NM media manager Mackay Boynton is renowned for his decorating gusto. On any day of the year, his Dallas cottage displays fashion tomes, vintage paperweights, tortoise shell accessories and brass boxes, just to list off a few collections. For Christmas, the estate sale aficionado and collector of curious objects extends his curated eye to trimming the tree and decking the halls. It takes year-round forethought to achieve this level of holiday glory.
An Italian blown glass cowboy from Neiman Marcus.
A grand tree anchors his front room, densely decorated with lights and delicate ornaments. Boynton has been collecting ornaments for years, some from vacations, others treasured gifts, and many from lunchtime shopping stops at the store. ”A lot of them have personal meaning,” Boynton says. ”Any time I see an antique ornament or something at an estate sale or a store I like, I buy it. These Italian ornaments from Neiman Marcus, I love. There is just something about them that makes me happy!”
Boynton’s tree-trimming technique: lights first, followed with favorites, and finished with fillers. “I always put all of the themed ones on first, then I go and fill in with all of the colored balls.”
Under the tree await even more gleaming delights – presents! Boynton wrapped up the majority of his holiday shopping over the summer. So as soon as the tree went up, the gifts, all perfectly packaged in vintage department store wrapping paper, took their places below. “We have been buying vintage wrapping paper by the bolt for the past 10 years,” he says.
Seasonal gifts from nature can be seen throughout the home. ”All of the pine cones and the antlers came from a trip to Colorado or from friends’ ranches,” Boynton says noting that some of the larger antlers are Elk.
“I love the mix of the colors that the magnolia, greenery and berries bring combined with the vintage seventies brass reindeer and porcelain Chinese vases,” he says.”It is natural and refined at the same time.”
Fresh red berries garnish orchid arrangements and bundles of poinsettias in an ornate pot serve as a grand centerpiece in the dining room.
Shop holiday ornaments and decor at stores and NeimanMarcus.com
