Diplomacy at Home for the Holidays: Natural Home Decorates Blair House and U.S. State Department

Natural Home magazine is proudly participating in the Magazine Publishers of America’s Magazine Holiday Design Showcase at the State Department’s Harry S. Truman Building and the Blair House, the president’s guest house across from the White House. Natural Homedecorated the Blair House’s Jackson Conference Room and Jackson Entry; in the Harry S. Truman Building, we decorated the Monroe Room and shared the honor of decorating the Adams Room with sister publication Mother Earth News. The decorations were presented at a December 7 reception hosted by Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton honoring the families of diplomats unable to leave their posts for the holiday season.

Natural Home worked with our talented designers–Washington D.C.’s J.D. Ireland Interiors and Denver’s Associates III–to honor the beautiful and historic spaces while conveying our own values of sustainability, artistry and natural beauty. Our simple design honored the beautiful spaces while displaying eco-friendly, handmade, fair trade and natural festive holiday décor.

We incorporated handmade elements we’ve featured in the magazine, including citrus-slice ornaments, reusable gift wrap and decoupaged vintage ornaments. Handmade felted wool doves alluded to the State Department’s goal of international peace and diplomacy.

Christmas trees–traditionally a symbol of peace and unity–also played a large role in our design. Fifteen live trees from nearby Merrifield Garden Center were bedecked with LED lights and handmade or recycled ornaments. We were honored to decorate the Blair House’s traditional 9-foot tree–visible to passersby on Pennsylvania Avenue–with natural quartz crystals and LED lights. We also made a few trees of our own: Our newsprint Christmas tree garnered a lot of attention, as did our recycled cardboard trees, “planted” in terra cotta planters.

Natural Home‘s design incorporated many fair trade and reclaimed items. Reuse supports our philosophy of light-on-the-earth decorating, while fair trade helps promote the well being of artisans in countries across the globe–many from countries whose diplomats may visit these spaces during the holiday season. Some of our favorite companies–our main sponsor, Viva Terra,  Ten Thousand Villages and Rawganique–provided artisan-made, fair trade décor to help us create luxurious yet conscientious spaces.

We were honored to participate in this monumental project with our sister publication, Mother Earth News; Martha Stewart Living; This Old House; Traditional Home; and Better Homes and Gardens. We thank the Magazine Publishers of America for inviting us to participate.