A Naturally Girly Christmas

By LORI GRANNIS of the Missoulian
Photos by KURT WILSON of the Missoulian

Kim Arnot

339 Mount Avenue

If Christmas were a place, come December, Kim Arnot’s place would surely be in Paris.
Arnot, who just purchased and remodeled a two-bedroom 1950s bungalow across from the Missoula Memorial Rose Garden, loves the French design sensibility, and plans on melding that with what she describes as touches of the “fairer sex” for this year’s Holiday Home Tour.
“I just love using girlie-type ornaments and fabrics for holiday decorating,” Arnot said recently.
But she also loves turning unexpected, everyday items – fresh, fragrant snow-white lilies, pale green bay leaves and assorted ribbons – into unique, festive expressions of warmth in a holiday-inspired room.
With one foot in the living room of a Parisian pied-a-terre, somewhere between the late 1800s and now, and another in the showroom of “Red Rooster,” her downtown store, Arnot’s refurbished bungalow is a lesson from the pages of French design.
“It’s a lot Christian Liaigre,” said Arnot of the famous French designer known for his clean-line furniture and an eclectic aesthetic that mixes fixtures like velvet drapes with shed deer antlers.
In a recent interview with Interior Design Magazine, Arnot’s French design idol said he sees “little difference between fashion and interiors.”
Neither does Arnot, whose new home is as impeccably dressed as her Higgins Avenue corner store.
Weathered credenzas and pleated ottomans characterize Arnot’s new living room, where shades of gray – La Paloma gray walls, ashy velveteen curtains and textured upholstery – create a monotone palette set off with ornate objets trouvé (found objects), such as small crystal chandeliers, baskets, nests and figurines.
These tone-on-tone walls, curtains and settees are set off by controlled splashes of color placed sparingly in the corners of the room. It’s a subtle peek into Arnot’s “up-the-sleeve” intimate design sensibility.
Artists such as Jennifer Li, who is known for her unusual use of vibrant primary colors as backdrops, to somber characters painted in the Dutch master style of realism and Betsey Hurd, known for her impressionistic view of pasture animals, give the room life.
Arnot is a self-admitted Francophile, so just as the design and palette of her new digs are the embodiment of years of buying trips to France, so too will Christmas be a Parisian yuletide.
“I just started yesterday to unearth ornaments I’ll be using to design my home,” Arnot said. “And it’s exciting.”
For this year’s holiday tour, the upscale home products boutique owner will decorate her home – from entry to exit – with cedar garlands, flowers, bowls of holiday ornaments and vintage European touches that are sure to make a trip across the pond wholly unnecessary.
“I just love using the everyday – like bowls filled with ornaments,” said Arnot. A home, she said, with all its textures and aromas, should naturally evoke sensory memories. It’s what she hopes others will feel when walking through her door.
Arnot made the decision to place her new home on the 2008 Holiday Home Tour because it helped speed the remodeling taking place. But it’s also “for a great cause,” she said.
Proceeds will benefit both the Watson Children’s Shelter and Missoula Youth Homes, and will come from the $10 ticket price for the two-day event.
Arnot, who said she will have wine and a few select goodies available during the tour, is mostly just excited to meet the community.
“I’ve never opened my home to the public before,” she said. “But I’m excited since Christmas is about friends and family.”

Missoulian reporter Lori Grannis may be reached at 523-5251 or lori.grannis@lee.net.