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'Just For Fun'

Old and new, handmade and store-bought make a merry holiday mix

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BARRY WONG Comfy, cozy and warm is what Ayako Gordon aims for in her holiday décor, creating a sense of history on every surface with worn Santas, nutcrackers and collections of old fabrics and toys. BARRY WONG A rustic old farmhouse table in the dining room is large enough to seat 12 and gives Ayoko Gordon another surface to decorate. Gordon's mother made all of the patterned Japanese thread balls, a needle art called BARRY WONG Heaps of shiny Christmas balls glisten from a chicken-wire tower in the family room. BARRY WONG The curve of a white candle suggests the gentle undulations of the poinsettia's petals. BARRY WONG Star-tipped metal vases holding mistletoe hang from the old gate that serves as a pot rack in the center of the kitchen. BARRY WONG The family room has its own Christmas tree; Gordon bought the big old armchair for $45 and had it recovered in an inspired mix of fabrics. "Joslin's had never done anything like it before," she says with a laugh. BARRY WONG Nostalgic scenes from Christmases past are created anew each year. Nestled into red satin and tulle atop the piano is one of Santa's elves, a nutcracker, stars and tinsel. BARRY WONG Gordon mixes old and new objects in holiday vignettes. The feather wreath is from Nordstrom. She bought the yarrow-ball topiary from Lavender Heart in Madison Valley, where she finds many of the candles, swags, balls and newer decorations. BARRY WONG The mustard-colored walls and white trim of the living room serve as warm backdrop to the noble fir Christmas tree and poinsettias. Gordon is as eclectic in her choices of furniture as in decorations, apparent from the contrast of overstuffed couches with curved steel love seats made by artisan Brian Swanson.

ECLECTIC NEVER looks so traditional as at Ayako and Neal Gordon's Capitol Hill home during the holidays. The pinecone-studded swag outlining the wooden front door sets the tone for a family Christmas. But you need only look up for a hint of the eccentric fun inside. A wreath overhead dangles a cosmic swirl of red balls. With their deep lustrous color playing off the aged brick of the house, the effect is of a starry orbit. Red gardening clogs, a red pot sprouting black mondo grass, and red poinsettias in a row of terra-cotta pots bring you back to earth.

Collections from years past and from around the globe are at the heart of the Gordons' holiday décor. Ayako garnishes the stately old home with everything from Japanese handicrafts to old Santa candles. Many of the items are toys, harkening back to her own childhood in Japan as well as that of her talented teenage children, all of whom are musicians or dancers. This is a lively and creative household, and that's especially apparent at Christmas when decorations the kids have made over the years are featured in all the rooms.

You step through the stocking-draped front door to be greeted by colorful little signs declaring "joy, love, peace, health and happiness." A fresh pine smell permeates the distinguished Tudor house built in 1910. Just inside, a grand piano is draped in red satin and topped with elves and nutcrackers. Ayako's collection of worn chalkware figurines is clustered on a nearby table. The open staircase serves as staging area for a lime-colored feather wreath and a jolly Santa-face pillow propped on a red upholstered chair. Copper pots holding mustard-colored balls of dried yarrow create sculptural finials on the stair posts. "It's all just for fun," says Ayako. "I never quite know where I'm going to use all these things."

Visual harmony reigns, despite the wide variety of objects Ayako pulls out of storage early each December. Basic Christmas colors are repeated to tie it all together. "I stick with the old red and green — they're happy colors to me," she says.

The Christmas tree in the living room is a stately noble fir, picked out by Neal and son Stephan, and decorated with antique balls. "I want it all to feel warm and nostalgic, not at all froufrou," says Gordon. Candles and an old Santa painting fill a little red wagon near the tree; an antique red and white quilt cushions an old dollhouse on a table.

Inspired looks


The color scheme at Ayako and Neal Gordon's home is lively in all seasons, ranging through shades and patterns that boost the charm and effectiveness of seasonal decoration:

• The rooms are painted in warm tones of gold from yellow to mustard, red ranging from copper and nutmeg to rich brick, and soft mossy green. The woodwork is a glossy, room-brightening antique white.

• Nature has been a big influence on color choices, as in the staircase ceiling painted a soft silver taken from lamb's ears in the garden. Perhaps this is why all the fresh and natural objects, including swags, trees, poinsettias and dried yarrow topiaries, look so good.

• Pillows and upholstered pieces are opportunities for pattern as well as color. Chairs and cushions are swirled, flowered and checked. Stripes and polka-dots are motifs throughout the rooms. Leopard print shows up on chairs and pillows and throws, as well as pet beds. The dining-room chairs from France are a woven checkerboard pattern in yellow and red. A big, comfy chair in the family room is upholstered in green and purple and piped in bright orange; its ottoman is chocolate-colored with the same vivid piping.

The vignettes she pulls together suggest personal history, whether Ayako has just picked up the items at a thrift shop, one of her kids crafted them in first grade, or they're family heirlooms.

"I try to mix new and old," says Ayako, "and I hope my kids will keep all these things." From brightly patterned Japanese thread balls to collectible chalkware dogs and pixies, the skillful groupings offer the comfort of family history and tradition. "It may all be junk to some people," says Ayako, "but it's precious to me."

Valerie Easton is a Seattle freelance writer and contributing editor for Horticulture magazine. Her e-mail address is valeaston@comcast.net. Barry Wong is a Seattle-based freelance photographer. He can be reached at barrywongphoto@earthlink.net.