Poppy Barley Showroom + Tips For Modern Christmas Décor

Poppy Barley's first-ever Holiday Collection features shoes that are fun, bold and feminine, and leather accessories (The Wristlet and the Perfect Handbag) that are luxurious, functional and classic. To bring the collection to life, we had visions of festive party-goers dancing in our heads.

Following our approach of – let awesome people be awesome – we connected with three women we admire (a lot!) to design our holiday showroom: an event designer, photographer and designer/hand-letterer.

It was just a few months ago that Christine Shankowsky officially announced the upcoming launch of Just Bella Bash – an event design and styling business that mixes her talents of design, parties and décor. We were one of her first clients.

I love working with Christine because her mind works in mysteriously delightful ways – creative, DIY-amazing and detail-oriented. Plus, I love how Christine takes charge and gets things done all while being fun and kind! Allow me to say with full confidence – hire Christine to design and style your next event.

Christine immediately understood the desired feeling for our showroom: luxurious, fun, festive, warm, clean, modern, classic. She described the theme as a cozy, luxurious home hit by a crazy fun holiday party with beautiful, fun script, and pops of strewn tinsel and confetti.

When it came to creating the said beautiful script (inspired by our new Lace-Up Flat), it was all about getting Justine Ma. She makes hand-lettering look effortless. Justine collaborated with our Brand Design Manager, Monica, to create custom stair decals (Oh, the weather outside is frightful!), and frames, as well as floor, window and wall decals. Then, she channeled her free-hand genius to casually write holiday messages next to our shoes for the photo shoot. (At this, we marvelled.) Big thanks to Christine for stepping in to be our shoe model, too!

The gorgeous photos of our Holiday Collection are the work of Andrea Hanki. She’s a self-proclaimed merry-maker who takes photos that tell stories (so we couldn't think of a better person to shoot it!). Her photos make me want to jump in the scene and throw confetti everywhere – they’re bursting with energy. It’s not surprising that Andrea and Christine have partnered to start MADESOCIAL co., a modern craft workshop that delivers a whole lot of party.

Below, Christine breaks down the creative behind our holiday showroom and provides tips for creating your own modern-day Christmas décor.

The Colour + Tone

Christine: The Poppy Barley team/brand is already so stylish, fun, and classy that the décor needed to be just as awesome as they are! I wanted it to feel bright and festive, but not too "Christmas’y" (read: easy on the red and green!). The vibe is luxurious and stylish, but ready to party! To bring in that modern, yet luxurious look, I kept a neutral palette of gold, silver with bold pops of black and white. Inspired by those gorgeous ribbon-like laces on the holiday flats, Justine Ma hand lettered the most beautiful scripted artwork that tied the whole look together! All these elements (and an amazing team!) created that fun, festive feeling perfect for bringing in the holidays in style!

A Modern Holiday Mantel

Christine: There’s something about the holidays that just makes you want to curl up around a fireplace. For a modern spin (or if you don’t have a fireplace), try hanging a floating shelf and flank with bold paint or wallpaper to create a faux mantel. It’s the perfect spot to place décor or some beautiful holiday greenery. Fabloomosity created the most beautiful mix of traditional and unexpected greens in this garland - they look (and smell) amazing! Meanwhile, Justine created a series of gorgeous gift wrapping tags with holiday messages in script - which will actually be available for purchase in the Poppy Barley Showroom over the holidays!

Hot Chocolate Station

Christine: Pass me a cup of cheer! I love Justine’s bold and beautiful artwork above this hot chocolate station. Create your own with some hot chocolate and all the fixings - marshmallows, cinnamon sticks, candy canes, caramel bits, whipping cream or even some cute birch straws as stir sticks! (Psst! I heard a rumour Poppy Barley is hosting "Hot Chocolate Saturdays", starting Nov. 21 - get in there!)

Wristlet Display

Christine: Don’t be afraid to think outside the box when it comes to décor! In addition to the hanging leather wristlets, we topped the display shelves with a DIY gold garland adorned with leaves of Poppy Barley leather to add that perfect, sparkly touch!

Instagram Wall Décor

Christine: This Instagram wall has always been one of my fave spots in the PB office. Sometimes you don’t want to distract too much from existing décor, so I hung some sparkly, icicle ornaments on metallic thread for a subtle-but-still-festive touch.

Table Display Details (pop! clink! confetti!)

Christine: Clearly, the shoes are the stars of the Poppy Barley Showroom so they needed a party table all their own. I’m calling this the "shoe dessert table" - beautiful glass displays, sparkly lights, confetti - all the touches for a perfect dessert table (the shoes are the icing on the cake). "Pop", "fizz", "clink", "cheers" acrylic confetti created by Justine Ma finish off the festive look.

Trees, lights & fur

Christine: The holidays are the perfect time to bring the outdoors in! Instead of a traditional tree, I lined up various sizes of birch LED trees - it’s like a sparkly forest! The clean lines keep things clean and modern, but still bright and fun. Fur and leather adds to the cozy factor like a “snowy” ground (and hide the boring bases of the trees, too).

The Team

Thank you to the amazing team that helped pull our vision all together. From left: Christine from Just Bella, Danielle from Fabloomosity, Andrea from Andrea Hanki Photography, and Justine Ma from Justine Ma Design.