Bianucci simple elegance

Slideshow: Tour this home

Interior and landscape designer Mark Bianucci approaches decorating for the holidays like a playwright. He creates the character and then the setting.

For this season, he's thinking English diplomat and Morocco. It's not a stretch for Bianucci, whose travels, proclivity for collecting and imagination provide ample inspiration.

The Chinese Chippendale chairs, Japanese screen and Buddha have been collected on his travels and haunts in antiques stores.

When it comes to the holidays, Bianucci, who owns A Studio in Scottsdale, applies the same principle he does to decorating any other time: less is more.

Put away your everyday collections and accessories and judiciously add candles, flowers and other decorations, such as a silver bowl filled with cranberries.

Bianucci creates a holiday mood simply: a live (always) Christmas tree, candles, fresh flowers, glitter and glow.

"I use silver, crystal and light for that glow factor," he says.

Because the holidays can be a frantic time for getting his customers' homes decorated, Bianucci keeps it simple for his own two-bedroom Scottsdale condo without diluting the festive factor.

And if he stages his holiday theme around character and plot, he makes entertaining his decorating focal point.

For instance, a Christmas dinner for family and friends is tradition. The table is set in both the dining room and the kitchen in advance. All serving pieces are ready, along with party favors.

Bianucci uses lights, sparkle, ribbon, greenery, fresh flowers and seasonal decorations, such as jeweled trees and ornaments.

He fills a crystal bowl with a strand of holiday lights. He's not afraid to use white, silver and gold rather than the traditional colors of red and green.

And touches such as holiday hand towels and a small vase of flowers in the powder room take the holiday spirit into every corner of the home without overdoing it.

Bianucci is a stickler for a live tree because it guarantees a natural, fresh pine scent. It's why he always burns mesquite wood in his fireplace (given it's not a no-burn day).

Those aromas are as important in creating a festive atmosphere as are color and music, he says.

This year, the tree is decorated with silver, glittery ribbon and balls with touches of caramel and green.

With a fire glowing in the family- room fireplace, candles lighted and the diplomat home from his travels, Bianucci is ready for the holidays.

Reach the reporter at susan.felt@arizonarepublic.com and (602) 444-8246.

Landscape and interior designer Mark Bianucci and one of his two his two Cavalier King Charles spaniels, Grace, warm themselves by a mesquite wood fire he tries to keep burning in the fireplace of his Scottsdale home during the holidays.