An interior designer’s maximalist Christmas style has become one of the hottest trends this festive season. For Erika Kikola, more is always more, and her unapologetic Christmas aesthetic – made up of tens of thousands of items some dating back over 100 years – is bringing a sense of nostalgia at every turn. Erika said she has always been a maximalist at heart, having been raised mostly by her grandparents, who introduced her to vintage items. At Christmastime, she said her family's approach to decorating was often a case of mish-mashing whatever items they had in their house, decorating as boldly as possible for as little money as possible. This approach followed Erika into adult life, as she started thrifting festive decorations, big and small, to a collection that grew into the thousands over the years. Come each festive period, the interior designer once again takes her decorations from storage, placing them in every nook and cranny around her home. Over recent years, this approach to a maximalist Christmas has become somewhat of a trend on social media, with many seeing Erika, who has tens of thousands of followers, as the North Star of the style – though she humbly doesn't see things that way. When describing her maximalist approach, she said it's often a case of having a large number of items that don't match; vintage decorations, where possible; a little DIY here and there; and a "ton of color, patterns," and, most important, "fun." With such a large array of items all in one place, Erika feels her look brings people back to their childhood, reminding them of old heirlooms, traditions, and that feeling of crafting as a kid. This rolls into her tree design, too, as each year she adds DIY elements, such as popcorn strings, paper chains and paper snowflakes. The designer admits that, in recent years, the appetite for her festive look has increased a lot, making it tougher to find special vintage pieces, given the competition. For anyone looking to start, though
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00:00When people come into the house, they're like, whoa, this is like the North Pole.
00:08I wanted to find a way to decorate as good as possible with as little money as possible.
00:14Whenever we first got into this house, we didn't have any money.
00:17Our first Christmas tree was free.
00:19I just started thrifting things, making things.
00:22I would make tons of paper snowflakes, paper chains, then just started to build a massive
00:27collection over the years.
00:32When people come into the house, they're like, whoa, this is like the North Pole.
00:35It's just really incorporating tons of color, pattern, and fun, and you don't match it.
00:41You really just go all in, use as much as you want.
00:44But yeah, it feels great.
00:45It feels great.
00:46I, for instance, found, and this was totally impractical, I found these holly berries.
00:51So I put one right here.
00:54It's huge.
00:55Sometimes I do buy stuff that's not really practical, but I won't regret that, I don't
00:59think.
01:00The easiest way to do this is to craft and make as many things as you can, even do like
01:07popcorn strings on the tree every year.
01:09I do paper chains, paper snowflakes, you can do dried oranges, ribbons, and bows.
01:18Keep your eye out at all times for good deals at the thrift stores, yard sales, you name
01:24it.
01:25You have got to be looking on Facebook Marketplace.
01:27It takes a long time to collect this many ornaments.
01:33For ornaments that are on the tree, I can't even tell you.
01:36Probably, there's definitely over a thousand on this tree.
01:41I mean, I have some that are probably a hundred years old.
01:44I was raised mostly by my grandparents, and they would only show vintage TV shows.
01:50And I remember just being obsessed with all of the decor and the clothing.
01:54They just don't make stuff like this anymore, you know, they really don't, with all the
01:58color and whimsy.
02:00Now this one is actually a homemade ornament.
02:04It's probably from the 60s or 70s, and women would have parties and take pushpins and design
02:11their own ornament.
02:13And I love to think about how much time it took, and the gathering, it's just so special
02:17to me.
02:21My grandma's coming today, and she is bringing me a couple things that my great-grandmother
02:25had made.
02:26I guess people have those things stored away and kept precious, but I think it's important
02:31to display those items.
02:36As a society, we kind of have gotten away so much from heirlooms and things being passed
02:41down, and all of this new stuff kind of became what was cool to do on social media.
02:46People are starting to yearn for the memories of yesteryear and the warm and cozy feelings
02:51that they remember growing up with as a kid.
02:53I do think that this type of decor evokes more of a feeling.
02:57People get reminded of their childhoods, they get reminded of crafting with their mom, and
03:02all of the traditions and whatnot.
03:05It's nostalgia, like that's so fun to look back on and feel that wonderful feeling that
03:09you really only have as a little kid.