Inside Orlando Soria’s Holiday-Decorated Cabin in California

AD It YourselfInside Orlando Soria’s Holiday-Decorated Cabin in CaliforniaPrepare to be inspired by the designer’s multiple Christmas trees, vintage ornaments, and more

By Sarah Lyon

December 3, 2021

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Orlando Soria pulled out all the stops when it came to decorating his home near California’s Yosemite National Park for the holidays.Photo: Sara Tramp

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Designer Orlando Soria knows a thing or two about creating a holiday haven at home. Each year, Soria goes into the holiday season focused on a specific theme or element to incorporate throughout his space. “This year, my main theme was Deck the Halls,” he says. “I wanted there to be hints of holiday in every single room.”

Given that it’s Soria’s first year fully decorating his current California home, he wanted to spread joy to as many rooms as possible. “Until now, I’ve been mostly decorating smaller apartments in New York and Los Angeles, so it was fun to be able to go wild in a much bigger space,” he says. “The point of holiday decorating is that it’s in no way necessary or practical; it’s purely something we do for fun, a way of seeing our homes in a new light.”

Soria incorporated neutral colors and natural materials into his holiday scheme so as not to compete with his home’s bright decor.

Photo: Sara Tramp

Soria enjoys sourcing products that complement his year-round decor. “My house is very colorful, so this year I focused on items that would mesh well with the existing decor and not try to compete with the wall color,” he says. And, of course, he’s all about the greenery. “Because I live in the woods, it’s easy for me to just grab greenery from my yard,” Soria says. “And somehow even though green is part of its name, greenery becomes kind of a neutral during the holiday season. It is going to immediately add a festive nod without screaming Christmas.”

A manzanita branch strung with ornaments serves as a de facto Christmas tree.

Photo: Sara Tramp

The holidays are all about nostalgia and sentimental moments, and Soria definitely touches on these themes in terms of his decor too. “The manzanita branch Christmas tree is another nod to my childhood in Yosemite,” he says. “My mom liked to use unconventional things as Christmas trees, so we often had manzanita branches standing in.”

The ornaments hanging on this tree also have a special meaning. “I wanted that tree to be rustic, a reminder of the fact that my cabin is in the middle of the woods at the gate to Yosemite National Park,” Soria adds. “So all the ornaments are nature-inspired or have some tie to camping, the outdoors, or animals.”

In the family room, a Christmas tree with a felt dove tree topper creates a cozy vibe.

Photo: Sara Tramp

The beauty of having enough space for multiple Christmas trees throughout one’s home means that there are plenty of opportunities to embrace other themes too. “I wanted the tree in the family room to echo the cozy vibe of the space, where I like to hang out with my family when they join me at my cabin,” Soria says. “The felt dove tree topper really drives the cozy, peaceful message home.”

As much as he loves introducing fresh themes, Orlando Soria is mindful about reusing more substantial pieces—like his vintage tinsel tree—year after year to cut back on waste. Located in his downstairs guest room, this Rose Bowl Flea Market find pays a nod to simpler times. “It’s an original 1954 tree and still has all its original packaging and assembly instructions,” Soria notes. “Every time I pull it out, I feel like I’ve been transported back in time!” It features snowflake ornaments that Soria’s mother and sister made this past fall.

A vintage tinsel tree from 1954 glimmers in a guest bedroom.

Photo: Sara Tramp

Soria enjoys browsing retailers including Anthropologie, Target, Annie Selke, World Market, and Furbish for holiday decor finds. But it was visiting thrift stores that helped him build an expansive ornament collection from scratch. “One year, I decided to install a massive 15-foot tree in my old condo,” Soria says. “I knew I was going to need hundreds of ornaments for it, so I spent the months leading up to the holidays checking thrift stores every week for more.”

Soria also enjoys getting crafty and has created his own tree toppers and ornaments using everyday items such as pinecones from the yard and watercolor paper. He says, “For me, the holidays are a fun time to celebrate making things at home, so I always try to make a few things by hand every year.”

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