To me, nothing says Christmas like a big, beautiful Christmas Tree. It’s that perfect combination of greenery, lights & ornaments that creates the warm, fuzzy feeling that makes Christmas so special. As a designer, Christmas trees are also one more way to express my creativity and style so it’s always been one of my favorite Christmas traditions. So, what happens when your Christmas tree is no longer your own? My kids are at the age now where they can express themselves and have their own ideas of what they think is beautiful. And it’s been a legit struggle for me to balance my “designer’s” eye with the beauty they see. 

I live and breathe design- creating the perfect aesthetics and ambience is what I'm made for- there is no better reflection of that than my own home. When you walk into my home, you know it’s mine- not only by what you see but by what you feel. I’ve always found a lot of satisfaction in having a beautifully decorated Christmas Tree- the tone, color, balance, lighting and ornaments have always complimented our home’s overall style. But this year, more than ever, I’ve had to take conscious step back and remind myself that it’s not “my” home, it’s “our home.  

In the overall scheme of things, I realize that this seems pretty small but for me, it’s been a really hard adjustment. My life revolves around design- I'm constantly researching, watching and absorbing everything around me and when I look at many designers I follow on social media platforms, I see their perfect Christmas trees and I can become envious of their perfection. Everything is color-coordinated, there is flocking and flowers and ribbons and bows and it perfectly reflects their “brand.” My Christmas tree, on the other hand, is completely off-balanced, filled with lots of completely random-colored ornaments and if someone were to see it, they would not think “Minnesota Rust” at all. And that is okay. Our Christmas Tree is not a representation of me or our brand, our tree is reflection of us as a family.  

All of those random ornaments were all made by my kids’ hands. The colors they chose are a reflection of what makes them happy and everything is off balance because they want to be able to see all of their ornaments at their eye-level every day. It’s a whole new kind of beautiful. Of course, in my line of work, there is a time and a place for thinking about style and design, but for me, Christmas is not that time anymore. Christmas is just about love; the love I feel when I look at our imperfectly-perfect Christmas tree that is completely covered in my kids’ ornaments and the love I hope they feel when they know that they are valued more than anything else.  

Best, Andrea