Courage: Try the unexpected to discover hidden beauty

A home's Christmas decorations reflect the family and the love and spirit of the holiday.

But what are designers to do when the house is great, but the family has moved out?

An empty house was the challenge faced by Geneva designers Richard J. Abrahamson and Linda McFadden when they were asked to decorate an 1873 Victorian for the Chamber of Commerce's annual House Tour in early December.

Both are aware of the high standards of this tour. And both have their own reputations to maintain. Abrahamson of RJA Design was named to the Merchandise Mart's 2009 Ones to Watch list of three rising design stars, and McFadden of Past Basket is a fixture in the area with a shop known for found objects and artisans' creations.

A mantel draped in greens, fruit and flowers; eight lighted fir trees; and a dining room table dressed with a variety of antique cloths were showstoppers during the tour.

"Everybody zeroed in on something different," said McFadden. "Some mentioned the flowers on the mantel, others the textiles piled on the dining room table, and a lot of people liked the bare trees."

Despite the challenges, there are advantages to starting with an empty house. First the duo could select a palette that works well with greens, trees and other Christmas colors.

The walls in the living room are painted mocha or taupe, with a lighter shade for the wool drapes. The heavy period woodwork is a Benjamin Moore color called Simply White. Abrahamson and McFadden chose upholstered furniture in warm earth tones like olives and taupes.

The Turkish rug and accessories including custom pillows bring in Chinese red, a perfect Christmas shade, and "a touch of turquoise to make things pop," said Abrahamson.

Custom creations are mixed with antiques like books, the federal gilded mirror over the fireplace and the art that Abrahamson found and framed.

The works on the walls include a piece of fabric with beaded and tufted roses and a large oil painting of a very distinguished butler.

Standout features of the decorating, like the bare trees and the heavily dressed dining room table that some would consider gutsy, include:

•A variety of greens, pomegranates, yellow and pink roses, freesia and date palm berries cascade across the mantel and down the sides. Hidden tubes of water help keep the flowers fresh in this creation by Carole Buchner, a floral designer with Past Basket.

•The eight trees scattered through the house wear small white lights. And here is one of Abrahamson's best tips. Put your tree lights on a dimmer for the perfect glow.

"White lights can be a bit harsh," he said. The lack of decorations on the trees brings an organic look, said Abrahamson, and otherwise the trees could overpower or clash with the well-decorated rooms.

"It's natural," said McFadden, who selected the trees and did at least some of the chopping herself. "The beauty of these particular trees seems so quaint. They have lovely arms."

•Six or seven different cloths cover the dining room table, including a paint cloth as the bottom layer, said McFadden.

"Homeowners are afraid to use more than one thing on a table, and if their tablecloth is not big enough, it's a problem," she said.

Ivory damask and handmade lace and cutwork set the scene. Striped silk in cream and pale drab olive tones waves across part of the top.

The graceful ripples, rather than a flat-lying cloth, is one of the features that takes courage, she said.

"They worry about what somebody would say and how it's going to work if you were actually dining. It takes some courage of your convictions."

And all this lies under two topiaries designed to match the creation on the mantel in the adjoining living room and a long cedar rope decorated with ribbons of ivory and copper.

•Abrahamson placed 12 old brass and pewter candleholders with olive drab tapers on a table behind the sofa. "They have more character than new ones, and things look great in groups," he said.

The home near downtown Geneva sits on a corner lot of almost one-half acre and is for sale for $1.39 million through Tracy Ebel of Baird & Warner.

While built over a century ago, the house enjoys a kitchen and master bath that Past Basket custom kitchens designed and installed a few years ago.

"Our business is to make a house into a home," said Abrahamson. "It's a celebration of life."

And McFadden explained: "It's the opposite of people saying 'I want to be done.' Your home is never done, it's an evolving, living thing."