It started with the gift of one Santa ornament in the 1970s. Now Katie Myers has multiple Christmas collections that explode like a Christmas bomb each year, filling every space in her Harrison home with cheer.
Katie and Mike Myers don’t do theme trees; that’s too limited. They fill themed rooms with her collections.
There is the Santa sun room, a Blue Christmas master bedroom and a second-floor landing with snowmen throughout. Elegant gold-based Renaissance decor with angels winging across a 20-foot tree is the focal point of the great room. And the gingerbread/candy theme throughout the kitchen? Sweet.
“That sign explains it all,” laughs Mike, pointing to an ornament-shaped door hangar. It proclaims “I Have O.C.D. Obsessive Christmas Disorder.”
“I just love Christmas, and so does Mike,” says Katie. “Now we’ve got the house to decorate, and we enjoy entertaining. Last year and this year, we will host four parties within a week.”
Katie starts assembling her holiday decor on Nov. 1. There are hundreds of yards of garlands, nearly 30 trees, several dozen wreaths ranging in size from 2 to 4 feet in diameter, and literally thousands of tree decorations to be put up.
Creating the amount of decorations in this home should take all of Santa’s workshop elves, but Katie does it all herself over a span of two weeks. After the holidays, she packs and labels boxes by rooms. But the decorations aren’t stored in their finished form so she can easily hang them up again the following year. She disassembles it all – it’s easier to pack, she claims – and she reassembles it all next season in a new design.
Guests get their first hint of what’s to come in the foyer, where four wreaths are hung, lighted garland is swagged up the banister, over doors and across a side table. The foyer’s tree is their “travel tree,” Katie explains, decorated in ornaments from cities and foreign countries to which the couple has traveled. Every ornament has a story behind it.
Everywhere visitors look, there is something seasonal to see. There are novelties – an upside-down Christmas tree divided in decorations representing the University of Tennessee on one side and Ole Miss on the other – and the elegant – a lovely display of angels and old-world Santas wearing gold velvet robes in the great room.
Layers of metallic ornaments and glittered picks in gold, silver, bronze and copper cover the great room’s 20-foot tree topped with an angel. White faux poinsettia blossoms are interspersed among the metallic-laden branches. The fireplace is swagged in garland accented with gold and copper leaves, glass acorns and jeweled picks. Six wreaths hang around the room and above the mantel, where three gold trees and a gold angel in silhouette are displayed.
Katie’s collection of more than 300 Santas decorates the sun room. There are Santa ornaments, dolls and dishes. Santas wearing shades, Santas dressed in orange for the Vols. Santas made of cloth, glass, resin, vinyl and ceramic. A free-standing, 5-foot Santa; a 2-foot flamingo Santa. Collectible Santas; kitschy Santas. Anywhere you look, Santa has his eye on you.
Katie trimmed the wall of 10 windows overlooking nearby Savannah Bay with poinsettia garland and hung a wreath on each window. Two dozen ornaments are suspended from the ceiling, adding to the party atmosphere of the room.
But it’s the kitchen that is Katie’s favorite. The gingerbread collection she began three years ago is combined with peppermint stripes and candy themes – enhanced with 12 trees – for a room that appeals to the young and young at heart.
The Myers remodeled their former garage into a new kitchen that is designed to meet their entertaining needs. It’s outfitted with two refrigerator-freezers, four dishwashers and four stoves – “I can put 18 cookie sheets in at one time,” explains Katie – when preparing for parties. There are six sinks in the room, two farmhouse and four prep sinks, one cut into the granite counter top in the shape of a martini glass.
Two islands and a bar area divide the kitchen from adjacent dining space. Katie and Mike raised the height of the islands to 42 inches, designed to prevent back ache after bending over those work spaces any length of time. Another custom feature, still being installed, are electrical outlets near the ceiling to accommodate Christmas light strands.
Of course.
Contact Susan Pierce at spierce@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6284.