The joy and serenity of the holiday season arrives early each year at the home of Greg and Keri Peace of Mandeville. Their elegant European-inspired home is the first stop of Johna Costa, who specializes in seasonal decorating. Keri and Johna have worked together for 10 years, and these two organized women agree that starting early on this home makes the whole season more enjoyable for the family.
The Beau Chene home is inviting year-round, featuring tall windows that let natural light fill each room. Greg, who is a builder and real estate investor, helped develop the floor plan and did his own construction management on the project when they built six years ago. Designer Kim DeBrock of KD Designs gets full credit from Keri on the interior details and color selections. Kim and Keri have recently decided to inject accents of champagne and blush into the creamy white interior, and the holiday decorations for this year echo that color scheme.
The main tree, next to the cast-stone fireplace in the living room, is a pre-lit and flocked artificial tree topped with fanciful feathers and wrapped in twig garland. The tree is the perfect bow atop the gift-wrapping of the home, finishing off the feminine color scheme with large-scale ornaments in various shapes and colors. Adding punch with blush ornaments gives balance to the gold and cream ones that last from year to year. Crystal-clear blown glass ornaments are barely noticeable at first glance but reflect the tiny lights that are mixed into the foliage, providing more sparkle to the overall look.
The stockings that the family uses every year hang from the mantel draped in soft, elegant green garland. Using flocked foliage all throughout the home unifies the look, and the touches of blush appear again in the ribbon that weaves through the mantel greenery. They use the same approach in the dining room table, which features a custom blush linen runner as a base for the heirlooms that line the table. The couple’s wedding china rests under newly monogrammed linen napkins, customized by Johna’s retail store, Motif, located in downtown Covington. Modern accents such as the frosted garland and white deer figurines sit alongside antique crystal Christmas trees, proving that mix of old and new that makes for the most truly custom and comfortable designs.
All throughout the home, it is evident that these residents are family-oriented. Built-in bookcases are brimming with family snapshots, and commissioned art pieces feature the children’s names and favorite scripture verses. In the family room, a smaller tree holds the ornaments they have collected throughout their lives. “This is my favorite tree every year,” says Keri. “Every single ornament is a memory of time we had together as a family, and that’s what makes it special to me.”
At a time of year when so many of us seem to run out of hours in each day, Keri Peace truly echoes her own name when she describes her home and its Christmas decor. “Having the decorations up early gives us more time to enjoy the season. We love having family over; my daughter has friends here all the time, and we just love cooking for everyone and spending time together. That’s what this house is all about.”
