My Houzz: An Austin Stylist’s Technicolor Christmas Home
Her interiors are a whimsical kaleidoscope of color, kitschy touches, vintage ornaments and boldly decorated trees
“Every year I style the rooms, trees and shelves differently,” says Perkins, pictured here in her dining room, and she tries to have fun decorating throughout the year for every holiday. “Oddly, my house is like a Christmas mullet — business on the outside with minimal holiday decor, and party on the inside with a colorful kitsch explosion,” she says.
This expandable brass Milo Baughman étagère was a lucky $100 thrift store find that Perkins’ mother found. It’s used to display collectibles, vintage art, colorful glass and the family fish. A silver tinsel tree is decorated with a collection of “adorable knee-hugging elf ornaments from the ’50s,” as Perkins describes them.
Displayed at the very top of the shelving unit is a mix of small artificial trees to play up the colors of a vintage glass collection. Perkins has more trees than she can put out at a time, and when it’s not the holidays, everything is stored in the attic. “I put my everyday home items away in the attic when I take my holiday decor down,” she says.
“The nice thing about holiday decor is come January, it gives you the chance to restyle and redecorate everything that you keep up the rest of the year. My house feels like a living, breathing organism that is constantly changing and never looks the same way twice.”
Displayed at the very top of the shelving unit is a mix of small artificial trees to play up the colors of a vintage glass collection. Perkins has more trees than she can put out at a time, and when it’s not the holidays, everything is stored in the attic. “I put my everyday home items away in the attic when I take my holiday decor down,” she says.
“The nice thing about holiday decor is come January, it gives you the chance to restyle and redecorate everything that you keep up the rest of the year. My house feels like a living, breathing organism that is constantly changing and never looks the same way twice.”
Perkins loves “juxtaposing things all year round, and Christmas is no different. New and vintage, kitsch and boho, mirrored glam and ’50s plastic. Just like if you were to get dressed head to toe in clothing from the ’60s, it would look like a costume,” she says, “I try to avoid the same things by mixing and matching when styling for holidays or otherwise.”
This vintage 1980s Ello mirrored credenza in the living room was lugged home from a dusty flea market held in a cow pasture in Oklahoma. “I love the way it reflects my colorful kilim rug from another flea market and makes the room appear larger,” she says.
Hanging on the wall is a small collection of vintage tree art. Perkins made the one with the red background.
This vintage 1980s Ello mirrored credenza in the living room was lugged home from a dusty flea market held in a cow pasture in Oklahoma. “I love the way it reflects my colorful kilim rug from another flea market and makes the room appear larger,” she says.
Hanging on the wall is a small collection of vintage tree art. Perkins made the one with the red background.
DIY holiday throw pillows accent a green vintage sofa in the living room. One of the pillows was made from a vintage felt wall hanging, and the other has a picture of the family’s English mastiff, Ella, who recently passed away.
This large artificial gold tree is decorated with vintage bead ornaments. “This was my first year ever using icicles or tinsel on a tree. I thought it brought out the sparkle even more,” Perkins says.
This large artificial gold tree is decorated with vintage bead ornaments. “This was my first year ever using icicles or tinsel on a tree. I thought it brought out the sparkle even more,” Perkins says.
Perkins considers bookshelves, China cabinets, credenzas and étagères all styling opportunities. The decor on this silver shelf from Room Service Vintage gets switched out with the seasons. Displayed here is a mix of new and vintage holiday collectibles, and the bottom shelf is used to display Perkins’ art journals year-round.
Holiday accents also are found in the formal dining room in the front of the house. Atop the glass dining table, a Craigslist find, is a recent tin-can-tree DIY project. Garlands, beads and ornaments decorate the light fixture. Nutcrackers adorn the tops of laminate burl wood pedestals found at a flea market.
Kilim rug: Tuesday Morning
Kilim rug: Tuesday Morning
There are three full-size artificial Christmas trees in the family’s game room, which is where they spend the most time together. All the decorations in this space match the orange, lavender, pink and green palette that was inspired by a picture of a weaving that Perkins saw online earlier this year.
“This room tends to get the most color and kitsch during the holidays and year-round,” Perkins says. “It’s important to remember when styling for the holidays that art is not bolted to the walls and trinkets are not glued to the shelves. It’s OK to switch things out. I might even be guilty of choosing books based on their spine color.”
The gallery wall features custom family portraits from years past. The couple has portraits painted every year.
