It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas at gospel singer CeCe Winans’s home in Nashville. Every year, Winans decorates her home immediately after Thanksgiving, and this year is no different.
“This holiday is more than just gifts and candy. It’s about my faith,” Winans told Architectural Digest. “It gives us a chance as a family to focus on what Christmas is about. It’s so easy to get into the hustle and the bustle and forget the real power of Christmas.”
Winans is a native of Detroit, but has lived in Nashville for 27 years with her husband, Alan Love II. The two are co-founding pastors of Nashville Life Church.
Winans is one of the most prominent female gospel singers in history. She began singing with her family in Detroit. In 1981, she began singing with her older brother, BeBe. The pair would release several albums and is considered the bestselling gospel act of all time. In 1995, Winans went solo and since has won 15 Grammy Awards, 31 Dove Awards, 16 Stellar Awards and seven NAACP Image Awards. In addition, Winans is the most-awarded gospel artist of all time. She has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and has a net worth of $8 million.
A Winter Wonderland In Nashville
Decorating Winans’ 8,000-square-foot home is no easy feat. However, with the help of Atlanta-based interior designer Michel Smith Boyd, who co-hosts HGTV shows such as “Rock the Block” and “Luxe for Less,” it was less taxing. Through Boyd’s working in partnership with Christmas decoration company Balsam Hill, Winans’ home was transformed into a space celebrating the joy of Christmas — all while she was touring.
“And I’m out here performing because of what my latest record has done and because people want to experience it live. I’m grateful and humbled to be able to do this,” said Winans, who has been touring the country. “Going back out on tour is not something I thought I’d be doing at this point,” she told The San Diego Union-Tribune in October.
But her being away from home didn’t stop the Christmas decorating.
“We just went crazy and had a good time,” Boyd told Architectural Digest. “I really hadn’t done holiday décor in a really long time, but this was an opportunity for me to circle back to somebody from the very beginning that I’ve always loved and who is so influential in [the Black] community.”
Winans’ home includes an expansive entrance and living room. Boyd decorated both spaces with ivory and champagne-colored décor. He also added metallic foliage garlands to the metal railings on the split staircase. In the hallway leading to the living room, Boyd placed two Balsam Hill signature four-foot faux pine trees with lights on clear towers.
A 12-foot tree is the focal point of the living room, but Boyd left no space unadorned. The living room’s gold coffee table was decorated with a centerpiece with white pillar candles under fairy light lanterns and fir wreaths. Illuminated wreaths hang from windows.
A horizontal table behind a white sofa features a centerpiece with crystals and pearls, a classic nativity set and long white candles.
The entrance and living room will serve as the backdrop for Winans’ YouTube series, “Cece Winans Presents Generations.”
“My house is just filled with sparkles everywhere, but it’s timeless,” Winans told Architectural Digest. “You come in and your mouth just drops. Every detail of it is incredible. The holiday decorations are at an all-time high right now.”
