By MAGGIE GALEHOUSE HOUSTON CHRONICLE
A hurricane and a recession could easily spread a serious case of the bah, humbugs this season.
But not for the Christmas fanatics. For these self-taught decorators who transform their homes into holiday havens thick with Santas, ornaments and things that go blink in the night, Christmas always arrives early and stays late.
A tale of two Michaels
For every Christmas addict there is an enabler. And between the months of October and December, this pretty much describes Michael Briden and Mike Lowery.
“I have the inspiration, and he has the installation,” Briden deadpans.
Briden is the collector, favoring glass ornaments by Christopher Radko and Santa figurines by Brian Kidwell and Jim Shore. He decorates each of the holiday trees in the Heights bungalow he and Lowery share — no small job, since there’s at least one tree in every downstairs room.
Lowery does the traditional “dad” jobs: hangs garland around the window frames, puts the toppers on each tree before Briden starts to decorate, picks up ornaments on his way home from hunting and fishing trips.
Every year, the two transform their handsome bungalow with sage green walls into a holiday wonderland where first-time guests are hard-pressed to focus on anything but the dé cor. As Lowery says, “Christmas has definitely exploded in this house.”
It helps that the pair co-own Another Place in Time, a garden center in the Heights that sells some of the decorative items and ornaments Briden collects.
Briden, who is also a loan operations manager at Integrity Bank, admits that he is particular about the quality and presentation of his collections.
He likes his Santas to look friendly, not scary. He enjoys creating new vignettes with his Christmas ornaments; this year, Santa’s Sweet Shop appears in his kitchen window, with a jar of gingerbread men and cookies and glass candies. And each of his Christmas trees has a theme, from the hunting and fishing tree in Lowery’s room, to the Grinch tree in the bathroom, to the slim and showy “Feathered Friends” tree in the family room.
The show-stopper is “The Night Before Christmas” tree, which gathers Santas, reindeers, gifts and all the usual Christmas Eve suspects.
When one goes to so much trouble to create a Christmas atmosphere, it’s a shame not to share it. Briden estimates that he and Lowery host half a dozen social gatherings every December so that friends can see the house.
As thrilled as Briden is with this year’s décor, he is always in the market for something new. Gazing at his animal tree, he ticks off the rarer ornaments that adorn it. A buffalo. A rhinoceros. A skunk. A giraffe. But he can’t help but notice what he’s missing.
“I don’t have a platypus,” Briden says, “and I don’t have any dinosaurs.”
The holiday decorating gene is strong with Jennifer Emshoff. Growing up in Klein with a mother who’s a part-time interior designer, she learned early that every holiday deserves festive dé cor and special dishes.
So when Emshoff, a senior contract analyst with El Paso Exploration & Production, moved into her Eastwood bungalow in 2001, it was a fait accompli that the holidays would be well-represented.
Her Christmas decorating schedule begins the day after Thanksgiving at her childhood home, when her mom starts pulling out her own Christmas finery. Emshoff is always on hand to assist.
“I give her all day Friday,” she says, “then I come back and start working on my own house. It takes two full days for the inside and then a night to put up the lights on the outside.”
This year presented a new challenge for Emshoff, who recently transformed her bright blue and yellow living space into a richer, ranchy style, with dark leather and rustic touches. This meant a new backdrop for Christmas.
Dominating the living room is a full-size white tree with shiny, multicolored ornaments, many with a Texas theme. On the floor of the dining room, ranch meets Christmas in a pair of ceramic cowboy boots stuffed with holly and red berries. The formal dining table is set for Christmas dinner and a long kitchen counter that usually serves as the bar has become a winter village.
Read full article: For some, Christmas is more than a tree, gifts
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