“This room tends to get the most color and kitsch during the holidays and year-round,” Perkins says. “It’s important to remember when styling for the holidays that art is not bolted to the walls and trinkets are not glued to the shelves. It’s OK to switch things out. I might even be guilty of choosing books based on their spine color.”
The gallery wall features custom family portraits from years past. The couple has portraits painted every year.
Pictured here is the tree in 6-year-old Baxter’s bedroom. “He picked the toy theme, and lucky for him I still have the vintage Fisher-Price toys I decorated his nursery with to put in the tree,” Perkins says. “I don’t force the holidays on my kids; they love it. My son actually asked for holiday inflatables for Christmas.”
The white tree in 8-year-old Tallulah’s bedroom has a sweet-treats theme and is decorated with DIY ice cream ornaments.
Hanging above this small midcentury bar in the formal living room is a colorful piece of pinball glass picked up at a flea market. “I was especially drawn to the polka dots and graphics,” Perkins says.
A collection of vintage tree toppers decorates the yarn-pompom-laden garland above the glass, and more toppers adorn the mini forest of new and vintage trees on top of the bar.
A collection of vintage tree toppers decorates the yarn-pompom-laden garland above the glass, and more toppers adorn the mini forest of new and vintage trees on top of the bar.
“I think it’s important to always have live plants and flowers around,” Perkins says. Decorating the top of a coffee table is a thrifted Santa tin used as a holiday vase.
A fireplace screen covered in silver tinsel decorates the mantel, and a DIY pompom banner spells out “Merry Kitschmas.”
A fireplace screen covered in silver tinsel decorates the mantel, and a DIY pompom banner spells out “Merry Kitschmas.”
Above the fireplace is a collection of plastic Santa blow molds. The large one in the center was found at this year’s Antique Weekend in Round Top, Texas. The two standing Santas are thrift store finds.
“I like to decorate my holiday mantel from top to bottom, so I often hang items like these metallic snowflakes from the ceiling. There is also a disco-light-style tree topper on the mantel that lights up the ceiling and Santas at night,” Perkins says.
“I like to decorate my holiday mantel from top to bottom, so I often hang items like these metallic snowflakes from the ceiling. There is also a disco-light-style tree topper on the mantel that lights up the ceiling and Santas at night,” Perkins says.
A collection of vintage Santa toys, dolls and figurines decorates this tree in the breakfast room. The trees get decorated year-round with Perkins’ extensive collection of vintage items. “During Easter you might find one of the trees full of old bunnies, and at Halloween the trees are decorated with vintage masks,” she says.
Books are displayed during the rest of the year in these built-in bookshelves, but there is also a rotating cast of collectibles like Jonathan Adler figurines, roadside pottery, vintage radios and picture frames. For the holidays, Perkins added some of her ceramic angels. “I style these shelves for almost every major holiday — Valentine’s, Easter, Halloween — so each time the ‘normal’ items go back in, the shelves are different,” Perkins says. “My mother always said once you have three of something, it’s a collection. I guess that means I have a ’60s angel collection.”
My Houzz is a series in which we visit and photograph creative, personality-filled homes and the people who inhabit them. Share your home with us and see more projects.
More home tours: Apartments | Small Homes | Colorful Homes | Contemporary Homes | Eclectic Homes | Farmhouses | Midcentury Homes | Modern Homes | Ranch Homes | Traditional Homes | Transitional Homes | All
My Houzz is a series in which we visit and photograph creative, personality-filled homes and the people who inhabit them. Share your home with us and see more projects.
More home tours: Apartments | Small Homes | Colorful Homes | Contemporary Homes | Eclectic Homes | Farmhouses | Midcentury Homes | Modern Homes | Ranch Homes | Traditional Homes | Transitional Homes | All
Who lives here: Jennifer Perkins and Chris Boehk; daughter Tallulah, 8; and son Baxter, 6
Location: Austin, Texas
Size: 3,000 square feet (278.7 square meters); four bedrooms, 2½ bathrooms
Era built: 1980s
For Jennifer Perkins and Chris Boehk, Christmas starts early every year in their Austin, Texas, home. Early as in, before Halloween. “Crazy? Kinda. I work in an industry where editorial content is needed way ahead of the actual holiday,” says the stylist, DIY craft enthusiast and brand ambassador for artificial tree company Treetopia. “Some people would say I go overkill decorating for the holidays, and I would say they are right. If there was ever a time of year to let your inner kitsch lover out, it is Christmas.”
Nearly every surface and room in the family’s home gets decorated for the holidays, as seen here in the living room.