There’s more to holiday decorating than hooking red and green balls onto a Christmas tree and tossing tinsel on it, or slapping a wreath of pine on the front door.
At least that’s evident when it comes to Carol Vaziri’s vision for holiday decor. As you walk through her upscale home furnishings shop, Decor Accents, in Design Row in Northside Plaza, you’ll see a true celebration of the holiday season expressed through elaborate, elegant, whimsical and creative decorations, many of which she designed herself.
“You want to be festive for your family and friends,” she explained. “It’s a reflection on you as the homeowner and host.”
Not all decorations need to be traditional red and green, and not all have to be elaborate; they can be simple and yet beautiful. The goal is to inspire a holiday feeling, a spirit of Christmas.
Still, she adds, “At Christmas, it is the time you can go a little over the top. You don’t have to be so simple.”
At Decor Accents, located at 4330 Highway 1 in Vero Beach, you will find lavish decorations for the holidays – Christmas trees, wreaths, swags, garlands and centerpieces beautifully and thoughtfully designed for the home to give it a holiday boost – befitting for a time of year when the spirit gets one.
For example, a 7.5-foot Christmas tree looms high and sparkles with its silvery, snowy and icy effects. The theme: The Ice Queen of Narnia. Silver branches drip with icicle ornaments and are covered with crystals, and sprigs of white feathers plume outward. The high-quality synthetic tree is elegant and monochromatic so it suits just about any home decor.
This tree will be auctioned to benefit Riverside Theatre, but there are several other beautifully decorated trees and decorations that are for sale at Decor Accents. Customers can purchase an entire tree fully adorned with ornaments, or individual decorations, right off of the various trees.
During the holiday season at Vaziri’s shop featuring contemporary, clean and chic home furnishings, accents and artwork, there are festive holiday pieces, including an almost life-size rhinestone reindeer, a gold-glitter nativity scene and a wall or door decoration of a wintry scene made up of artificial driftwood, a stuffed owl and snow-covered gold-sprayed pine cones.
Many of the decorations scattered throughout the store and in the back of the shop where the trees are beautifully presented, are designed by Vaziri in her on-site studio packed with fabrics, ribbons, bulbs, ornaments, lights, feathers and synthetic flowers, driftwood and trees.
Her own designs and holiday merchandise offer a variety of themes and color schemes to suit a customer’s home decor and preferences. Some have a nature theme, others are beach-inspired and others are elegant and glitzy.
“I like to go with the design of the home, the colors in the home, and enhance that with whatever color scheme makes sense,” said Vaziri. “Red and green are great but don’t always work with the year-round color scheme in a person’s Florida home.”
So for example in a beachside home that features a lot of bright colors, she may design a tree, garland or centerpiece using the colors hot pink, coral and turquoise and using flowers, seagulls, shells and coral to accentuate a tropical theme.
An elegant tree may consist of crystals and a mixture of different metallics – gold, silver and platinum. An example is a 10-foot tree she designed featuring large ivory silk poinsettias, ostrich feathers, large gold glass ornaments, gold glittered sprays, gold ribbons, icy crystal ornaments, pearls and playful elves.
A whimsical tree she designed features elves and the magic of Christmas. It has the traditional colors of Christmas – red and green – and the tiny elves are decorating the tree with presents, climbing miniature ladders and sliding off of white glittered spirals. There are butterflies and globe lights attached to the tree which add to the magical feeling of Christmas in the playful scene.
“I wonder what happens at night when the lights go off!” Vaziri said observing the elves. “The magic starts and they probably have a lot of fun!”
Vaziri uses high-quality synthetic trees and often adds real pine branches, tucking them into the tree for the fresh scent and texture. The advantages of synthetic trees are that they make no mess, are reusable and the branches are sturdier to hold heavier ornaments.
There are several centerpieces and wall or door swags in the store including a striking one that features lovely peacock feathers, gold leaves, jeweled flowers, bubble ornaments, aqua crystals and minty green balls.
Some festive centerpieces include a large gold sparkly clamshell with bejeweled mermaid, decorative gold balls on top of candlesticks, red silk roses with tiny red diamonds on a vase and glittered pine cones in a bowl, and can be placed on jeweled table runners.
There’s also a wall tree of gold, red and white balls, gold and beaded tassels, gold leaves, red jeweled ornaments and white orchids.
Vaziri has been creating designs for over 25 years, in fact holiday decorating is how she got her start in business with Carol V Designs. Floral designs, holiday events, black-tie parties and weddings were the mainstay of her business in upstate New York. After she and her family moved to the Atlanta area, she opened her first retail store featuring holiday decor, floral design and home accessories. Relocating to Vero Beach, she opened Decor Accents which carries home furnishings, accessories and artwork, and she continues to do Carol V Designs from her shop.
“Decorating gets you in the holiday spirit, makes you feel festive,” she says. “I always like a little bit of sparkle at Christmas. It really makes it special.”
When advising people about their Christmas tree, she recommends:
- Plenty of lighting, tucking lights into the center of the tree and adding specialty lights and mixing colored lights with white lights.
- Mixing textures on a tree such as natural twig branches and magnolia leaves with artificial glittered branches,
- Mixing large ornaments with small ones, glass balls with jeweled ones, and placing delicate ornaments on the tips of branches.
- Putting the main attraction of the tree one-quarter down or half-way down the tree instead of at the top.
- Adding a cluster of different sprays at the top of trees to add height and to give it a little more fanfare.
