Christmas past & present

Deciding to leave their family homeplace five years ago and become a condo couple, Jim and Bunny Clark were faced with the monumental challenge of determining what items would make the move with them.

That Ringgold, Ga., home of 36 years was filled with two generations’ keepsakes and memorabilia. And in addition to choosing which furnishings and accessories they’d need for daily use, the Clarks had to downsize their Christmas collection.

“I tried to narrow the decision by thinking about what I loved and what we needed,” Mrs. Clark said.

“Our children took some of the ornaments they wanted, then we just eliminated things that didn’t mean as much to us,” she said.

“So many people are thinking about downsizing now. I like to say, in any interior, that things need to have a story, and if there is a story behind something, it needs to go to the new place,” said Marsha Yessick, owner of Yessick’s Interiors and member of the American Society of Interior Designers.

Yessick helped the Clarks choose their new home’s decor and, this year, assisted with displaying the Christmas collectibles the couple kept in their move.

The result is a Christmas display that expresses the Clarks’ love of tradition and importance of family.

A Santa pillow displayed in an antique high chair welcomes guests entering the living area. Six generations of Clark children have come to the table in that chair, which was made by Mr. Clark’s great-grandfather.

Subtle reminders of holidays past are framed photos placed strategically through the rooms. A “Baby’s First Christmas” photo shows Mr. Clark as a laughing, chubby-cheeked infant in his winter toboggan cap. Photos of their daughter’s and grandson’s visits with Santa are placed on the granite counter dividing the kitchen and living area.

A Nativity is displayed in each room, with their favorite Anri collection filling the top of a living room side table. The couple has accumulated 32 pieces of the intricately handcarved, Italian-made pieces.

“That was our Christmas present to each other over many years,” said Mrs. Clark of the collection they started in the 1970s.

Yessick said she rearranged contents of the built-in bookcases flanking the fireplace so she could intersperse the couple’s collection of 34 Byers’ Choice carolers with pine and berries.

In addition to furnishings, the couple had to downsize the width of their Christmas tree to fit the new living room’s bay window. They chose a slim-line fir, which is their first prelit tree. It shimmers in large scarlet balls, gold poinsettia blossoms and mesh garland combined with the sentimental family ornaments they brought to the new home.

“We have about 10 ornaments on the Christmas tree that Jim had on his tree as a kid,” said Mrs. Clark.

“When you’ve used the same things so many years and put them in every place you can think of, it’s wonderful to see what somebody else can do with them,” she said of their redesigned holiday decor.

“Everywhere I sit, it’s beautiful. I love it,” she said.