As the holidays approach, the days grow shorter but the passion for home decorating builds.  Swaddling a house with seasonal accents allows us to express creativity and good cheer.  If you are looking for innovative ways to deck the halls, consider how some local experts get into the spirit.

Evergreens dominate the holiday decorating frenzy that unfolds each season at Mohonk Mountain House, an 1869 Victorian resort that sits on 2,200 acres of preservation land in New Paltz.  Diana K. Weiner, its superintendent of parks and grounds, says that besides decorating 15 trees, which range from three to twenty-two feet tall, she and her staff decorate mantles, banisters (all wrapped with white pine roping), and walls.  Among her favorite decorations is a four-foot-diameter kissing ball that hangs down the central staircase.  Fabricated largely with materials found on the Mohonk property, it contains greens, turkey feathers, dried flowers, foliage, and occasionally fruit, such as regally red pomegranates.

Wreaths adorn spaces throughout the hotel.  A six-foot wreath made of mixed greens, including juniper, pine, and balsam fir, and accented with orange winterberries, crowns the fireplace in the main dining room.  Another is made entirely from the pinecones of hemlocks and firs.

Each mantle at Mohonk has its own theme, from Santa and his elves to angels.  "There's a trend this year for natural materials.  White birch is especially hot," says Weiner.  Non-working fireplaces at Mohonk are stacked with white birch logs, accessorized with white pine boughs along with large, Southern pinecones.  "Big pinecones really make a statement," says Weiner.  The hotel's numerous table ornaments and centerpieces are made from plants grown on Mohonk property, including dried fruits and berries, cyclamen and poinsettia.

At the heart of the Mohonk decorating scheme tower the yuletide trees.  A "family tree" is decorated with freshly baked gingerbread cookies, which guests are urged to eat.  (The hotel chef keeps them replenished.) Glass ornaments that resemble wrapped hard-candy pieces dangle from the tree's branches.  The tallest tree on the premises features Victorian ornaments, some a foot in diameter, gilded in golds, purples, and red.  Larger-than-life cardinals sit on several of the boughs.  "When people are decorating, they should also think about birds and animals outside," say Weiner, who encourages homeowners to create "nature trees."  The heads of ornamental onions, large pinecones rolled in peanut butter, bags stuffed with birdseed or suet, and raffia will attract wildlife.

At Wilderstein, a historic Rhinebeck home, florists decorate for the Victorian Holiday House Tour each year.  Built during the Arts and Crafts Movement, when tastes equated affluence with varying the schemes of every room in a house, this Queen Anne mansion presents floral designers with a particular challenge.  Each of the five rooms they decorate has its own theme and personality, from the white-and-gold Louis XVI reception room to the dark cherry wood Colonial-revival parlor.

Barbara Jones, co-owner of Flower Barn in Poughkeepsie, finds decorating rooms at Wilderstein that fall outside traditional yuletide colors allows for ingenuity.  For a room rich with turquoise hues, she may choose gold, white, and teal for ribbons and ornaments.  She recommends that homeowners who seek variety from green and red try working with gold and silver as well as shades of blue and burgundy.

In creating long-lasting centerpieces for Wilderstein, Jim Reardon, a holiday designer and owner of E. A. Coon Florist in Rhinebeck, likes to use the familiar carnation, chrysanthemum, and pompon, but he also uses silk and satin flowers, particularly to enhance greenery and pinecone accents.  Other favorites are Star of Bethlehem, a dainty white specimen that spirals upwards and will last the whole month of December.  Bells of Ireland, which resemble Christmas trees, will continue to grow a few inches with watering.  Jones also likes to employ topiary cones shaped from red berry clusters and set in decorative pots.  She further suggests placing tall tapered candles in long and low centerpieces, their glimmering halos creating wonderful ambiance.

When choosing evergreens for door swags, mantles, centerpieces, side tables, and banisters, Jones favors gold seedpod-tipped incense cedar, which naturally drapes.  Reardon prefers spruce, both for its smell and Christmas tree - nostalgia trappings, as well as variegated green and white holly with berries.

As florist Jones reminds homeowners, "When it comes to decorating for the holidays, go with whatever your taste is - glitzy, elegant, country, or simple.  Have fun with it and let it flow."  'Tis the season.