Washington - When Hallie and Mark Burrier first saw the Victorian rowhouse in Frederick, Maryland, dusted with snow in January 2010, their thoughts turned to Christmas.
“This was a Christmas house,” says Hallie, who was house-hunting at the time. “I could picture our family and friends gathered in the formal dining room for dinner and our tree in the bay window. It felt good and right.”
Now the Burriers are on their fifth holiday in this 1890 home, and Mark, 35, and Hallie, 37, have established traditions that they look forward to all year. Using a mix of modern materials and traditional trimmings, the Burriers bring the holiday to every room in the house. Silver balls fill the apothecary jar in the master bathroom, and above their bed, a wreath adorns a cardboard deer head from Target. Garlands are wrapped around the staircase, and a festive bar is set in the living room on West Elm's Sculpted Geo Console table.
“My family has always been big on traditions,” says Mark, who grew up in the town of Myersville, about 15 minutes away. “I'm glad Hallie and I are creating our own.”
The Burriers own two local shops within a few blocks of their home: Relish Decor and Treaty General Store. Like many other shop owners, the Burriers work seven days a week from Black Friday to Christmas Eve. Hallie used to be in visual merchandising at Bloomingdale's, Britches and Urban Outfitters, and she works at the Burriers' two businesses full time. Mark has a job at Enforme Interactive doing graphic and Web design in an office around the corner from their house, and he pitches in on evenings and weekends. Each year, the Burriers go into marathon mode trying to produce the perfect holiday for their customers, so they must do their own decorating very early.
“On Thanksgiving, we have a traditional homemade dinner at noon at Mark's grandmother's house in Myersville, and we hang out,” Hallie says. “We come home just as it's getting dark and start decorating.” First, they pull the tree from a red storage bag, a narrow, 9-foot-tall, pre-lighted Martha Stewart tree from Home Depot. It's the best choice for their limited free time and space. To replicate the missing fresh fir scent, Hallie uses lots of fresh greens around the house and burns spruce-scented candles.
They don't play Christmas carols. “Holiday music is on the banned list, due to too much mall retail,” Hallie says. So it's likely to be some New Order or the Cure. Lucy, their wheaten terrier, watches them decorate while curled up on the sofa next to a red pillow that spells out “Cheers” (from T.J. Maxx) that has just been unpacked for the season.
Hallie and Mark met on a train going from Washington to New York. They were married in 2008 and first lived in an apartment ikn Virginia. They moved to Frederick for the wonderful architecture, affordable prices and charming village atmosphere, and to be close to Mark's work and family. The 15-foot-wide brick house with its original oak floors and long back yard is in the Frederick Historic District, just steps from shops and restaurants.
“The home was very pretty when we bought it, but it didn't feel like young people lived here,” Hallie recalls. “I wanted to cut the elegant part with some modern and whimsical.” They repainted every room, added some wallpaper, bolstered the existing crown molding, added window benches and renovated the master bathroom. They made the first floor more dramatic, painting the dining room Benjamin Moore Black and the living room Seal Grey by Glidden. They added Kelly Wearstler's Imperial Trellis black-on-black wallpaper above the living room mantel.
While renovating, Hallie began selling contemporary and vintage accessories for entertaining. In 2013, the couple opened Relish Decor, a shop that specialises in entertaining and kitchen items. In October, they opened Treaty General Store, a mix of well-designed utilitarian items such as terrariums, wool camp blankets and canvas laundry bags.
Decorating is a pleasure for Hallie, who has an eye for creating vignettes and unexpected combinations. Each year, she comes up with a different look for her mantels, centerpieces and tablescapes. “I decided to go natural on the mantel this year to balance the fake tree,” she says. “I wanted a bit of sparkle and glamour and a collected feeling.”
She put up cedar garland and pine cone balls from Target. The sparkly reindeer with a fur collar, a gift from her mom, added the glitz. On the dining room she created a low centrepiece on a linen runner from Relish Decor using magnolia clusters, bay leaves and clementines. This year for their holiday dinner parties and on Christmas day, Hallie will be staging a hot chocolate bar, with her Wedgwood Barbara Barry china tea cups and stirring sticks of dark chocolate with marshmallows or peppermint.
The couple is looking forward to having that hot chocolate on Christmas morning. The retail crush will be over, and Frederick is calm and peaceful. The Burriers spend the day at home with Hallie's parents, who are usually visiting from Virginia Beach, and other family and friends.
“It's just perfect,” Hallie says. “The church bells ring, the shoppers are gone and the streets are quiet. We eat a lot of food, play Monopoly and stay in our pajamas all day.”
Five tips for holiday decorating like a pro
By Jura Koncius
Hallie Burrier learned many tricks about arranging and decorating in her years of working in retail visual merchandising. She uses them throughout her own house and shares some of them here.
1. Assemble items in groups of three or five. Odd numbers work best for groupings. In creating vignettes, use items of varying heights to allow the eye to travel.
2. Repeat colours and patterns. Keeping a theme going throughout a room creates a sense of connection. Add a few unexpected surprises in each space for a bit of discovery.
3. Use a high/low strategy. Mix expensive and inexpensive items that you love. Incorporate personal pieces that tell the story of your life.
4. Pull out your best china, crystal, linens and family heirlooms. Use your best things this month as you host family and friends. Get over worrying that something might get chipped or stained; it's better to enjoy these special treasures than to have them sit unused year after year.
5. Add more sparkle and scent. If you have a fake, pre-lighted tree, don't be afraid to add some extra strands of lights. It can create additional magic in your home. Create the smell of Christmas with spruce candles or some cloves and cinnamon simmering on the stove.
Jura Koncius, Washington Post