When’s The Best Time to Decorate for Christmas? Help Us Settle This Debate.
Is it ever too early to deck the halls? Join our team’s lively debate on when to decorate for Christmas!
These days it definitely seems like we can’t embrace any holiday celebration without retail stores stocking shelves or online inventory with the next big holiday still months away.
So when should you decorate for Christmas?
I asked our team how soon (or not so soon) their Christmas decorations are going up this year. Join our festive team debate on when we think it’s the perfect time to deck the halls.
It’s only the beginning of fall and stores are already flooding their inventory with Christmas decor. Say what?! In fact, we recently learned that holiday searches online are already up 400%. 😳
According to many different sources, it seems that the most popular and socially acceptable time to decorate in households across America is the weekend right after Thanksgiving. Additionally, some say that putting up decorations anytime before Halloween is way too early.
But… many people also claim that decorating earlier makes them feel happier. 🎄
Even Scary Mommy shared some studies that prove people are happier when they decorate earlier and people who put up exterior decorations are even seen as friendlier people. Whoa! One thing is for sure…we could all benefit from feeling happier, so maybe decorating a little earlier isn’t such a bad thing.
Here’s how our team feels about when to decorate for Christmas:
These team members decorate right after Halloween and can’t wait to swap out pumpkins for twinkling lights:
“You guys are totally going to think I’m nuts, but I used to start the day after Halloween! My dad and I used to enter our city’s decorating contest and we would hand make & paint decorations every year! We had to be done decorating early for the judging to take place, hence starting crazy early.
My dad, unfortunately, passed away a few years ago so I did a display by myself that year in honor of him.❤️ I later moved out and now that I live in an apartment so I tend to decorate the day after Thanksgiving like a sane person. LOL.” – Erika
“I put up our indoor Christmas decor as I’m taking down the Halloween decor. So basically our house is fully holiday decorated from mid-September till the week after New Years! Who doesn’t want to look at a Christmas Tree for two whole months instead of one? Our outside Christmas decor goes up the day after Thanksgiving (it would go up earlier however I live in an HOA and we have rules about how long before a holiday you can decorate). Also, we live in Florida which has no “fall season” so I don’t do any type of fall/thanksgiving decor at all, maybeeeee if we lived in another state that actually had regular seasons instead of 12 months of summer I’d switch it up but for now it’s Halloween Mid-Sept-1st week of Nov, Then immediately Christmas until after new years!” – Liz
“I skipped fall/Halloween decorating last year and plan to this year. 🫣 I love the pumpkins and corn stalks and fall colors, but we won’t be around much this season to enjoy them, so I plan to slowly start decorating for Christmas at the beginning of November because I’ll be itching for some sort of decor change. Plus I like seeing what we have early enough in the season which can either curb or inspire holiday decor shopping 😆 Then right after Thanksgiving is when the tree goes up. I would do it earlier if I could, but we always get a real tree and it wouldn’t last that long for us to get it sooner than that.” – Emily
“I’m that person that starts putting up the Christmas tree & decor on November 1st. My grandma does the same, so I think that’s where I got the habit! It doesn’t feel like Thanksgiving without a twinkly Christmas tree, and it really helps you get into the thankful/festive spirit. We also paint new Christmas decorations together after Thankgiving dessert every year, which is a super fun family tradition and something we all look forward to.” – Madison
“I’m usually a late November gal (since we’re usually always gone over Thanksgiving)! BUT last year we didn’t put up our tree so this year it’s going up November 1. I really love fall but the Christmas season is so short that I want to enjoy it for as long as possible! (Especially my Christmas mugs!” – Alli
These team members are post-Thanksgiving purists who believe turkey time needs its moment:
“We do our decorating the day after Thanksgiving until just after New Years.” – Chelsey
“I usually decorate the day after Thanksgiving. Anything earlier is too early for me as the decorations feel dusty after a while. But it’s never too early to buy them! I just bought some new ornaments yesterday! HAHA!” – Amber S.
“I try to put up the tree the Saturday after Thanksgiving and then start decorating everything else that week, but I don’t judge people who decorate even earlier! I love Christmas!” – Jessica
“We decorate the second we’re done celebrating Thanksgiving. For us, anything before that is too soon. I need Fall decor for my Thanksgiving celebration. Haha!” – Jenna R.
“Traditionally, we put up decorations and the tree the Day after Thanksgiving. However, since Covid times, it’s kind of been whenever we feel like it. The day after Halloween would be a dream to start decking the halls, but the kids prefer to leave the spooky animatronics up a little longer as they are as Halloween crazy as I am Christmas crazy.” – Jenna P.
“Usually the day after Thanksgiving…or the day of and then we take everything down on New Years Eve.” – Denise
“I loooooove Christmas! It’s easily my favorite holiday to decorate for and the decorations make me so happy. However, Thanksgiving has my heart and I look forward to the food every year. Even though Christmas is my #1 I still love letting each holiday play out. We usually decorate the day after Thanksgiving.” – Monica
“I do think there is something special about waiting until the day after Thanksgiving. Growing up it was exciting to see the bins and decorate with my mom. For work pictures I have been doing a tree without ornaments just lights in November and that’s fun too.” – Lina
“I absolutely love Christmas so normally by the time Thanksgiving is here I’m ready to decorate! I just love having onlinepany over and having everything set up and pretty. I used to be really religious about decorating on Black Friday, but with kids in the picture, I just decorate somewhere around Thanksgiving when it feels right.” – Sara
“I prefer to wait until December to put up our tree as I feel like 3 weeks with the tree up is plenty of time! I hate to admit it, but I’ve been known to take down our tree on the evening of 12/25! HAHA! I’m always ready to get the house back to its normal non-tree state as soon as Christmas is over.” – Bryn
“We definitely deck the halls after Thanksgiving but we don’t have a set time frame – pretty much whenever I feel like digging through my garage for the Christmas stuff. I don’t put out a lot of decorations though because I don’t want to be dusting that stuff all month-long. We do 2 Christmas trees though and I go pretty nuts with those!” – Cass
Here’s why these team members decorate a bit earlier every year:
“I’m team November 1st all the way! As soon as Halloween’s over, it’s game on with the Christmas decorations. 🎄 The holiday season flies by, and I want to soak up every bit of that merry, bright, joyful, and warm feeling. Honestly, there’s nothing better than cozying up with Christmas lights and decor for as long as possible!” – Collin
“We used to put ours up the afternoon of Black Friday, but then we moved it a little earlier so the kids could enjoy it when they were home from college during Thanksgiving. My husband now realizes that he lost the battle of holiday spirit because both my daughter and I love having it up early. I just checked my photos from last year, and the tree was up and decorated by November 10th! LOL!” – Liza
“I like to put up my decorations long before Thanksgiving because Christmas decor is amazing and magical! For me, I just love sitting on my couch in the early morning hours, drinking my coffee, and looking around at all the festive decor and my beautiful lit-up Christmas tree.
It makes me feel cozy and so excited about the holiday season. I’m that person – that person who’s obsessed with Christmas. I love the cheesy Hallmark Christmas movies, all the yummy seasonal foods, drinking hot cocoa, gift-giving, and just the feeling I get during this time of year! I could go on and on… lol
So unlike my sister, Bryn, I like to enjoy our festive decor and Christmas tree (with all the meaningful ornaments) for more than just 3 weeks. When Halloween is over, it’s time to get decorating!” 🙌 –Collin
When do you decorate? 😍
