Seriously Sappy

Posted by ReadyMade  
Written by Jessica Herman, Photography by Bryan McCay, Styling by Kohli Flick

A window designer shares a big-impact decorating project to add some green around your house this season.

Every single year you can count on eggnog, decadent feasts and, thanks to people like Baltimore-based designer Kohli Flick, inspiring storefront displays. So it only made sense to call upon the visual merchandising magician for a decor trick of the trade.

Flick started experimenting with printmaking, sculpture, and fiber art as an environmental design student at the Maryland Institute College of Art. But it was the three years of hands-on experience as a visual manager for Anthropologie that gave the 29-year-old the confidence and know-how to, for example, build a staircase out of hardbound book covers and outfit a ceiling with aluminum buckets suspended from twine.

“A lot of display is smoke and mirrors,” Flick says. “Figuring out how to rig something that looks real but isn’t, and isn’t going to kill someone if it falls over, is a big part of it.” Now as an assistant manager of home decor shop Red Tree (redtreebaltimore .com), Flick spends most days reinventing the store environment by painting picket fences on front windows, converting colanders into light fixtures, and making snow globes out of vintage jars, water, glycerin, and glitter. “I like being able to tell a story,” Flick says of her designs. On her days off, she hits antique and junk shops for fabrics, letterpress drawers, hat molds, and utilitarian and rustic objects that she can reinvent as jewelry display cases or lamp bases.

For as much work that goes into Flick’s designs, it’s often a simple idea that stops shoppers in their tracks. Case in point: Last year in December, Flick filled the entire Red Tree store with fragrant balsam fir saplings planted in mason jars. “They look playful and quirky—a little Charlie Brown-ish,” she says. “It’s a nice way to bring in the festive feeling without completely hitting you over the head with it.” Follow the instructions on the opposite page to re-create the idea for use as a quick home decor project or a housewarming gift that can be enjoyed indoors all winter long—and, come spring, out in the yard.

See the window display that inspired this project here.