balanced in application, and furnish the
inhabitants with sufficient amusement or
interest via view to an outside space or
focus on an interior object or art work. I
spend a good part of my day looking at
things, there is no formula for this, but
“memorable” is a quality that I ascribe to
few rooms or places, and it is achieving this
quality of specialness that for me makes a
room stand out.
DHM: How do you create a holiday ambiance
in your home or in your client’s homes?
MDD: Growing up in Charlottesville,
Virginia, we used to spend weeks
decorating for Christmas. I think that in
today’s world few of us have that kind of
time to allocate to holiday decorating. I
have a townhouse and only two smallish
trees. I put white lights in the trees as many
on my block do, which adds a festive look
to the neighborhood. The nice thing about
tree lights is that they don’t look stale after
the first of January—people tend to keep
them up all winter. The same cannot be
said of an electrified Santa on the roof. A
wreath is also an easy, highly decorative
element that doesn’t need to come down
quite so quickly.
make it