Was it always this bare?!

Everything except the outside lights, which I’m keeping up until spring, is gone now.

Is there some law of nature, though, that says that just when you’ve closed up the attic, cleared away stray glitter and hoovered up fallen needles, you suddenly spot something you’ve missed? This year it’s three ceramic tea lights holders decorated with robins. I failed to see them on the coffee table. CBA to open up the attic again so they’ll go in a cupboard for now!

I keep the tea light candles going. Have some lovely red glass holders for them. (3).

Filled a glass ball bowl with small lights this year. They are sill on the window sill.

My neighbour has replaced her Christmas wreath with a Spring wreath she made - haven't seen it up close yet, so not exactly sure what she has done. Looks pretty from a distance.

I'm thinking of making one with ribbons, but haven't thought it through properly yet.

Well today I decided to put away some Christmas ornaments and the cards, but the trees, lights and nativity scene will remain until 12th night.
It's a big job putting everything back to bed, so decided to make a start with some of the things so that it's not such a chore trying to do it all in one day.

Our tree is down, out for the recycling and the decorations, but the outside lights will stay up. It’s the first year we’ve had them, there very cheering. The house does seem bare, I’m missing the little tree in the kitchen, the lights were on timer and I thought about 5pm why haven’t the lights come on!

Our tree and decorations will come down on Monday , didn’t put so many up as we knew there wouldn’t be any visitors.
I used to put our cards on the window sills in our conservatory and they usually fell down !! Now I keep family cards out on our sideboard , the rest go into a pretty Christmas basket , much easier to keep tidy!

I took ours down day before yesterday- I usually leave them up until 12th night but I was fed up with them this year. It was a miserable Christmas with no family allowed to come round.
I have left the wreath on the door- it took me ages to make it
so I am making the most of it.

Never mind light up January
Last January I loved the garden lights so much they've never come down. I asked the neighbours if they minded: no, they love them.
And now, when we have these very grey days, which is often? I put the lights on at the front of the bungalow.

I usually wait till 12th night and will do that this Christmas as well.

i am ready to take down my decorations and as usual at this time of year i want to move everything round, i get like this every year once xmas is passed, wouldn't mind but only have a small living room and not a lot of re arranging to be done.

I had to move a very tall house plant (more like a tree) away from the bay window to make room for the Christmas tree, and added a spare small set of warm white lights. It looks lovely, but there won’t be a socket nearby once it’s moved back. I’m thinking of digging out an extension lead - I know we’ve got some somewhere, in the black hole aka The Cupboard Under The Stairs....

From now until 12th night I do a bit every day to try and escape the bare empty house feeling. Although with three children in a small house I don't think I will feel it this year.

I'm not looking forward to taking down my decorations, particularly the lights and Christmas cushions, as they have helped me stay cheerful this year. I like your excuse to leave up the candle bridge, Urmstongran, so I will have to explain Candlemas my DH. He's the one who normally can't wait to put it all away.
I'm not a fastidious cleaner by any stretch of the imagination, but I did vacuum up the crumbs after Christmas and have a dust round and it was no more difficult than usual.

We got rid of our deep red sofas the week before Christmas, took delivery of new cream ones a few days before and put the tree and decorations up the same day.
The room looks so lovely but I’m also looking forward to seeing how it all looks without the Christmas stuff.
Probably will result in some colourful accessory purchases.

Light up January is exactly as I described Lizbethann I saw it on a Facebook feed and having remarked to my husband that I’d like to leave the outside lights up to cheer everyone up I’m going with it!

I would never take the decorations and lights down before 12th night and we did put them up earlier than usual this year, like many of our neighbours. I always used to feel it was wrong for the children to have to return to school before the 12 days of Christmas had passed. I love the traditions of Christmas and this is definitely one of them.

As for the bareness of the house when the decorations come down, I quite like that too.

Why is everyone so obsessed with cleaning and dusting. You have all the time in the world at the moment, So please everyone, stop fussing about when you take the decs down.

Our decs will stay up till 12th night. We're going to have a 'cull' of our decorations this year before we put them away. We have so many that some of them were left in the loft this Christmas. Then I'll have a mini spring clean and put back the things I had to move to make way for the decorations! The house always sounds very hollow and echo-y afterwards. It usually prompts me to start thinking about redecorating, new curtains, rearranging the furniture etc.

We'll take ours down tomorrow which we always do on New Years Day.

I always think the house looks bare to begin with but also have an amaryllis to start and I'll get some flowers to cheer the living room up.

BoBo, what's the Light Up January campaign?

I know that this year people put their decorations up earlier, which I can understand, though I do think November was far far too early. But it really makes me sad when they are taken down so early. Whatever happened to the 12 Days of Christmas and Epiphany? There is so very little to look forward to in January (other than my birthday?), that it seems so sad to revert to dark and dull sooner than necessary. We haven't even seen out the old year yet!! Put them up later and keep them up longer is my belief!

Ours went up earlier and I’m happy this year to leave them until twelfth night! They look cheerful and now we’re in Tier 4 House Arrest they help! I’m also going to leave up my outdoor lights (not the little Santa) for the ‘Light Up January’ campaign to show support for our key workers and cheer up the dark nights! Happy New Year everyone, stay safe and well!

I love the house being back to normal so clean and clutter free although I left a string of lights on my fireplace with sprigs of artificial eucalyptus through them and it looks lovely. Also have a tall vase in my window with a bunch of it in it too.

The Queen keeps hers up till February, doesn't she? And she doesn't get bad luck.

Oh, wait a minute......

grannysue05 My Mother always thought it was unlucky if any Xmas decorations were left up after 12th night and was most diligent in clearing them all. In 1983 my Father died on 6th January and the following day she found a small piece of holly she had over looked......... I am MOST careful to get everything put away before 6th !!