How Early Is TOO Early to Decorate for the Holidays? Experts Weigh In
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How soon is too soon to pull out the holiday lights? The answer may come down to where you fall in one of two camps: CBS or a CVS. If you’re team CBS—the network that broadcasts the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade—you feel that the holiday season starts on Thanksgiving morning, when Santa barrels down Central Park West in his sled. At that very moment, it’s buh-bye decorative gourds, hello holiday lights.
On the other hand, plenty of folks are team CVS—the drugstore chain that has been known to stock holiday decor alongside lawn chairs as early as August, a retail move known as “Christmas creep,” designed to extend the holiday shopping season. For these hard-core holiday enthusiasts, it’s never too soon to get jolly.
To be sure, if you belong to a Homeowner’s Association (and over 75.5 million Americans do), the question of when to put up your holiday decorations may not be yours to ask. HOA’s tend to have rules about holiday decorations, restrictions covering their location (within the boundaries of your yard), sound level (not too loud), safety (no open flames), light color, and when the decorations can be installed. You can be fined for bringing out the twinkle lights and nativity scenes prior to Thanksgiving—as happened to one Florida man in 2002, when he was hit with a fine of $1,000 for putting his lights up on November 6th.
If you don’t live in an HOA, you may not get fined for jumping the decorating gun, but you will get judged by those who find pre-Thanksgiving holiday displays a little, well, tacky. In the spirit of peace on earth and goodwill toward man, we asked the experts, from designers to etiquette mavens, Who’s right? Here’s what they said.
The Rules Are: There Are No Rules
You might follow a religious tradition that offers guidelines for your holiday decor—keeping the Baby Jesus out of the nativity until Christmas day, for example, or the tree up until Epiphany. But in terms of secular etiquette, there are no official rules as to when to deck or not to deck.
“Most people find it tasteful to stick within the weeks or the month of the holiday itself,” points out Lizzie Post, co-president of The Emily Post Institute and author of Emily Post’s Etiquette—The Centennial Edition. “That said, there is no etiquette that dictates it. It’s the same way you can paint your house neon orange with blue stripes—there’s nothing that says you can’t. It’s really, do you want to be the person who does?”
For designer Tan France, the answer to that question is decidedly yes. For the past 10 years, he and his husband have been decorating their tree on Halloween, and taking it down on Valentine’s day. “I’m British and we don’t really do Halloween,” he explains. “When I moved here 16 years ago, I was more obsessed about Christmas. So on Halloween day when everyone else is crafting their costumes, I want to be decorating the tree. And a tree brings me and my husband a lot of joy when we come down and turn the lights on first thing in the morning. It’s just a lovely thing to perk your day up.”
This year, for the first time, the couple has also strung outdoor white lights around several trees in the yard of their new Salt Lake City home, and along the awnings of the house itself. “It just added to the joy and the magic for the kids,” France says. “Every evening before we put them down to bed now, we take them out to look at the lights before they start their bedtime routine.”
Do people question France about his decision to put up decorations up so early—and for so long: “Oh gosh, yeah, everyone asks that,” he says. “Online, the press, neighbors. And my answer is really simple: Why delay joy?”
If, instead of white lights, France and his family had opted for, say, an inflatable snow globe that plays a light show and blares Holly Jolly Christmas on repeat, their neighbors might go further than questions, and lodge complaints. “When decor crosses over into keeping you awake at night, now we have problems,” says Post.
What's the Rush? Take One Holiday at a Time
Look, if you are jonesing to decorate for a holiday, hello, there’s one happening right now. It’s called Thanksgiving. “Anytime before midnight of Thanksgiving is too early to decorate,” insists Wendy Kerrigan, founder of Atelier Design in New Orleans. “Filling the house with Christmas decorations too soon really takes away from the beauty of Thanksgiving, moving your mind into the bustle of Christmas.”
Kerrigan would also like you to remember that there's a bit of fall left, which is a beautiful time of year. “Thanksgiving can be experienced in a special way too, filling the house with fall colors, fall leaves, gourds, and cornucopia,” says Kerrigan. “Instead of trying to hurry the year along, enjoy each family celebration for what it is.”
