See Jonathan and Zooey’s Whimsical Christmas Decorations at the Park House
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It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas at the Park House!
Jonathan and Zooey love to celebrate the holidays. In fact, Jonathan is basically the real-life version of Buddy the Elf this time of year. So it’s no surprise to hear they go all-out when it comes to their decorations. They fill their historical home to the brim with modern tinsel trees, stockings, sugarplums, and nutcrackers galore. And because you made the Nice list, Jonathan is giving you a sneak peek at all the festiveness, as well as a few tips for trimming your own tree.
First, let’s just take in the colorful, magical holiday decor throughout the Park House, which feels unexpected yet still nostalgic. They pull off the aesthetic by decking the halls with classic elements like ornaments and garlands—but they choose pieces that have a bit of a twist, like using oversized baubles or layering several garlands over their railing instead of your typical greenery. “We like things to be very whimsical,” Jonathan says.
He also adds, “We like to have different themes for different areas.” You can see that on the variety of trees alone!
That can be tricky to pull off. But because their holiday decorations stick to a similar color story throughout, it feels just like a journey through the North Pole.
And we can’t forget the nutcrackers: Jonathan and Zooey have many of these little friends around the house including Michael, Noah, Christian, Steven, William, Brittany, Arthur, Henry, and Ashley, who’s particularly mischievous.
There’s also Nick, who Jonathan says he’s, “pretty sure drinks Zooey’s coffee. He’s a little hyper.” Plus, there’s the life-sized nutcracker named Drew. We bet you can guess who he’s inspired by!
When it comes to playing favorites, though, there is a decoration Jonathan is particularly fond of: This gorgeous tree featuring tons of tinsel. Jonathan and Zooey worked with Stephen Brown of Glitterville Studios to create this fa-la-la-la fabulous centerpiece, but Jonathan’s sharing a few secrets on how to copy the look yourself. It’s his gift to you!:
Layer Your Lights
“Different kinds of lights offer different dimension. You’ll see we have large C9 bulbs, but we also have LEDs that have a soft twinkle on and off, in addition to another LED that’s on all the time to provide illumination. We have three different strands of lights all tied together and it creates a beautiful illusion.”
Get Real
“If you have an artificial tree but you miss the smell of a real tree or how full it can look, here’s a trick: We went to a tree lot, and they gave us their trimmings from real trees. We stuffed those real branches into our tree. You can smell it—it smells great—and it adds a real natural element with the branches filling it out.”
Top With Tinsel
“The third and most important thing is don’t be afraid of tinsel. I don’t like it when it’s a blanket of tinsel tossed everywhere, it should be done in tasteful ways so you can still see your ornaments. I have all these beautiful glass ornaments and they look really classic, but I wanted to bring that whimsy with the tinsel. It’s my favorite tree.”
If you try any of these at home, be sure to tag us on Instagram @DrewandJonathan so we can marvel at them! Most of all, we hope you have very happy holidays.
