(MarketWatch) This December, for the second year in a row, Chrys Kefalas and his husband didn’t deck the halls. Instead, they hired a friend to do it.
Kefalas, who lives in the Washington, D.C., area with his husband, radio and television host Tommy McFly, enlisted the services of his friend Heather Cooper, a Washington-based interior designer who previously served as the resident artist and designer for The Executive Residence of The White House. She arrived at their condominium at 8 a.m., and by the time they returned home from work that same day all of the decorations were finished.
Beyond making their home look even more beautiful for the holiday season, having someone decorate was a major stress-reliever for the couple. Between holiday events and end-of-year work, Kefalas said it was difficult making time to get their home ready for the holidays.
“This is definitely a new tradition in our family and one we hope continues,” Kefalas said. “It is really a gift to us to make the holidays a little less stressful and easier and to get into the holidays in a faster way.”
To decorate the couple’s home, Cooper used some of the décor that the couple had collected over the years, but supplemented it with new items she had purchased, especially for them. Over the years, Cooper said she will continue to build on her clients’ decorations collections. “It might take a decade, but that house is going to be over time more and more amazing looking,” she said.
Cooper typically charges $1,200 a day for her services — though larger homes can take multiple days to decorate. For friends like Kefalas and McFly, she gives discounts.
Cooper describes her typical client as “the ultra-professional.” “They are the type of person who has a billion events to do and activities that go on at the holidays, she said. These clients typically err on the side of the traditional when it comes to holiday décor, but Cooper has created some wild and creative designs.
While at the White House during the Obama administration, she once created a gigantic, functioning gumball machine that had a winter scene inside and gave people white candies. She also crafted festive topiary versions of the Obama family’s dogs, Bo and Sunny, out of chicken wire and pom-poms.
For her private clients today, she continues to make out-of-the-ordinary designs. One family in California hired her this year to produce Christmas decorations that could double as decorations for a baby shower. The trees were covered with pink ornaments — including cupcakes, ballet slippers and unicorns — and white lights. Other requests she has received recently include candy-themed Christmas trees and trees with bird-shaped ornaments.
Kefalas and his husband were drawn by the creative flair. “You don’t go to a lawyer to do your dental work — you go to an expert,” Kefalas said. “I want to go to an expert when it comes to putting together a creative design that speaks to what I love about the holidays and what I love about Christmas.”
Many Americans are stressed out by the holidays
If you get stressed out by the holidays, you’re far from alone. Research has shown that the holidays can increase people’s emotional distress. A 2015 survey from medical-advice website Healthline found that 62% of people describe the holidays as “very” or “somewhat” stressful.
One problem: A lack of time was reported to be the biggest source of stress during the holidays, followed by a lack of money, according to a 2006 study commissioned for the American Psychological Association. Moreover, this research suggested that women disproportionately endure stress during the holidays.
Much of this stress stems from the expectations we think others have of us at this time of year. “The reason people have stress is because most of us care too much about how we’re viewed by other people and carrying the extra burden of feeling responsible for somebody else’s happiness,” said Fran Walfish, a Beverly Hills-based psychologist.
That’s where “outsourcing” the holidays comes in. Many families across the country, like Kefalas and his husband, will pay for a host of services to alleviate some of that stress.
