Simply StyleIn

Decorate your home for the holidays with inexpensive grocery store finds

Words that would put a smile on the face of even the most bah-humbugged over the holidays: "Help yourself to some eggnog, we have spiked and not spiked."

That was the greeting given by Pacific Home proprietors Aubrey Yee and Jenn Johnson as they welcomed guests to their most recent StyleIn workshop, in which interior designer Barbara Suzuki presented ideas for fuss-free holiday decorating.

It's a timely topic, par for the monthly workshops which began in August to celebrate the store's first anniversary, said Johnson. The 5:30-7 p.m. sessions, held the second Wednesday each month, offer an opportunity to turn off HGTV, step outside the living room and into the store at 1115 Young St. for style tips to perk up the home.

"Usually, there's about 30 minutes of demonstration, then the audience can ask questions and mingle" with the featured guest.

Suzuki, owner of Room to Room, said it's not hard to go beyond basics of holiday home decor and look like you actually labored -- without actually having to sweat.

She connected immediately with the crowd, sharing how she, too, felt the holidays' impending ambush while en route to the workshop.

"I was running late so just made a stop at the supermarket and picked up a few things from there."

It's a testimony to her first tip: Hassle-free doesn't just happen.

"If you're at Costco buying your roast, they have wonderful flowers; all the markets sell flowers these days," said Suzuki, who started her business at home eight years ago before making the leap to a shop space on Young Street last year.

"At the grocery store, when you're picking up things for dinner, look to see what you can buy right there to use around the home; don't constrain yourself."

In her hands, cranberries, apples, pears, orchids and chrysanthemums from the local market were not merely fruit and flowers, but performed dual tasks as festive centerpieces and place card holders for the buffet, dining and coffee tables. Inexpensive orchids from Longs can be placed in a simple, tall glass vase, their roots disguised by pouring cranberries into the vase.

More suggestions:

» The opening made by slicing into a pear's top can hold a piece of paper nicely, making for a unique place card holder.

» Chrysanthemums with their stems cut short and placed in votives lined up in a row make a minimalist centerpiece statement.

» And shredded brown paper, sometimes used for stuffing Easter baskets, nicely camouflage those plastic liners placed in ceramic pots.

The audience, seated on plush showroom sample couches, ottomans and chairs, showed their approval with gentle clapping between bites of pupu and sips of wine.

Suzuki's all for short cuts and illusion. An organza wire ribbon was cut in half, with both ends strategically placed at opposite ends of a pine centerpiece to give the appearance of being completely strung through. "It gives you a sense of ribbon without having to use a lot of it."

Something to keep in mind for next year: The spirit of holiday decorating begins in October with Halloween, so play off fall colors, the rusts and greens. "Your investment will take you to Thanksgiving. Then you just have to update for Christmas and New Year."

Other suggestions from Suzuki:

» "Use the containers you have in your home. Flowers look wonderful in teacups and unique bowls you already have. Using these offers more of your personality, making it all the more special. If you think it's pretty, everyone else will."

» "Pick a color and run with it. The flowers don't have to be different colors. For Christmas if you can't get red, white flowers work just as well."

» "It doesn't have to be expensive, but remember fresh makes all the difference. When something's fresh it's so much prettier. Mixing fresh flowers with the faux makes it more pleasant. For instance, in the artificial pine centerpiece here, we mixed in fresh roses from the chill-box at the supermarket." (The roses were placed in plastic bud-holders filled with water and inserted into the centerpiece.)

» "Christmas dining table centerpieces can be moved to dress the coffee table to make room for a New Year's centerpiece."

The grocery store price for all this table-top glamour: $60.

ABOUT 25 people on average attend the monthly workshops, making it their destination for the evening. Others just drop by for something else, see what's about to take place (along with the wine and pupu), and decide to stay.

That was the case for customer Donna Burns, who brought friend Debbie Hemmingway, a floral designer, just to window-shop for ocean-themed items.

"I didn't know they did this once a month," said Burns, who owns Facelift, a graphic, interior and events design company. "I'll have to find out when the next one is."

Burns enjoyed the ease with which Suzuki put all the design elements together, but especially liked the use of fruit.

"It was sophisticated yet not pricey, and you'd never know that from the result. She really pulled it off," said Burns.

This month, store owners Johnson and Yee are putting the workshop on hiatus. Between the shopping, parties and everything else that needs to get done during the holidays, it'll be one less thing on a to-do list to have to cross off.

"But don't worry," said Johnson, "we're picking it back up in January."