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 company 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? 😍
Places like Lowe’s…..too soon. Completely get the crafting for Christmas gifts, but I shouldn’t hear Christmas music and Halloween animatronics at the same time. At least with Walmart it’s not in the same exact section!
I do agree. I boycott all stores that put up Christmas decorations or play music and I let them know. Lowe’s already has all their Christmas decorations up, September 28th mind you. Have a mass said for a gift. It’s only ten dollars and will last for eternity
I like to decorate closer to Thanksgiving. This year I have my exterior decorated early because I could only get on the decorators schedule early. I prefer Thanksgiving weekend but since Thanksgiving is so late this year I elected for early exterior decor. The inside of my home will be Thanksgiving weekend and I won’t out a tree up until December because I like a fresh tree.
Our family decorates early. Right after Halloween. But my 10 year old daughter has gotten creative and her room is already Christmas decorated. She said”Covid stinks so Christmas makes me happy.”
We always decorate the Saturday after Thanksgiving. We go get our tree in the morning and then Saturday/Sunday we decorate. As a child, my mom always made us wait until the car ride home, from my Aunt’s house, on Thanksgiving night to sing Christmas songs…. then Thanksgiving was officially over and Christmas could now begin. This year, with everything going on w/ COVID and all the super negativity, I think seeing Christmas stuff out early is a happy thing. There’s nothing wrong with a little more happy and bright lights in the world. And if it brings out the Christmas spirit in people earlier, all the better. So I’m all for it. What’s better than seeing people smile and be in a good place when they’re around Christmas joy ? Why should there be a date on that ?
Put them up when it makes you feel happy. Life is much to short to care about what others think about something as trivial as that. We usually put ours up thanksgiving weekend.
We have set a date of Nov 1 for our tree. I dont mind Christmas stuff going up early due to Christmas savings accounts are distributed this time of year and stores know it and want to get in on the spending.
Totally with you Collin!!!! Christmas is a season and we like to enjoy it every minute we can. Since we decorate in every room of the house and that takes time our goal is always to be decorated by Veterans Day. But since we are all needing to feel something extra magical, hopeful and cozy this year – November 1st it is!!!! Merry Christmas!!! 🎄🎄🎄
I just love reading all of your stories. I used to decorate the weekend after Thanksgiving, but we rotate where we have holidays each year with my siblings and parent so it used to be my excuse to get the decorations up BEFORE thanksgiving if everyone was going to be at my house for Thanksgiving but not at Christmas. I like for everyone to see the house all decorated, and we are all spread out, and they may not be back to my house during the holidays. Now, usually the weekend before or after Thanksgiving. depending on my schedule. It DOES put me in a happy mood having the decorations up and the smells of pine and cranberries. Just opening the drawers where I store them has that smell and if I am looking for something and happen to open them, it immediately takes me there!!
Last year I put my Christmas tree up on Halloween night. We don’t really celebrate Halloween. “Beggars night” (what my state calls Trick or Treating) isn’t on Halloween anyways and I was 38 weeks pregnant 💚🎄 Christmas makes me happy, my hubby might think I’m crazy but 🤷🏻♀️😂 I’m going to try to hold out on decorating for Christmas until after my daughters first birthday on November 5th but I can’t make any promises lol 🎄❤️
I say do what makes you happy! For me, I also love the vibe of fall/Thanksgiving decorations so I can’t imagine having Christmas decorations up for Thanksgiving!
I personally don’t like to see decorations up until Thanksgiving (I know, I know!) because that’s when we put them up when I was a kid. After I lost my mom, though, Christmas was a hard holiday for many years so seeing decorations up early was torture. It felt like the season lasted two years instead of only a month or two. Not anyone else’s problem, I know, but for the grieving and the lonely, it can seem endless. Especially for people without close family or friends. If you have that, consider yourself ultra blessed. That’s the true gift, IMO.
dealzgurl, well said. Hugs to you.
I decorate on November 1st inside, and Black Friday outside. It makes me and my family happy, and we don’t “forget” about Thanksgiving either (big eye roll here). In fact we have a few awesome weeks of having clashing Thanksgiving and Christmas decorations up at the same time. It’s fun and festive and hurts literally no one. Been thinking about putting my Christmas decorations up even earlier this year honestly. Christmas decor/music is MAGICAL and good for the soul, IMHO. 🙂
I used to wait until after Thanksgiving to decorate for Christmas, but then my British boyfriend gave me a new perspective. In England, they don’t celebrate Thanksgiving, so they typically start decorating after their fireworks night, called Guy Fawkes Night, on November 5. The Christmas season in England typically lasts two months, until January 5. I personally don’t think that having Christmas decor up at Thanksgiving takes anything away from Thanksgiving. I think it makes Thanksgiving better. I used to think it was a bit of a waste putting Christmas decor up for just a month and now I like that we have it up for two months.