Rushing the Yuletide, Team CBS argues, robs each holiday of its own magic. “What makes things special when they’re once a year is that they’re experiences you you look forward to,” says Texas-raised, Vermont-based interior designer Joshua Smith. “How many holidays can we take in at one time? Are we doing Black Friday in July now? Let’s just enjoy the season that we’re in!”
Who Has the Time?
When it comes to holiday decorating, many hands make light work. Several designers say they take advantage of the long holiday weekend and enforced family time to rope in some extra help making spirits bright. “In my parents' home, we start decorating right after Thanksgiving dinner. It’s a rare opportunity for everyone to be together, and my siblings and I stay to help out our parents,” says New-York-based designer Mikel Welch. “Plus, it’s a much better tradition than terrorizing sales associates on Black Friday Eve!"
Smith has a plan for bringing the Christmas spirit to his home, without shouldering the burden of doing all the hall-decking himself. “This year, we’re officially decorating Thanksgiving weekend, and it’s going to be a tree-decorating contest,” he says. “My husband’s family will be in town and they’ll be divided into three teams, decorating three trees, and I’ll go around at the end judging and everyone will win prizes. We’re not all going to be together at Christmas, so this activity is a fun way to celebrate the season and not do all the work myself.”
Still, Team CVS would argue that the amount of effort needed to set up holiday decor is another reason to put up decorations early—and keep them up late. “Why put in all that effort for a few weeks?” asks France.
We Need a Little Christmas, Right This Very Minute
Even those who are normally Team CBS agree that desperate times call for dopamine decorating. Whether it’s the state of your inbox or the state of the world that is stressing you out, if you’re feeling a little blue, go right ahead and pull out the red and green.
“In a perfect calendar, the day after Thanksgiving would be my official start to the holiday season—it's traditionally the day when my family goes out into the woods of Tahoe National Forest to chop down our tree, drag it home, and decorate it,” says designer Noz Nozawa of Noz Design. “But this year, the day after Halloween is when I let the holidays start—there's plenty to worry about, and having my nutcrackers and string lights out a few weeks early can only boost spirits.”
Whenever you decorate, it can be a way to bring fun to a not-always joyful world. “We have no control over a lot of things in our lives but we walk through the door of our home, we choose to focus our energy on and attention to–whether that be on fear or on love and joy,” says Smith. “And this holiday season I think more than ever we have to focus on ways to bring more light to ourselves and to each other.”
Stores Don't Count
When it comes to early decor, “I can handle it from my neighbor, I cannot handle it from a corporation,” says Post. That may be because we know the Christmas displays popping up in a big-box store alongside the Halloween candy are trying to sell us something, while a neighbor decorating is spreading joy, spending their own time and money to brighten the dark winter nights. For a shop, holiday decorating is mercenary. For an individual, it’s a mitzvah.
If you appreciate the joy inspired by holiday displays, and do want to start setting them up early or keep them up late, consider finding a middle ground by leaning toward decor that’s more about lighting up the night, rather than marking a particular occasion. “I see a lot of people in Vermont leaving the actual lights up, not so much like blow-up Santas or things like that, but the actual lights up for the entire winter,” says Post.
If you’re a minimalist (or live in a studio apartment), you don’t need a tree to decorate. “If you don’t have a tree, I’m going to invite you to place a hurricane lamp on your coffee table with a wreath of greenery around it and light a candle in the evening,” says Smith. “Because what we know from neuroscience and neuroaesthetics is, you’ve got to engage the senses to nourish the soul!” Light a candle or turn on some twinkle lights and you’re liable to spark joy as well.
France would argue that even his trees aren’t occasion-specific. “Here’s the thing: I’m Muslim, and my tree and the lights on our house aren’t necessarily for Christmas,” he explains. “It’s to celebrate Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year. This is the most miserable time of the year, it gets dark so early, it gets light so late, it’s so darn cold. I just think do everything you can to bring yourself joy.”
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