Get holiday decorating tips at Geneva's Christmas House Tour

Five Geneva homeowners invite you to deck the halls with them this holiday season during Geneva's annual Christmas House Tour.

From 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Friday and 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 3-4, the public is invited to take a peek into five local homes chosen by the Geneva Chamber of Commerce for their unique characteristics and charming qualities.

“(The homes) get chosen for many different reasons,” said Laura Rush, communications manager with the Geneva Chamber.

“We try and get some variety. We try and get historic homes, bungalows, a newer home, maybe a recently renovated home. The home needs to have things inside of it that people will want to see, like unique collections or antique furniture.”

This year's tour includes a small bungalow that has recently been renovated, a historic home and a newer home that has been decorated almost completely with antiques.

Each of the homes is paired with a local home decor business and completely decked out in preparation for the tour.

According to Rush, the idea is for tour participants to get some decorating inspiration for their own homes.

“What we would like to do (with the tour) is make it so when people walk through the homes they can say, ‘I can do that to my house' or, ‘That's a neat idea,” Rush said.

The home decorators feel the same way.

“What we hope to do is give people ideas that are different both inside and outside,” Debra Phillips, owner of Scentimental Gardens, said. “That's always our goal: surprises.”

Phillips and her crew of five have been working all week on their assigned house on Second Street, playing up the home's small architectural details by adding lots of natural elements like flowers and tree greens.

The husband-wife team of Craig and Annette MacLean over at Pure Gardner is also going with a natural theme for their home on Maple Lane. The couple's design plan includes plenty of natural greens, miniature winter garden scenes and even some sugar sculptures.

“Our approach is pure and natural. We sell at lot of organic products (at Pure Gardner),” Craig MacLean said. “Our design makes sense for who we are and what we do. It allows us to work with elements that we have here in the shop.”

None of the designers will go into too much detail however, for fear of ruining the surprise. Even many of the homeowners don't know what's in store for this year's tour.

“I've seen a little bit of what (the decorators) are going to do. I don't want to see too much,” said Jaimie Humbert, whose home on Fargo Boulevard will be decorated by 610 Home and showcased this weekend.

The Humberts have lived in their home for about six years and relied heavily on antique and flea market finds to decorate their home.

“I'm a big flea market person. I love the thrill of the hunt. All the chandeliers in the house I found and rewired,” Humbert said.

“Character means a lot. I like for things to look very old and cozy.”

Tickets for the Home Tour are $28 when purchased in advance and $30 the day of the event. To find out where to purchase tickets or get more information, call (630) 232-6060.