I do not understand people getting bent out of shape over stores selling Christmas stuff early. I enjoy adding to my collection of Christmas decorations in September and October because if I wait until November and December when it’s “acceptable” I usually have to focus on buying presents and not new decor for myself. We always decorate about a week and a half before Thanksgiving. I love seeing my tree lit up and having that cozy feeling in my house.
Thanksgiving is probably my least favorite holiday..I like to eat too much with family but really, we do that throughout the year.😂. I’ll start decorating Nov 1st, when I take down halloween stuff. The tree & everything else is too much work to just have it up a couple weeks. I used to enjoy doing fall decor more, but I’m kind of over it at this point. Do whatever makes you happy, life’s too short.
I used to love Christmas but 2 kids later and 20 years and I’m over it. NO ONE helps me and over the years I’ve scaled back on decorating and no one has noticed. We used to have traditions with lighting advent candles and putting mangers together with biblical readings. I stopped a few years ago to see if anyone missed it and no one said a word. Last year I didn’t put out the nativity scene. My husband was the only one who noticed. I told him I ran out of time. He didn’t volunteer to put it out. I’m done.
My kids complain about the lack of outdoor decorations. We can’t afford much and what I do have no one offers to help. Last year I didn’t put out the Christmas Laser lights. No one noticed.
It’s 2020 and we’re in the midst of a pandemic. Do whatever you want that will make you a little happier!!!
I’m putting my tree up on Thanksgiving night this year. Usually I do it the Sunday after.
I put up my personal tree and decor the weekend before thanksgiving, bc I like having it up when I get back home from whichever relative’s house I was visiting for thanksgiving, usually my parents (we try to put the tree up that weekend, as my parents won’t by themselves until right before Christmas and their fake tree is too big for that to be worth it!). Plus if I’m off thanksgiving, I usually work the day after, I’m in healthcare, so the work day directly after is usually rather sucky bc no one was open or wanted to go on the holiday. So when I get home and see the decor I feel better about the day, instead of viewing it as a chore to still do! Plus all the effort for 2 weeks is crazy, I want at least 5-6
In my home country, Christmas starts at the beginning of September and lasts until the Day of the Three Kings. When I came to the US, I followed the idea of decorating the day after Thanksgiving out of respect for this holiday. This year I’m planning to decorate early since my MIL is hosting Thanksgiving and I’m doing Christmas. I will wait until the trees are bare though until I put out my decorations. It is cold and I’m feeling that Christmas magic already but because it’s still fall outside, I will wait awhile. Hopefully, after Veteran’s Day, the leaves have fallen. In the meantime, I will watch Christmas movies on Hallmark.
I decorated the inside on November 5 and get a fresh tree after Thanksgiving. I love Christmas I love my house smell cinnamon stick and festive and also made me happy. I also decorate outdoor a day before Thanksgiving.
I generally wait until the day after Thanksgiving. However, this yr, it’s going up this weekend. 2020 has been a trying time for all of us. Christmas is always such a happy time, and I for one, need a little happy! I say, do what makes you happy. Life is to be lived, enjoyed, and if putting up a Christmas tree in Oct, Nov, gives you happiness, enjoyment, then what are you waiting for! Merry Merry Christmas all, let’s hope for a better 2021! Stay safe and healthy! 🎄 🎅
Christmas is a celebration of the birth of the Savior – Jesus. How can decorations for this be too early! Whenever the Spurit moves you
*Spirit
In the past I used to decorate the day after Thanksgiving. This year I’ll start decorating after Veteran’s Day. Where I come from Christmas is a big celebration. It starts as early as September and ends on Three kings Day.
When I was little, it was a tradition that us kids could flick on the switch to light the outdoor Christmas decorations on Thanksgiving night. A little Ode to the beginning of the season! We start decorating as soon as Thanksgiving is over!
Aww, Love that, Holly! Thanks for sharing that sweet memory with us! 🤗❤️
The day after Thanksgiving is when we start to decorate. We listen to music and put up the Christmas tree.
That’s usually when I decorate too! ❤️🎄
Everyone has an opinion and really it doesn’t matter. This debate comes up every year. Also, the complaint about stores putting out holiday stuff comes up every year. Bottom line is that stores want your money, that is why they put it out early.
My whole family, husband, myself, 3 kids are off on Election Day. We have nothing to do and no sports or other events pulling us away on weekends. We make a big breakfast and decorate all day. We go vote early and spend the whole day putting up Christmas!
Simple answer – it’s whenever you flipping want to! Stop worrying about everyone else. If it brings you Joy, do it!!
Due to my husband’s work schedule, we typically celebrate Thanksgiving on the Wednesday before. Dad ( usually) works on Thanksgiving, and the kids and I start decorating for Christmas. I also give them an advent calendar that day.
HOWEVER, this year Thanksgiving is the 29th ! It seems like a short Christmas season, and we may need to break tradition and decorate early.
We decorate outdoors they first Saturday of December (our HOA won’t allow before then) and we decorate indoors on the first Sunday of December. It all comes down on the day of Epiphany.
I don’t understand people who tear everything down on Dec 26.