Think Christmas and one immediately associates the holiday with the colors red and green. The association is rooted in paganism: exchanging greenery when celebrating Saturn, the god of agriculture, was the ancient way to wish one another good luck, a long life and peace. Later, early Christians represented the sacrifice of Jesus’ life with the color red, and the two colors have held fast with the Christmas tradition.

These days, Christmas decorations come in every color, but sometimes a little less makes a much greater impact. Such is the case at Sue Nicholson’s Washington Street condominium. Take a stroll through the Nicholson residence and one will definitely find a white Christmas.

“It’s kind of a story. When we lived in Bath, because I had these people who took care of me after my rotator cuff surgery, I had a party and called it an angel party,” Nicholson said of the first time she decorated for a white Christmas. “As we got older, I did one and decorated it all in snowflakes, because we were getting to be ‘snowflakes.’”

Now she just likes the simplicity of it, as well as the opportunity to create corresponding social events: she recently held a party for friends in which all the food was white, the beverages were white (white Russians) and everyone wore white dresses — guests and party favors all matched the holiday design scheme.

With peace declared across the mantelpiece and a light fixture with a Christmas twist; a console that doubles as a winter wonderland and wreath decked with white ornaments and faux dogwood sprigs, the one thing absent is a full-size Christmas tree. Nicholson opted for a smaller, tabletop version, instead.

“I haven’t put one up for a couple of years. It’s not so much putting one up — it’s taking it down,” Nicholson laughed. “The older you get, the less you want gifts. You just want the people you love around you. So that’s what I hope to achieve during the holidays.”

What she has achieved is a warm, inviting holiday home that skirts around the traditional. With that, she had help: the assistance of Debbie Davis, a freelance interior decorator.

“She stages houses for real estate companies and help people like me who don’t know how to do it, or don’t know where to find things,” Nicholson said.

Decorating doesn’t have to be expensive, however. One place Nicholson found plenty of the Christmas ornaments now scattered throughout the condominium was at the Dollar Tree.

“I went to Dollar Tree and went to town,” she laughed.

Whether via the dollar store or Davis, Nicholson has created a holiday haven — and a white Christmas regardless of the weather outside.