For these locals, holiday decorating is not just for Christmas and Halloween

Millions of people gleefully turn their homes into Candyland for Christmas or a house of horrors at Halloween.

But for some, like Annalise Manning of Petaluma, there are other holidays in the calendar that should not be neglected when it comes to decorating.

Every summer, Manning gives Independence Day its due, sprinkling the Spirit of ’76 throughout her home and yard with a palette of red, white and blue and sparkly accents.

“It makes the house festive,” she said. “The Fourth of July is our big summer celebration, and I run with it.”

She is carrying on a tradition she inherited from her parents, who went all out for holidays. And the Fourth of July was a favorite.

“When I was growing up, we had a pool. Summer stuff was a big thing. We always had big neighborhood parties,” she said. “And my mom was very big into decorating for the different holidays. She had plates and napkins in every color you could imagine. Before I was even married, my mom was stocking me up with china and glasses and linens and napkin rings. She decorated for the holidays, and I took it to the next level.”

The beauty of Independence Day is that it doesn’t drag on for an entire month like Christmas or Halloween. It’s a one-day burst of Americana, with barbecue, splashing in the pool, maybe a round of corn hole and a lot of time loafing in a lounge chair with a cold beer or sangria.

While there is no need to make your home look like a political convention at Madison Square Garden, you easily can add a few accents to enhance the party atmosphere and remind everyone it’s America’s birthday.

Manning always drapes classic bunting across her front porch rail and window and has fun with small details — pinwheels in planters; a welcome sign in red, white and blue; a wreath on the door decorated with red and white roses and blue accents. None of it is over-the-top or garish. Inside, she styles the dining room table in Americana colors and tastefully dresses the mantle, filling urns on either side with red, white and blue and a simple garland of stars.

She shops at Dollar Tree for fun bargains and at Michael’s after-holiday sale for more substantial pieces she tucks away for the next year.

Creating a festive atmosphere for the Fourth in her front yard is important, she said, as her home sits on the corner of a cul-de-sac and every Independence Day, neighbors gather outside to celebrate together.

Keeping it simple and sustainable

Bay Area-based celebrity event designer Edward Perotti said he is a big believer in making do with what you have on hand through upcycling, recycling and re-purposing.

For his own contribution to neighborhood festivities in his town of Pacifica, he constructed some cute little “fences” out of old fence board. He’ll set them up to display hanging plastic bags of Fourth of July cookies for visitors.

With the pandemic continuing, he believes in maintaining caution during group celebrations this summer.

“They’re a basic prop I made that will have multiple uses,” he said of the fences. “I’m a big believer in people not having to go out and buy new things every time they have a party or a celebration.”

Perotti has managed more than 2,000 events worldwide that collectively cost more than $150 million to mount. He’s designed soirees for entertainers like Nick Jonas and Ariana Grande at landmark spaces such as the the Louvre, the Palace of Versailles and the Great Wall of China.

But when it comes to decorating for himself, Perotti takes a modest and massively scaled-down approach. He considers it a fun challenge to look for quick, easy and inexpensive ways to decorate and entertain.

One thing he will never do is use the American flag as a decoration. He finds some symbols too sacred for that. It’s better to evoke the ideas they represent, he said.

One of his go-to tricks is to use fabric. Yards of Fourth-of-July-themed bolts will be marked down this week.

“Buy a couple yards of material,” he said. “You don’t have to finish the seams. It just has to be long enough to cover the table, and you’ll have a tablecloth that’s truly unique.”

Perotti said flowers are an attractive and affordable way to decorate for the Fourth of July.

“We have an abundance of white hydrangea and blue iris that are perfect and affordable,” he said. Take a large vase, something you already have, and fill it with apples and cherries — think American apple pie and George Washington’s apocryphal cherry tree — and top it off with a single hydrangea, he suggested.

“It’s really easy and really simple,” he said. “And afterwards you’re going to eat it, so nothing goes to waste.”

Perotti suggested raiding your Christmas boxes, filled with things in red and white and gold, to look for items that can be re-purposed for the Fourth of July.

“Probably most people have something within their own home or their garage,” he said. “I have a studio, and in my studio are these beautiful sprayed tree branches that I use for the holidays. But why couldn’t I use them as a centerpiece on the Fourth and work in apples and cherries and white flowers?”

Go to a crafts store or a thrift shop or root around in your own cupboards for brass or gold-plated candlesticks, he suggested. “Add a red rose and you’re good. You don’t need to overthink it.”

Some people may be experiencing mixed emotions this Fourth of July, with recent public and political events exploding like fireworks over a divided U.S., leaving many feeling disillusioned and less inclined to celebrate.

Perotti suggested focusing on the ideals of the Founders.

“Part of what the Fourth of July should represent is the fact that everybody has a voice. I’m planning some small parties for the Fourth (for individual clients). “This year it’s more about having a voice in what they’re doing and being mindful of what they’re celebrating. This is not just an excuse to have a barbecue. You could do that any day of the year. But more than anything, we need to embrace the colors and where those colors come from and how they came to be.”

Perotti suggested that in honor of diversity and the melting pot that is the United States, people consider blending the red and blue.

“Why don’t we throw a purple party? When you put red and blue together, that’s what you get. If you really have that Sharks and Jets group of friends, call it out. And create a space that is 100% neutral, but embrace both sides.”

Coming together

For Lisa Kebodeaux of Rohnert Park, the Fourth of July this year has a special meaning.

“I lost one of my friends to cancer a couple of weeks ago, and the Fourth of July was one of her favorite holidays. She loved it,” said Kebodeaux, who has decorated her home this year in honor of that friend, Jenise Kneeland of Sonoma.

“I wanted to go all out this year to remember her,” she added.

But Kebodeaux, who grew up in Sonoma with its traditional July Fourth parade, has always had a special fondness for the Fourth, with its hometown spirit.

“Everybody is so busy throughout the year. But it is one special day in the evening when everybody is underneath a blanket watching fireworks go off in the air and we’re all together.”

She has some decorations that come out every year, like an Uncle Sam that lights up inside and sparkles. He has an honored spot on the walkway.

This year she added some red, white and blue solar lights in the front yard that look like fireworks bursting.

All of her decorating is out front, where 30 to 40 people every year converge for a block party with barbecue and a potluck. Tables out front will have red tablecloths. And the onetime florist is making flower arrangements with white and blue hydrangeas and red roses.

Kebodeaux thinks of the Fourth of July as a celebration of family and friends, including those who have died. Her grandmother died on July Fourth two years ago.

“A child comes out in me,” she said of the feeling that comes over her when she unfurls the red, white and blue colors. “It fills my heart with joy, and I will always remember my loved ones that aren’t here, especially at night when I see the fireworks go off.”

You can reach Staff Writer Meg McConahey at 707-521-5204 or meg.mcconahey@pressdemocrat.com. OnTwitter @megmcconahey.