Portland designer adds handmade sparkle to White House holiday decor

Portland interior designer Kelley Harrington had a spotlight assignment this year: Help decorate the White House for the holidays.

She flew to Washington, D.C., made ornaments for two 18-foot-tall Christmas trees in the State Dining Room and on Dec. 2, she and 300 other volunteers were praised by First Lady Jill Biden.

“This would not be possible without your work,” Biden said. “It’s been incredible to watch all of you transform this space … and you traded time with families for hours of gluing.”

The White House holiday theme for 2024 is “A Season of Peace and Light.” The festive display includes 83 live Christmas trees with nearly 10,000 feet of ribbon, more than 28,000 ornaments, over 2,200 paper doves and some 165,000 lights used on wreaths, garlands and other displays.

Harrington, who spent three days decorating the State Dining Room with a small group of volunteers, said embellishments are large but appropriate to the size, architecture and elegance of the White House.

Most of the whimsical decorations were made with paper products, which coincidentally Harrington uses at her home. Paper garlands that were stitched together by her late mother stretch from the corners of Harrington’s dining room to meet at the chandelier.

“I am sentimental about handmade ornaments,” said Harrington. “Holiday decorating doesn’t have to be all glitz and glamor.”

She prefers homemade decorations that reflect the history, love and participation of family members, “so what we were focused on in the State Dining Room was right up my alley,” she said.

Everything about the White House experience, she said, “was a constant ‘pinch me’ moment.”

When she met Jill Biden, Harrington was wearing a classic black dress her late husband gave her on their first Christmas as a married couple 36 years ago. She wore her mother’s earrings and a bracelet her late sister gave her.

“I brought them with me,” she said.

As a residential interior designer-decorator, Harrington recognized the significance of the antiques and other furnishings in the White House. Silver-plated sconces in the State Dining Room were gilded during Jacqueline Kennedy’s 1961 White House restoration.

Harrington’s group created laser-cut red paper shades for the sconces. They also added velvet rick rack trim to six-foot-long wide ribbons to trail down on both sides of the fireplace mantel.

In August, Harrington filled out an online application to be a volunteer holiday decorator at whitehouse.gov. She was among about 3,000 other applicants from across the U.S. who have a wide range of careers and decorating experience.

She arrived in Washington, D.C. on Wednesday, Nov. 27, to avoid traveling the next day, which was Thanksgiving. She spent that holiday visiting museums and monuments. “I had not been to D.C. in 42 years, so I had a lot of catching up to do,” she said.

Harrington worked at the White House that Friday, Saturday and Sunday, and attended the reception with Biden on Monday. It was a whirlwind, said Harrington, who had toured the White House once, in 1982.

Does she recommend people apply? “Absolutely,” she said. Just be prepared to work hard, be on your feet a good part of the day for three days in a row, join a team and be open to direction from the design leads, she added.

“It was heartwarming to be part of something so joyous and positive with people from all over the country,” she said. “Our commonality was our love of decorating, and being part of creating holiday magic for everyone who lives, works and visits the historic White House.”