Home for the Holidays

The holiday season is a special time for families, and for some, the Christmas holiday is the most important of all — the trimmings, the tree, the holiday cheer — and it deserves more than just the four weeks following Thanksgiving to be celebrated. We took a tour of two local Sarasota families’ homes to admire the décor, hear about their family traditions and find out why Christmas starts early in their homes.

The Mei Family
“Our daughter likes Christmas to start the day after Halloween,” says Denise Mei. Once Halloween has passed, the Meis bring out their holiday boxes to begin decorating for the family’s favorite holiday. Red bows, garland, poinsettias, lights and a plethora of trees adorn the interior and exterior of the home.

This is the first year the Meis have used an artificial tree. Every year the family has had a real tree, but Denise Mei’s favorite ornaments are large Christmas balls, and the real trees can’t hold the weight, so this year, she opted for an artificial tree and is loving it.

A total of nine trees are placed throughout the home during the holidays, including trees in each bedroom, 3-footers in the window bays and Mei’s Madame Alexander tree in the formal living area.

The Lahners Family
“Christmas is my husband’s favorite holiday,” says Crystal Lahners, “He wants it to feel like Christmas for as long as possible.”

Because the Lahners have their tree up well before the Thanksgiving holiday, their tree is artificial, but to add some real pine in the home, fresh greens are used in the garland on the fireplace mantel. The fresh garland brings that Christmas aroma, which lasts as long as they enjoy their décor being up. The decorating begins in early November each year and Crystal Lahners’s interior designer, Alejandra Brady, helps her with the bulk of it.