Comfort & Joy

This Newport Beach homeowner transforms her coastal chic home for the holiday season with greenery, glitz and glam.

- Jessie Yount

This coastal cottage has a lot in common with the Christmas season: Homeowner and style guru Claudia Reese, better known as Fabiana on her Instagram @ciaofabiana, designed the home to evoke feelings of warmth and serenity. So during the holidays, Claudia doesn’t run from her cozy blue-and-white seaside aesthetic. Instead, she embraces it.

FESTIVE REFRESH

The year-round furniture—wooden tables and patterned chairs, among other pieces—is transformed with a few key and conscious design choices. Red-and-white décor pillows and throws adorn the modern-style chairs, while the shelves trade summer décor for winter splendors.

“Of course, I’ll put away décor—like a picture of a garden—that doesn’t make sense with the theme,” Claudia says. “But it’s also nice to leave some year-round décor out, especially items like my woven basics, which add a natural, earthy texture to the home.”

Balance is key, and that rule applies to the color palette as well. While Claudia maintains a blue-and-white palette, she also introduces greens, creams and just a dash of red to suggest a cheerful occasion. In keeping with the uniqueness of the home, Claudia uses a sprinkling of turquoise gift wrap and pink flowers too.

ENTERTAINING ESSENTIALS

While paying attention to the overall ambience of her home, Claudia also considers her smaller décor pieces—family heirlooms, flea-market finds, vintage treasures—to strike the right balance between modernity and tradition.