Whatever inspiration you’re after…. a new recipe to wow the family, a little bit of help making the perfect bed, styling a sideboard, some lifestyle articles or what’s new at Provincial, our Journal will bring you stories to brighten your day.
Katie Sargent, a renowned, Melbourne-based interior designer, is widely recognised for her ability to create meaningful and inspiring living spaces for her clients. She shares a very similar ethos with Provincial Home Living, not following trends but taking inspiration from the past to create classic looks that stand the test of time. Katie has successfully incorporated many of Provincial's pieces into her projects.
We introduced her to you in another Journal article, when she used an extensive selection of our products for her beautiful wedding reception.
Now she has chosen some of our beautiful Christmas products to decorate her Christmas table, her tree and her home, and we’re sure you’ll agree – they all look beautiful. It’s always exciting to see how our products transition from the store to someone’s home – especially someone as talented as Katie. She’s chosen a timeless theme of natural, green and white with a touch of gold – and we love our Monroe Dining Chairs set around her table – they really complement the theme. Her careful layering of our Lauren Dinner Plates, colourful paper plates, highlighted with our natural and forest green Hayman napery looks so fresh and welcoming. Her attention to detail is highlighted with her choice of our glass candle holders, tied with Christmas ribbon and brushy trees on the table which would look just as beautiful any time of the year.
We had a chat with Katie about Christmas, family traditions both old and new and how she’ll be celebrating Christmas this year.
What does Christmas mean to you?
Christmas to me is all about family and food! As I’ve moved through the various stages of my life it has meant different things and takes on a different format, but family and food have always been at the core.
Do you have any Christmas traditions?
When I was growing up, we went to mass on Christmas Eve each year which was very exciting when we were young. While it had a religious element, for us as children it was mainly about the nativity scene, catching up with other children – and being allowed to stay up late.
Another tradition as children was our Christmas present hunt. It was a bit like an Easter egg hunt. Our present from Father Christmas – and there was only one each – was hidden around the garden and we had a Christmas present hunt with all our cousins – it was a lot of fun. I have no idea how that tradition even started.
We do have a current tradition that after eating and clearing the table, having saved all the gorgeous wrapping paper and ribbons from the presents, we have a hat-making competition. So, with scissors and sticky tape provided, a timer is set for 15 minutes, and everyone gets to work to create a masterpiece. It’s a lot of fun and provides a lot of laughter – and of course, you have to wear your hat!
Since having children, we are starting new traditions – Charlie is 2, so we are excited about this Christmas – he has reacted so beautifully to the Christmas tree we put up for this shoot. He was so animated and excited – it was so lovely to see. Olive will be 8 months old at Christmas, so she probably won’t be as excited, but we’ll take lots of photos to show her when she’s older.
What do you do on Christmas Day?
We make the most of catching up with family, having a relaxed day and enjoying good food, we do Kris Kringle for the adults and a few thoughtful presents for the children, avoiding plastic, and disposable items in favour of traditional wooden toys and beautiful books.
Each year is very different – sometimes it is a large extended family catchup and sometimes smaller. As with anyone in a relationship, it’s a balancing act of sharing Christmas – one year with my family and the next year with my husband’s family.
Do you have a menu planned?
This year I don’t have to plan the menu because we are going to Queensland to have Christmas with my in-laws, but I know it will be a relaxed, beachy Christmas with lots of seafood.
Stylist - @katie_sargent_design
