ORLANDO, Fla – A local interior designer was able to take her tree trimming talents to the White House.
You may have seen Lindsay Matteoni’s work before at the Orlando Museum of Art’s Festival of Trees.
In 2023 she created a Barbie Christmas tree, and this year she created a Christmas tree inspired by Taylor Swift’s “Eras” Tour.
For Matteoni, being selected to help decorate the White House for Christmas is a dream 19 years in the making.
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“Up until the moment I left, and the moment I got there, I still didn’t believe it,” Matteoni said. “After 19 years I just didn’t believe it but it was my moment, it was my time and I don’t want to give it up now.”
Matteoni worked with designers from all over the country on several projects, including the traditional cranberry topiaries and decorating the tree in the historic Red Room.
“Being in the Red Room, we decorated the tree according to the scope the designer wanted and I was put in charge of making all the bows for the presents which actually is a very -- it’s an art, it’s an art in it of itself,” Matteoni said.
Matteoni said she didn’t realize she had the skills to make the bows for the presents under the tree in the Red Room.
“I had so much fun making these bows and helping out with the tree,” Matteoni said. “There’s clusters of cranberries on the trees that I helped do. One thing about the presents, is that there are 46 little lights and that stands for the 46th President.”
Matteoni said there were several hidden meanings behind the decorations -- much like the 46 lights representing the 46th President, she said there are 8 cranberry topiaries to represent President Biden’s two terms as Vice President, and 13 poppies on the mantlepiece in the Red Room to represent the President’s 13 years he served as a Senator.
“It made it even more special, like you thought about those details and that’s something that is so close to my heart and that’s what I do with my clients as well,” Matteoni said.
Matteoni said there were hundreds of people who helped turn the White House into a Christmas wonderland in addition to the designers.
“All included there were probably 200 volunteers, plus an additional 100 carpenters and electricians and you know different vendors that were able to come on site to be able to help us,” Matteoni said.
In total, Matteoni said there are 87 trees at the White House this year. As for the tree her team was working on in the Red Room, it took them about a day and a half to complete.
“You know we started decorating it on Friday and we finished it Saturday afternoon,” Matteoni said. “It was all hands on deck, there were 8 of us that were all positioned, we talked out the direction, and we played with it a little bit. Being able to see it all come together and to know that it was a good collaboration of eight different minds, one main direction, but eight different minds, it really was so special and just being involved in such a historical moment it really made me -- it was just magic.”
To see five tips from Matteoni to make your tree White House worthy, click here.
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