Christmas Decorating - Yes or No?

We have our 'Christmas twig' which consists of a large container with some branches covered in red lights and some huge fat robins, we will have lights round the front door, plus Christmas throws and cushions and of course Christmas cards which i feel always makes things look festive. I have two large ceramics Santa Claus which i bought over 20 years ago which sit on the windowsills and you can put tealights inside and this lights up their eyes so no doubt they will come out to.

I live on my own but will spend a lot of Christmas with both daughters and grandchildren. I have always gone a bit mad at Christmas and my youngest daughter is worse than me! We always get the trees on the first Saturday in Dec and decorate all three houses/flat. 4 footer fits in my alcove just right. I also put up other decs, candles, lights, etc and have a lighted santa and sleigh on the balcony. They then come to me for New Year. I love it all but do appreciate if you are alone and won't see anyone or recently bereaved you may not want to.

At home our tree/decorations didn't go up until Christmas Eve then down on the twelfth night ( 6th Jan )

Although I'm on my own as well I still make the effort about a week before Christmas with the " boxed " tree,lights and nik-naks around the place. 3 pre-lit twigs for extra ambience and candles in the old glass Victorian danglers on the mantlepiece ( lustres ?) I don't do modern displays.

WChen we lived in our fisrdt floor flat we never went over the top really just small tree and some xmas ornaments placed around the lounge.
Now moved to our bungalow we can go a wee bit special and put the living tree out in the front garden covered with lights and decorate the door with a nice wreath.
I love to see the little eyes on my youngest DGs when they arrive and see all the colours from the lights

^ what went wrong there^

I will be celebrating Christmas by having major ankle surgery and being in some kind of care for the first two weeks afterwards - a very expensive nightmare! Family will be around for part of the time, but they have other commitments, too. Lost my guy five years ago, and feeling very alone.

Cherrytree59 I loved your comment about hyacinths... I potted up paper white narcissus for the table at Christmas, and they're in full bloom now.

So beautiful ! So early !

If I sell my house I hope to move next year. Have been up in loft and removed most decs. Thought it was a good time to take them to the Hospice shop and get rid of. I am on my own will spend day with friend and go to Chester Cathedral in the morning.

Yes, some people have got there houses decorated already and they are all whipped down after New Year's day. No one understand Advent anymore.

just abelectric candle decoration in the window, a very small ready decorated tree from Waitrose and a few other candles. A homemade wreath on the door and that is it. I love getting Christmas cards but hate having them al around the sitting room.

When we lived in Ireland we didn’t have anyone coming to to house and we would travel over to the UK for Christmas Day - I never bothered putting decs up

But after my dad died and he was on his own he still put up a tree every year

We have two Christmas trees (artificial), a one of those pre lit bare looking trees for the porch, and garlands. I will always put up my decorations, as my Dad did when he was on his own.

Find this very interesting as a similar thread was on regarding this. When I put out the simple question 'does anyone not have a tree at all?' Not one positive response.

I never buy a tree, nowhere to put it anyway. I never put up decorations only hang cards. I cook Christmas dinner as my daughter will come here for that. If she didn't come I would be on my own.

I don't like Christmas, but looking back the year when I didn't put the cards up or dress a little tree was the time I was very low.

On my own last year and put up the tree, this year nothing is going up, nothing would survive my 6 month old kitten's ministrations!!!!

I no longer bother with decorations etc. because I will be alone over Christmas. The family will all gather at my sons house the other side of the country and I will have FaceTime with them.
I am pleased when Christmasis over and things get back to normal.

I live in a Granny annexe and just put my “designer twig” up and a few fairy lights. DD who lives next door (adjoined) with her family, she does all the lavish decorations so I am lucky to get the best of both worlds.

Bijou and Hm, me too.

We’ll be away at Christmas, but have a pop up tree, complete with lights and decorations, which will go up until the grandchildren have visited.

I am a widow but my home is festooned!! It makes the place look so cheery and welcoming.

Been having this kind of conversation with my daughters, with losing my husband last Boxing Day none of us know how we are going to be feeling,at the moment we are all reliving last year so what we decided was not to decorate but have something small for my husband and I always buy my lost babies a special decoration or bauble so will still do that

For the first time in years, DH & I will be on our own for Christmas. We'll buy a small potted tree (to go outside afterwards) & I look forward to using the the decorations, which haven't seen the light of day for a while. Our food will be simple (a good quality "ready" Christmas meal, plus buffet food) and we'll simply hunker down. DH is in hog-heaven at the thought of all this, and is already planning our Christmas TV viewing - fortunately we have very similar taste. There will be a Christmas day Skype with family 5000 miles away - and perhaps I can start planning for seeing them next year...

Its just me and the husband and yes we will decorate - only the living room though as usual. Decorations will be going up in the first few days of December and are whipped down on 2nd Jan. We have a 3ft fibre optic tree that sits on the windowsill - despite our living room being a fairly decent size there is no obvious place to put a large tree where it won't be in the way. I love Christmas, my husband and I buy each other lots of little presents to open on Christmas Day and enjoy our peace and quiet home alone.

Sorry about your husband passing last year madmum38, wishing you and your daughters a love filled time.
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We will put decorations up very close to Christmas and they will be down a few days after because the tree can only really go in front of the window and after a few days everyone is fed up with it!!

I love putting the trees up! I'm sure I would do it if I was alone too.
I don't do it early though - about 4-5 days before 25th but they stay up until 12th Night. I keep the indoor decorations 'tasteful'.
DH however festoons the front of the house with lights- probably too many TBH but he likes them & so do local children & our GC. I make a wreath for front door from things we have in the garden- luckily we have holly & a lot of evergreens.