Begin the holiday season in Kingston on December 13 with the Holiday Home Tour sponsored by the Downtown Kingston Association. Five charming homes will be all decked out in their holiday decor to provide great ideas to spark seasonal decorating.

The homes, large and small, offer great Northwest views of the water or mountains, each with an added touch of individuality. There will be something for everyone to appreciate, including handmade quilts, sewing studios and hobby rooms, transferware china, Chinese porcelain, wine cellars and Swedish holiday decor.

As an added bonus, noted interior designer Susan Rodgers will be giving two decorating seminars at Cleo's Landing Learning Center — next to the Art Gallery. Susan is an interior designer with over 30 years of experience in both commercial and residential interiors.

Susan's morning seminar, scheduled from 9:30 - 10:30 AM with coffee available is entitled "Changing Your Home's Interiors? Where you start!". Susan will give some simple guidelines for understanding the process of interior design. "How to begin" is a problem we all face, so Susan's talk about the steps which will ease you into a project is most helpful.

The afternoon session will be held from 3-4 PM and is called "Good Bones - Simple Fixes!" Beautiful interiors start with all the basics in place. If you make choices on architectural features, which follow fads, your home will be dated. Basic choices allow you to make simple changes through the years to update, excite, and reenergize your home and you! Susan will talk about timeless basics — they're NOT boring and they are a good investment. Then she will talk about the simple fixes which add pizzazz. This "simple fix" concept can be repeated again and again, for how ever long you own your home, in a cost effective way!

The tour runs from 10 AM to 4 PM on Saturday, December 13 with a ticket price of $15. The tour is recommended for adults only and no photography will be allowed inside the homes.

All proceeds from the tour will help subsidize the summer concerts at the Port of Kingston sponsored by the Downtown Kingston Association. Tickets are available at the following Kingston locations: Kingston Chamber of Commerce Office, Kingston Quilt Shop, American Marine Bank, Kitsap Bank, John L. Scott, and Windermere Real Estate. Addresses of the homes and a tour map are included on the ticket.

Join your friends and neighbors for a jolly holly home tour on December 13.