Home Tour: Lindsey Regan Thorne’s Christmas decorating shenanigans are an annual attraction on Instagram

The owner of Be Pretty, a team of professional stylists that dominate the Charlotte-area wedding scene, shares her holiday decorating adventures with an audience of 40,000+ followers on Instagram. And it’s not always smooth sailing.

Two years ago the tree toppled down inside the house. Last year the tree fell off the top of her car and died a week later. This year, the tree was lost when it was sent to be flocked. You can’t make this stuff up.

But with a little patience and a wicked good sense of humor, Thorne always manages to pull together a festive, photo-worthy and family-friendly display for the holidays.

The Owners

Who: Lindsey and husband John and their two kids, Henry (5) and Olive (2)

Jobs: She’s a makeup artist, stylist and owner of Be Pretty and he works in banking

Their story: They bought and built the Huntersville home in 2013 after moving from Dilworth and are gearing up to put it on the market in January for a return to Charlotte. John works Uptown and they’re craving closer proximity to restaurants and entertainment in the city.

Home Breakdown

The Home: The 3,400-square-foot home features 4 bedrooms, an office, a bonus room and 3.5 bathrooms. Thorne says her favorite thing about it is the open floor plan from the dining room to the kitchen to the living room so she can keep an eye on the kids. But on the flip side, she’s looking for the opposite in their next home — something more retro with compartmentalized rooms.

Coastal Colors: The family vacations every year on Amelia Island where John grew up and that coastal design influence is reflected in their home’s beachy color palette featuring light, airy blues, whites and oatmeal. Thorne worked with Sarah Catherine Collective on furniture selection when they first moved into the home.

Custom Finishes: Thorne added personality to the walls with custom design accents, like two-story floor to ceiling wainscoting in the living room and a floral art commission by local artist Kristin Dills that she blew up into wallpaper for her daughter’s nursery.

Shops and Inspiration

High/low design: Thorne’s furniture comes from a mix of big retailers and smaller local and regional shops. The living room coffee table and sofa are from Restoration Hardware and the master bed and side tables are from High Cotton on South Boulevard. Two Charleston shops, Celadon and Candelabra, were also the source of several items.

But almost all of the smaller accessories come from HomeGoods. Practically the entire children’s playroom, Thorne says, is IKEA and Amazon. And a gorgeous drop zone storage bench in the kitchen that looks like a custom built-in is from Home Depot.

Handmade garland: Thorne makes all the holiday garland herself using greenery from Simpson’s Tree Farm and eucalyptus from Trader Joe’s. That’s also where she buys her tree every year and has been lovingly dubbed “The Crazy Tree Lady” — for real, they wrote it on a tag on her tree.

Family-friendly holiday traditions: A holiday highlight is the Thorne family’s growing snow globe collection. The kids pick a new one each year that’s usually tied to a special event or vacation destination.

And while Thorne says she’s “Type A” about the main tree in the living room, a smaller tree in the playroom is fair game for the kids to decorate any way they’d like.

All photos by Demi Mabry