Ep. 445: Holiday Throwback Special, Pt. 3 - Carson Kressley's Holiday Must-Haves

How to Decorate

Caroline McDonald

Arts, Business, Design

4.4 • 838 Ratings

🗓️ 23 December 2025

⏱️ 66 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

We are wrapping up our special three-part holiday series! For the finale, Liz takes the mic to share her absolute favorite holiday episode from the How to Decorate archive. Liz chose Episode 386 with the delightful Carson Kressley (Queer Eye, RuPaul’s Drag Race). Liz loves this episode because Carson embodies the spirit of "lavish yet achievable" holiday cheer. In this hilarious and tip-filled conversation, Carson breaks down how he turns the day after Thanksgiving into a tree-trimming party, his secret for serving fast food on silver platters, and why he color-codes his guest towels. Quick Decorating & Hosting Takeaways: Match the Decor to the Room: Don't force a red and green color scheme if your room is blue. Carson suggests tailoring your holiday decor to the existing room palette (e.g., aqua ribbons and silver ornaments in a blue room) so you don't have to overhaul your daily decor. The "High-Low" Party Menu: You don't need to cook for days to be a great host. Carson’s signature move is serving Kentucky Fried Chicken tenders stacked beautifully on an antique silver platter with a homemade dipping sauce. Color-Code Your Guest Rooms: To keep laundry organized when hosting a crowd, assign a specific towel color to each guest room (e.g., the blue room gets blue towels, the lavender room gets lavender towels) so you always know where clean linens belong. What You’ll Hear on This Episode: 00:00 Liz introduces the final Holiday Throwback episode 01:45 Carson Kressley joins the show 04:00 Carson’s Thanksgiving Routine: Hosting the parade and the "Day After" tree trimming party 09:30 Guest Room Essentials: Flawless bedding and the color-coded towel system 16:00 Real vs. Artificial Trees: Why Carson uses both 20:00 Storage Hacks: Organizing ornaments by tree 28:00 Decorating Philosophy: Using non-traditional colors (Aqua and Silver) 36:00 The Bar Setup: Hiring a bartender and using rolling racks for coat check 45:00 The Menu: KFC on silver platters and country ham biscuits 48:00 Why personalized plastic cups are a hosting lifesaver 53:00 Listener Dilemma: How to style deep window sills with radiators (From Sweden!) Also Mentioned: Carson Kressley | Instagram RuPaul's Drag Race Ballard Designs Essential Stocking Holder American Stationery (Monogrammed Cups) Shop Ballard Designs Please send in your questions so we can answer them on our next episode! And of course, subscribe to the podcast in Apple Podcasts so you never miss an episode. You can always check back here to see new episodes, but if you subscribe, it’ll automatically download to your phone. Happy Decorating! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hi everyone and welcome back to the How to Decorate Podcast from Ballard Designs.
0:04.0	I'm Liz and I'm thrilled to be wrapping up our special three-part holiday throwback series,
0:09.0	where we pick our favorite holiday-themed episodes.
0:11.0	If you miss the last two, be sure to check out Caroline's Pick, episode 117, with Janie Mulster,
0:17.0	all about dazzling tree decorating, and Terran's pick, episode 388, where we dished on all things
0:23.5	holiday hosting. For my choice in this final part of the series, I couldn't resist revisiting
0:29.4	episode 386 with the one and only Carson Cressley. Carson is so much fun and his approach to
0:36.1	entertaining and the holidays is just infectious.
0:38.3	I chose this episode because he truly embodies the spirit of lavish yet achievable holiday cheer.
0:45.3	What I learned and what I think you'll take away is that holiday decorating and hosting doesn't have to be overwhelming.
0:51.3	This conversation with Carson changed the way that I think about hosting.
0:55.3	It helped me find small ways to set up with ease and take the pressure off myself while creating
1:00.0	engaging moments with my family and friends. Carson shares his brilliant strategy of turning
1:05.7	tree trimming into a fun party that gets everyone involved and how to personalize your decor so that it enhances
1:12.3	rather than overhauls your existing home. He also gives us amazing insights and everything
1:18.0	from prepping a flawless guest room to making holiday meals manageable, and even his secret
1:23.7	weapon for party food. His passions for entertaining, decorating, and creating beautiful
1:29.0	memory-filled experiences without stress is truly inspiring. Get ready to be charmed and informed
1:35.1	because here's our conversation with the delightful Carson Cressley. All right, our guest today
1:41.8	is one of our absolute favorites. He's a style icon.
1:45.1	He's a TV personality and actor, an interior design lover.
1:49.0	You know him from the original Queer Eye for the Straight Guy as well as RuPaul's drag race.
	...

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