A Welcoming Sign

Little Rock resident Wilma Graham found herself lucky enough to have an in-house designer. Her son, Rick Qualls, offers a wide variety of design expertise from his theatrical travels to New York, Germany and Tokyo, and his stints working with Martha Stewart as a floral designer and at Sotheby's auction house. With all these inspirations, he set about decorating Wilma's house inside and out for the holidays, including handcrafting each and every wreath. He suggests that live greenery can last all season if it's outside in the cool weather, although, he usually replaces indoor live greenery before a party or right before Christmas to ensure that it's fresh.

To make the wreaths, Rick uses chicken wire on a sturdy metal frame and wraps it with fresh greenery. A tip he learned while under Martha Stewart's tutelage is to split the stems and soak them overnight in Aspirin water to help preserve the greenery longer.

“I think it's important to keep the outside of the house, especially the entryway around the door, welcoming and inviting,” Rick says. “It should give you a taste of something special and make you want to come in and see what's behind the door.”