Friday, December 4

2009 NC Governor's Mansion Decor


The tree in the Gentlemen's Parlour; very hard to photograph. It has a few imperfections, but over all, it's the best tree we have had in this location. My favorite of the three trees (and this photo does not do it justice.) The reds and greens are brighter and more prominent than they appear here. It holds cardinals, dogwood branches, bird's nests, sea shells, nuts and other items pertinent to North Carolina.

The bottom third of the tree above.


Rhonda did this arrangement and deer grouping; a winter wonderland. Below is a close-up.





Mel's mantel arrangements are usually gorgeous and this year is no exception. Cardinals, birch branches, seasonal foliage and a bit of glittery garland combine to make a lovely presentation. The Governor said of it this morning....."It's beautiful without being too overdone."


This mantel is in the Ladies' Parlour. This year, there is no specific theme to the decor; just lush elegance.


I made this low arrangement for the marble console table that sits behind the sofa and the Ladies' Parlour.


A side view of the grand staircase, with simple, lit garland and white and silvery bows.


Our crew: Rhonda, Billy,Sandra,Mel, Irma, Earlene and Judy/kenju. Billy is Mel's brother, Sandra is Billy's wife, and Earlene is a long-time Day family friend. Irma is the House Manager at the Mansion. A few people were not present for the photo; notably Pat Day, Mel's other sister-in-law, and some of their friends from Roxboro, NC. We had fewer people helping this year and we completed the entire mansion and grounds in a record three days from start to finish! I didn't get to photograph any of the exterior decor yet, but I hope to next week. It consists of fresh wreaths, decorated simply with red velvet bows, garland and bows on lamp posts - but it is beautiful.

I was too tired to process the photos when I got home today, in time for my usual posting at 8pm. I sat down in my recliner at 8:00pm to watch TV and promptly fell deeply asleep for three hours! Enjoy; there will be a few more photos tomorrow.

18 comments:

Tardevil said...

I've lived here 42 of my 43 yrs, and have never been inside the mansion, so it was nice to see the Christmas decor. I had forgotten that you worked for a florist. Is it Fallons?

Grannymar said...

I was glad to see that you had two men to help with the heavy lifting. I often wondered how you managed with the weight of the larger arrangements and also getting the trees just in the position you wanted.

kenju said...

Grannymar, we don't have to mess with the trees except to decorate them. The trustees bring the trees in, set them up and light them; then our crew decorates. They also do most of the heavy lifting when we need help.

Tabor said...

I did not realize it took such a large crew. I thought you did most with the help of one or two others!

Arkansas Patti said...

Gosh you all are good. What a lot of work you did. I loved the staircase.
Glad you had trustees to help with the heavy stuff.
Hope you can rest now.

LL Cool Joe said...

Everything looks wonderful! I'm not surprised you were tired. That's a great deal of work!

Congratulations

Nell Jean said...

I forget to come and comment and tell you how I love the Christmas decors, all of them.

Wonder if we could move to NC and DH could run for Governor so I could live in that mansion? A better plan might be just to sneak in at Christmas, like the people who used to spend the night in Department stores, or was that just in the movies?

sage said...

Another good job for my home state's governor! I have gotten use to looking forward to this annual post!

Pat said...

You must be exhausted but what a delight the arrangements are. The tree must take an age and you must have to be so sure- fingered. I'd be a nightmare.

Evil Twin's Wife said...

Wow! I'm envious of how many ornaments you can get on the trees! It looks spectacular!

Gilly said...

You have made that Mansion just so beautiful - lush and gorgeous!

I do love those deer, wherever did they come from, and what are they made of? I would love a couple of much, much smaller ones for my hall!

(They'd have to be very small, sort of window sill size, I think!)

Angie said...

Gorgeous. You really show off how tall you are in this phot. LOL

Nancy said...

Beautiful work, Judy, as usual.

You and the rest of your decorating group should be very proud of yourselves!

rosemary said...

Those reindeer have some pretty humongous antlers.....love all of the photos in particular the look of the staircase.

Dianne said...

I love the deer grouping and the staircase is so beautiful

everything is beautiful

and it's so nice to see a photo of all the artists too

Looking to the Stars said...

Beautiful work. You are very talented!

Kay Dennison said...

Utterly fantastic!!!! What a gifted lot you all are!!!!!

OldLady Of The Hills said...

It's always such a pleasure to see what you all do at The Mansion! No wonder you are so tired Judy...! ALL of it in Three Days! BRAVO to you all! IT IS FABULOUS!