Featured image: Laura Dowling and designer Paul Miller in the Loggia at Cheekwood.
Flower power has taken over the Historic Mansion and Museum at Cheekwood Estate & Gardens for the second year in a row, but this year’s project comes with a fresh approach, newly imagined décor and help from some additional friends.
At first glance, the scene looks familiar. Carefully stacked boxes of ornaments, ribbons, and trimmings fill every empty inch of open space in the period rooms in the Mansion. The flurry of activity crescendos as the opening night of Holiday LIGHTS looms.
However, a closer look reveals some changes starting with the overall theme – Sweet Holiday Dreams.
“This year’s theme reinterprets the Mansion’s holiday décor as a series of enchanting vignettes inspired by classic stories, songs, and traditions,” said Laura Dowling, the former Chief Floral Designer at the White House and the mastermind behind the project. “The idea is that Christmas comes alive in dreams. From music to movies, there is this connection between the holiday and dreams.”
After creating, designing, and installing last year’s stunning décor in the Cheekwood Mansion, Dowling said it was a year-long planning process to devise the new theme, color palettes for each room and envision different decorations for each space. She was inspired by visions of sugarplums, candy-colored hues, and chestnuts roasting over an open fire.
A discerning eye may recognize individual ornaments or ribbons used in last year’s display but will also notice each has been repurposed in a new way.
“My goal was to use all of the ornaments, ribbons, and topiaries from last year and reimagine them in different spaces throughout the Mansion to create an entirely new look and theme,” said Dowling. “It shows it is possible to use a base collection of décor embellished with a few new elements to create fresh and inspiring designs year after year.”
Whether it is vibrant bursts of color in the Drawing Room inspired by Dolly Parton’s “Hard Candy Christmas” or the whimsical pink and purple trees in the Loggia that pay tribute to the Sugarplum Fairy in The Nutcracker, each space comes alive with vintage-style ornaments, festive bouquets, colorful ribbons, and striking topiaries, wreaths, trees, and garlands – all created with Dowling’s signature touch, infused with her love of history, Paris, and the French garden-style.
Robbie Honey decorates a tree in the Mansion.
A designer decorates a tree in the Mansion.
Volunteers work on a wreath during Holiday LIGHTS Craft Days.
Transforming more than 10 spaces at the Cheekwood Mansion is just the latest impressive accomplishment on Dowling’s resume. Having served as Chief Floral Designer at the White House from 2009-2015, she managed the floral design for thousands of private and official White House parties, receptions, and state dinners as well as large-scale installations for the Fourth of July, Halloween, and the iconic White House Christmas. She is also an author of five books and is a regular speaker at national, regional, and local horticulture associations, garden clubs, and museums.
The opportunity to collaborate with Dowling brought many familiar faces back to Cheekwood – even if they had to travel across the world to make it happen.
“I did want to come back, but wasn’t going to due to a schedule conflict,” said Robbie Honey, author and renowned floral designer, who traveled from Cape Town, South Africa, to Nashville. “Laura got in contact and said, ‘Can we make this happen? Let’s make this happen,’ and I jumped at it. It is great to be a part of the team.”
The dream team of florists who brought Dowling’s designs to life was smaller this year, which Dowling said added cohesion and expedited the design process.
“The people who are here are all world-class designers who bring their own touch and ideas to the project,” said Dowling.
While the number of designers working in the Mansion may have decreased, the number of volunteers helping in the studios in the nearby Frist Learning Center more than made up the difference.
For about three weeks, a group of extraordinary volunteers of all ages and levels of artistic ability contributed their time to participate in “Holiday LIGHTS Craft Days.” They were tasked with completing a series of small projects that ended up having a big impact on the overall installation and design. With painstaking precision and hours of dedication, the volunteers took a combination of craft paper, tissue squares, masking tape, and glitter and turned it into about three dozen decorative balls that would later appear on the trees throughout the Mansion. Others dipped 40,000 handmade paper florets in glitter to help create four beautiful geometric snowflake wreaths for the Loggia doors.
“It’s really a testament to how you can take simple things and transform them into something beautiful,” said Dowling.
Many volunteers ended up staying long past their scheduled shifts lending their time and talent to help bring Laura’s vision to life.
“We had so much fun,” said Joan Cheek, a longstanding Cheekwood board member, supporter, and volunteer. “Sometimes we just opened boxes of ornaments and added wires, so they were ready to hang. Whatever the designers needed, we were ready to help.”
Everyone who played a role in transforming the Mansion into a winter wonderland agrees they can’t wait for guests to come to Cheekwood to see the finished product.
“I think what Laura does so well is using what we had before and transforming it and creating something new and extraordinary,” said Honey. “You will be able to recognize elements if you look closely. Otherwise, you will think it is all new. I hope it inspires a sense of wonder and joy.”
“It’s a privilege to work here and bring creativity, beauty, and inspiration to visitors at Cheekwood,” said Dowling.
Guests are welcome to tour the Mansion during the day or in the evening during Holiday LIGHTS. Holiday LIGHTS opens on November 21 and runs until January 4, 2026.