SEASONED WITH SPARKLE

A BATON ROUGE HOME ILLUMINATES THE CHRISTMAS SPIRIT USING ELEGANT LIGHTNESS

- KRISSA ROSSBUND

Santa rarely starts his gifting from scratch. His delivery of presents is usually guided by the wish lists of well-behaved boys and girls with a smidge of creativity thrown in to surprise.

For the Baton Rouge home of Alayna Smith, husband Jason, and their two sons, designer Colleen Waguespack didn't start from scratch either. She and Alayna had spent more than 10 years traveling and visiting antiques shops to acquire pieces for the Smiths" "someday" house that was finally built in 2018. Waguespack's mission was to take that collection and unveil interiors that shed delight and joy every day, as if Santa appears with gifts all year-not just on Christmas morning.

"Alayna dreamed of a house filled with antiques and beautiful artwork from Southern artists," Waguespack says. "We focused on finding things with both quality and value. It was important that anything we bought would last and be just as relevant when the Smiths finished their 'someday' house as they were the day Alayna bought them."

A white Christmas with a glistening blanket of snow on the ground is not in the cards for a home situated in the South. A light Christmas, however, is possible and Alayna's preference for amplifying the interiors. With furniture in warm versions of cream, with the occasional accent of stained wood and gray, the home beams with elegance and serenity. At Christmastime, greens intertwine with gold and silver to trumpet the season with luxury and color.