Winter Wonderland

By MARK PAGE for the Missoulian
Photos by KURT WILSON of the Missoulian

Jennifer Nave

796 Locus

Walking into Jennifer Nave’s home at the base of Mount Jumbo during the holiday season is a lot like taking an afternoon walk along Rattlesnake Creek after a light, sparkling snowfall.
“When I’m out hiking or cross-country skiing, I just really like that sparkle. It’s peaceful,” Nave said. “I wanted to bring that into my home.”
Nave’s holiday decorating theme is “winter wonderland,” and she has spent lots of time collecting bits and pieces of nature to pull it all together. She’s been picking up pine cones, acorns and branches – to name a few – to give her house the outdoor ambiance of a fresh winter’s day.
These decorations are not supposed to give the house a rustic feel, she said, but rather an elegant woodsy look. She takes the pine cones, for example, and sprays them with sparkle to give more of a stylish appearance.
Outside her home, Nave plans to keep it simple, with white lights and a tree on the porch. The elegance is to be seen upon entering. One space will be reserved for fun, however. Her 4-year-old son’s room will be adorned with colorful decorations, such as Santa Claus and candy canes.
To get their Christmas tree for the living room, Nave plans to go even deeper into the woods than for all those little things. It’s part of the family’s tradition, she said, to head way down Highway12 and haul out a tree with son Joe and husband Jim.
“We make a big family outing,” she said.
Last year, they got their tree, then pulled their sled up to Jerry Johnson Hot Springs to take a family soak.
In addition to the nature’s decor, Nave will use old family ornaments that once belonged to her grandmother to give the place a more vintage feel. She said they are all very pretty and shiny, such as glass tree ornaments, and will complement the winter feel.
She has also been amassing a collection of vintage decorations of her own from antiques stores and garage sales.
Ever since attending college in Philadelphia, Nave has been into decorating for Christmas, and she now has a decorating business of her own, Houseproud, which preps homes for the real estate market.
Her home has also been open to the public before. Home and Garden Television came to her house last year when doing a comparison of home styles in different cities across the United States.
“They were trying to see what $300,000 gets you in Missoula versus Chicago versus Charlotte,” she said.
Nave’s husband bought the home as a fixer-upper when he was in college. It now includes an addition so the whole family can fit comfortably.
As for the decorations, they will be up for the Holiday Home Tour, but down the day after Christmas.
“I’m always really excited to have it go up, but it’s always nice to have it go down, and get back to normal,” Nave said.

Mark Page is an intern at the Missoulian and a journalism student at the University of Montana. He can be reached at (406) 523-5240.