Photography by Cadence Captures | Story by Emily Robertson
When Buz and Tanya Copeland moved into their home in South Knoxville in 2015, they knew they wanted to keep the historic charm that the home, built in 1941, had to offer, but needed to make some updates to make it exactly what they needed. Now, eight years later, their home boasts an English country style that is the perfect classic backdrop for beautiful touches of Christmas decoration each holiday season.
“When I first saw this house, I fell in love with it,” Tanya says. “Luckily Buz fell in love with it, too. When we bought the home, much of the interior, including the kitchen and bathrooms were original. Our goal was to maintain the feel of the house, while making it work for us. My sister, Donna Faulkner, was instrumental in every fabric choice, furniture placement and paint color decision that was made. We could never have done that alone.”
Much of the design of the home was reconfigured to make for a more open, spacious layout, including the kitchen. These changes to the flow of the home create lots of wonderful spaces for the Copelands to host their friends and family at the holidays.
“Gathering for families meals, catching up with family members we don’t see often and playing games are some of our favorite things to do during this season,” Tanya says. “Like all families, we’ve lost family members over the years. The holidays always bring back special memories of those who aren’t with us anymore. It’s a reminder to embrace the time we have
together.”
While many of the rooms incorporate multiple rich colors and beautiful patterns in the everyday design, Tanya says that lots of the décor incorporates reds, greens, golds and subtle shades of blue that still work well as she decorates for Christmas with so many meaningful pieces of décor.
“Christmas is my most favorite time of year, as with most people,” Tanya says. “I cherish the Christmas ornaments I’ve received from friends and family over the years, especially ones that represent our hobbies, travels, pets and other interests.
One of the biggest changes made to the Copeland’s nearly six-acre property was the barn that Buz dreamed of building from when they first purchased it. Once the barn was completed, the Copelands were on the hunt for animals to fill it.
“Originally Buz wanted horses, but horses don’t seem to like me and I was not interested in having any,” Tanya jokes. “I randomly came across the Scottish Highland cow breed and began to research if there were any nearby. I found that there were several little farms across East Tennessee that had this breed of cows. As soon as Buz saw the cows, he forgot all about the horses and he has totally embraced those cows. We don’t have children of our own, so that is a reason why our pets have always been our family. In addition to the cows, we have two rescue pets: one dog and a lovable, oversized cat.”
Despite the busyness of the holiday season preparations, Tanya says that they love to be at home during the holidays, entertaining and enjoying the simple joys of the season.
“We are homebodies during the holidays and wouldn’t think of traveling then,” Tanya says. “Something that my friends and family have started to look forward to is a tiny gift exchange game of chance. We’ve been playing Pakkeleg, which means ‘package game’ in Danish. We’ve now played at Thanksgiving and Christmas gatherings for the past three or four years.”