CityView Magazine

56 | November/December 2015 and holiday décor reminiscent of what one may see at the Biltmore Estate or Williamsburg. "Now, some of my cli- ents do like glitz and glitter, but most of them want that classic look that's understated or much more muted," said Crenshaw. "I like elegant traditional, but in the last few years, that glitzy stuff has been really popular." Coleman has a few clients of the 40 to 50-year-old "younger set" who do experiment with colors outside the traditional spectrum. "I like silver, blue and the traditional Christmas colors. But, we end up doing hot pinks and lime greens every year. It gets a little funkier," confided Coleman. "Glitter is always in here. ere's always someone that wants some bling. If it's not red or green for traditional- ists in the All-America City… then it's not Christmas. However, a few clients of Crenshaw and McPhail's do favor lime green to add a "pop" of color. And in recent times, aqua paired with red has proved quite popular. Ever the trendset- ter, McPhail explained he has actually been combining these colors for quite awhile. "I was doing that three years ago, so it's not new to me," he said with a chuckle. His least favorite color to use is white, only because it "gets too dirty." Trends in Christmas décor include large, colorful bows instead of an an- home, you have to figure out where they want to put their Christmas tree. Even though you may have a large space, cli- ents can be minimal, they don't want it to look like the season exploded in their house." He added, "If you have railings on the outside of a home, then you can put garland everywhere." McPhail recalled that he never even met one of his most important clients. "A woman called me from Raleigh. I only spoke to her on the phone. She le me a key to her house and told me to do, 'whatever you want.' So I did just that. I decked the halls in garland, the stair- cases, the mirrors in the bathrooms. And this client was a little trendier, so I did a lot of glitter." Owen's Bordeaux stays busy and decorates 15 to 20 homes a year. Many clients ask Coleman and her team to decorate the home from top to bot- tom, leaving no corner untouched with Christmas finery. "ey ask us to pur- chase the tree, bring everything down from the attic… every little thing… and we do it," said Coleman. gel or a star on top of the tree. You may also see "shabby chic" in some homes in Fayetteville. "Most people we decorate for will have a formal tree, which is usu- ally very dressy and then another tree, devoted to their family with ornaments they've collected over the years," said Crenshaw. In the early 1990s, when Crenshaw first started decorating the homes, he was working with new families, so a lot of decorations were bought. "Now our clients have their own stuff and they pay me to refurbish and redisplay," added Crenshaw. "Years ago, brass, deer, ac- cessories like that… you couldn't get enough. Now, people are going toward platinum, silver and gold looks. In Fay- etteville, people love jewel tones as well, purple, red and emerald." Many families opt to use Christmas decorations they've collected through- out the years, but will incorporate items sold at each florist. The Big Jobs Most of the homes or businesses Crenshaw and McPhail take on dur- ing the season only take one day. How- ever, with bigger clients, decorating can last up to three days. "We do eve- rything from the inside to the outside," said Crenshaw. "For the inside of the A festive swag for railing by Always Flowers Barbara Coleman of Owen's Bordeaux Florist

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