone too far."

Perry's holiday decorating tips:

• Choose a color scheme or decorating theme for each room. Take inspiration from what's already there, such as artwork, furniture and wall colors.
• Decorate one room at a time. That makes the job more manageable and helps you coordinate the decorations.
• Think in terms of layers for trees, mantel decorations, banisters and the like. Start with a sturdy base, wired in place if necessary, then add items in layers until you achieve the desired effect. For trees, Perry starts with lights, beads and ribbons, then adds large decorations and finishes with smaller elements.
• Repeat elements in various places around the room. For example, Perry used the same berries, grapes and gold bead roping on his dining room tree and on a mantel swag across the room.
• Don't limit yourself to decorating with Christmas items. Perry's decorations incorporate cowbells, candlestick lamps, mirrors, feathers and lots of artificial flowers. Save money by using items you already own.
• Put your money and efforts where they'll be seen. "You don't have to have things in every nook and cranny," Perry said. "Make focal points."