better homes & gardens christmas '03

7/28/2019 Better Homes & Gardens Christmas '03

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ChristmasBETTER HOMES & GARDENS DECEMBER 2003 187

The Art of

FOR THIS CREATIVE NEW ENGLAND FAMILY, HOME ISNT

A CASTLEITS A CANVAS. SEE HOW THEY PAINT A

PICTURE OF WARMTH AND PERSONALITY.During Christmases past, a real garland anchored the needlepoint stockings that Kate Dickerson designed and stitched.

Because the year-round mantel seemed bare without it, Kate painted a permanent garland in its place.

AMERICAN

HOMECOMINGS

BY KRISTINE KENNEDY PHOTOGRAPHS BY SAM GRAY PRODUCED BY ESTELLE BOND GURALNICK


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188 BETTER HOMES & GARDENS DECEMBER 2003

Kates parents hooked her on collecting Christmas

plates in high school; she now displays them in a

cabinet she had built for the breakfast nook (right).

Jack Dickerson enhanced the breezeway entry

(above left) with a painted board that says Binvengudo,

which means welcome in old French Provenal. TheDickersons house (below) dates to 1707. Laurel

roping adorns the picket fence and porch columns;

real pineapples serve as gatepost finials.

t the home of

Jack and Kate Dickerson, the holidays bring

out a festive, artistic flair that comes naturally

to this talented family of five.

There are a lot of creative juices going on

in our house, and everybodys got an idea

about what they like, says Jack, referring to

daughter Madeleine, 15, son Drake, 13, as well

as Jacks 31-year-old son from a previousmarriage, Giles, a graphic artist who comes

home for Christmas each year. Everyone plays

an instrument, draws, and paints.

As the familys decorating ringleader, Kate

ensures that their 300-year-old home in the

seacoast town of Hingham, Massachusetts,

receives special attention during the

holidays. Every year by December 6St.

Nicholas Daythe exterior of the historic

Georgian-style home is swagged with laurel

and windows are filled with candlelight.

Inside, all the colors, patterns, and paintedscenes are enhanced by simple, natural

decorations. Sprigs of evergreen, usually

snipped from the yard, are tucked into most

every room. A collection of topiaries provides

lots of graphic shapes. Unadorned ropes of

A


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BETTER HOMES & GARDENS DECEMBER 2003 189


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Set up in the living room, the Christmas tree is covered with

the blown glass and painted wood ornaments that Kate hascollected since childhood. The walls, upholstered in

coral-color silk, display a self-portrait that Madeleine made

when she was in second grade. Above the living rooms

second fireplace (far right) hangs a Greek lithograph the

Dickersons picked up during one of their frequent trips

to France. It is simply adorned with a laurel garland.

The chintz-covered sofa is one of a pair.


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OUR WHIMSICAL HOME



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bay laurel leaves accent light fixtures and artwork, and the bay leaf

motif references the Provenal style the Dickersons have so often observed

during their trips to France.

This house is easy to decorate for Christmas, says Kate, an

interior designer and decorative painter who has lavished hercreative energies on the house since she and Jacka graphic artist

and communications strategistmoved in 18 years ago. Despite the

houses architectural charms, the Dickersons were appalled at the tacky

wallpaper that covered the dining room walls. Two days after they

moved in, Kate started tearing the paper downand to her great

surprise found a 100-year-old mural underneath. The artistically inclined

couple took the discovery as a positive sign. After restoring the mural,

Kate and Jack went on to add cheerful color and their own painted flour-

ishes to almost every other wall, cupboard, and door in the house.

Kate remembered hearing that a red-and-green home looks good

all year, but especially at Christmas. Taking that advice to heart, she

and Jack painted the living room woodwork white but upholsteredthe walls in coral-color silk. The upholstery, drapes, and rugs share a

REFLECTS OUR FREE-SPIRITEDNATURE AND OUR PASSION

FOR DECORATIVE PAINTING.KATE DICKERSO

The Dickersons started their

kitchen design with blue-and-

white backsplash tiles (left)

purchased during their

honeymoon in Portugal. Kate

hand-painted all the cabinet

and drawer fronts. She wantedthe renovated kitchen to have

strong colors and motifs that

would remind them of the

French countryside. Installed

above the dining rooms

original paneling (right) is a

new greenhouse window full of

holiday topiaries and miniature

evergreen trees. On the upper

wall at left hangs one of Jacks

paintingsa Valentines Day

gift to Kate. Kate gave the

actual basement door (below)

the illusion of an exterior door

opening onto a path.


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raspberry-and-green color scheme. The dining rooms wainscoting and wood-

work is a very grayed-down green, while the master bedroom paneling is a tealish

blue-green. The breakfast room and kitchen woodwork, however, sport a vibrant

red. Red is a food color, says Kate. We cook a lot.This familys independent spirit and highly personal decorating style is indicative

of the architectural quirkiness of their old house. Doors are 1-inch thick, windows

contain antique glass, and the ceilings are made of horsehair plaster. While the

Dickersons have overlaid the architectural structure with their own colors, designs,

and traditions, theyve done so in a way that respects the past. Its been there for

so long, its much greater than we are, says Kate of the house. It feels like were

part of this wonderful continuum.

The fireplace wall in the master

bedroom is painted an ocean

blue-green, and the remaining

walls are covered in a trompeloeil wallpaper of shirred lace

and roses. The framed Biblical

proverb extolling the virtues of

a good wife was a playful

Christmas gift from Jack

to Kate.

MORE ABOUT DECORATING FOR THE SEASON,www.bhg.com/ornaments

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better homes & gardens christmas '03

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