Feature: Haute for the Holidays

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A pink nose, followed by a black and white furry face wedges through the barely open front door chez Thomas. Oreo, one of two resident cats here, wriggles his way in and bolts toward the sitting room as the door swings back in place behind him. He hops into owner Lisa Thomas’ lap and begins kneading her leg; she laughs, loud, long, and easy, and says, “No cat door needed here. He does that all day long, in and out, in and out.”

The open-door policy—and generous laughter—is par for the course in this two-story white clapboard house in the Old Village. Lisa, the maven behind Out of Hand—the boutique on Pitt Street that’s a quirkily brilliant blend of handmade jewelry, stationery, fresh flowers, and whatsits galore—wouldn’t have it any other way. Like her just-around-the-corner shop, Lisa’s circa-1860s home is welcoming and comfortable, while keeping up all chic appearances.

“We all live here,” says Lisa, of cats Oreo and Bella, husband Pete, and eight-year-old daughter, Emma, “and as much as every room’s got to be beautiful, it’s got to be comfortable and functional, too.”

The latter is something Lisa’s been reveling in more since she enlisted Cobalt Interiors owner Rozlyn Cmiel to edit out the extras that inevitably pile up when one is exposed to the many one-of-a-kind must-haves Lisa finds in her line(s) of work. “You might think that someone with an eye for design doesn’t need any help, but I have a lot of favorite things,” admits Lisa. “Now I know they can’t all be out at the same time.”

Make a Clean Sweep

“We went room by room,” says Lisa, who bartered with Roz (doing the flowers for Roz’s wedding in exchange for the interior design work), “and she helped me declutter and rearrange things. It was one of the healthiest things I’ve ever done. You settle into your environment and you get it just so, but then the stuff starts piling up; I kept bringing things in without taking things out.”

Post-clean sweep, Roz and Lisa liberated the sitting room from its former chocolate-colored days and transformed it with its present-day cream, sepia, and turquoise palette. Today, for instance, Oreo can be found snuggling with his blonde, barefoot caretaker on a late-1800s French love seat covered in an ivory- and sepia-patterned linen from Pindler & Pindler, Inc. Ivory silk wallpaper envelops the walls, and about 12 feet up, an ornate ceiling medallion gives way to golden branches and a cluster of crystals. Roz dressed the towering windows with bold saffron-hued swags of cotton and linen. A large piece of cast iron painted a sassy turquoise serves as a coffee table, and Lisa’s PowerBook, ousted from her lap by her cat, now sits atop it in sleep mode.

In the dining room opposite, Roz focused on fabric again and swathed the dining chairs in ivory sprinkled with a taupe dandelion pattern. Lisa, who admits to painting the room six times over the six years she’s lived in the house before settling on her dream shade of lavender, had already dressed the space with its corner cabinet, freestanding whitewashed columns, and antler collection. Still, Roz convinced her to “funk it up” a little more with a furry white shade for the room’s main light fixture. “Blending in more modern elements, like the shade and the fabric on the chairs, made an interesting contrast to Lisa’s antiques,” says Roz. “Not only that, it reflected the fun and funky side of her personality.”

Make it by Hand

Ready to get personal? Rely on a creative, DIY approach to Christmas décor for more bespoke, family-centered adornments. Here are four projects from Lisa’s design notebook:

Shell Christmas Tree

Supplies:

• Container (urn, pottery, or wooden bowl)
• Floral Foam
• Sturdy, ½-inch wooden dowel (painted to suit)
• Foam tree form
• Decorative elements (shells, buttons, pinecones, galax leaves)
• Two-part epoxy glue
• Faux cotton snow

Fill container fully with dry floral foam. Insert dowel (the tree’s “trunk”) in center of container. Slide bare tree form onto dowel. Starting at the base of the tree, glue decorative elements to the foam form one at a time, holding each in place until glue is fixed. Add elements side by side, winding your way up the tree in spiral fashion. Cover foam form entirely. Top with decorative element and allow glue to dry. Cover floral foam with snowy cotton and disply.

Kid-Friendly Paper Chain

Supplies:

• Several sheets of decorate paper (Lisa uses handmade paper)
• Pencil
• Ruler or other straight edge
• Scissors (regular or decorative edged)
• Glue (glue dots work well)

Using ruler and pencil, mark paper lengthwise to create parallel two-inch wide strips. Cut strips along lines into long “ribbons.” Cut ribbons into same-size pieces long enough to make a small paper link. Glue ends of first link together into a circle cuff, and let it dry. Loop next piece through the first and glue that second link together. Repeat to create a long chain and drape wherever you want festive color.

Linen Stocking

Supplies:

• Linen or cotton fabric
• Paper)
• Pencil)
• Fabric scissors (or sharp-bladed craft scissors) )
• Needle and thread (or sewing machine) )
• Ribbon)
• Antique buttons, or other decorative element)
• Glue gun (optional) )
• Gold ornament threat (for hanging)

Draw stocking shape on paper (your choice size), noting that it should be one-fourth inch larger all around than end result stocking. Trace shape onto fabric. Cut shape from fabric and repeat to create two pieces. Layer one piece atop the other wth show side faving inward.

Run ribbon through button, if possible. Sandwich ribbon between layered stocking halves near the top of the stocking (where the opening will be).

Sew together fabric and ribbon, creating a one-fourth inch seam and leaving the top of the stocking unfinished and open. Turn stocking inside out. Sew loop of hanging thread on the inner seam. Note: If ribbon can’t run through the button, use glue gun or needle and thread to glue buttons to the outside of stocking.

Sepia Photo Ornaments

Supplies:

• Digital photos
• Computer with photo program (Adobe Photoshop, iPhoto, or Picasa)
• Round or oval cards or heavy card stock
• Color printer
• Ribbon
• Hole Punch

Select individual image and, using the photo program, change the shot to sepia. If your program allows, type a single-word message across the bottom, top, or sides of the image in an accent color. Print image on card material. If you like, cut out the photo. Punch a hole at top center of the image. Tie a loop of ribbon (in the same shade as your text or your tree’s accent color) through the hole. Hang on tree or send as holiday card.

Room to Play

Getting Lisa to have fun with the decor wasn’t a tough sell. “What’s the harm in trying something new?” she asks. “If people could just play, in decorating and life both, they could have a lot more fun. As for the fur shade? I’ll keep it a while and when I’m ready for something new, I’ll change it.

“People have a tendency to get stuck in what they should do, how things should be, and I say, ‘No!’” she continues. “Instead, I try to think of the most obscure, unlikely pairings for things and how they might work. When I do flowers, that means succulents with soft blooms. When I play with color, it’s opposites on the color wheel. In furniture, it’s old with new pieces. In style, it’s masculine with feminine, aggressive with demure. That’s how I make things fresh and keep it all interesting: I try something new and unexpected.”

Oreo stretches and meows loudly. Lisa, fired up on conversation, momentarily stopped rubbing his head and apparently he’d prefer she stay on task. She gently goads him and, insulted as cats can so easily get, he jumps down and haughtily scoots off. She looks, shrugs, and laughs yet again, filling the house with that easy-going vibe that makes it a haven for pets, people, and personal style.