I am total opposite of you - I LOVE my house when I put all my decorations away.

I wake up nice and eary December 26th and get packing all the stuff away every year. One year I actually packed up Christmas decorations when my last guest left after dinner on the 25th! LOL

The clutter gets to me after awhile - I love putting it up but man I love putting it away and having my house so nice and clean.

I always feel the same way, ideamom, just like my house with the Xmas decor - so this year, I stopped and asked myself what it was I really liked, and if I could do something similar throughout the year. Realized I liked some type of fabric color on my coffee table/trunk, so am adding a runner to add color, a small patterned pillow on the couch and chair, and lanterns - or something hanging from the curtain rod where I now have a garland. Maybe you could do something similar, figure out what you liked best, and then add the texture/color using non-Xmas items....

terry

We keep our Christmas deorations up until January 6th, as we celebrate the 12 days of Christmas. We take it down after the Ephipheny.

I like the less cluttered look after having had all the "stuff" around for a month. We decorate early for our Christmas party, so after 5 weeks it's time to let it go!

I take an empty box or two and go around and pack things away BEFORE getting out the decorations. I take everything off the mantel, pack away knickknacks and framed photos etc on side tables. That way when I put up the Christmas decorations it isn't totally cluttered.

Christmas STARTS on December 25 and lasts 12 days! I'm oldfashioned and leave them up for the 12 days, but I don't start decorating until the first Sunday in Advent and then do it sort of gradually throughout Advent.

I keep things in plastic tubs and each one is labeled with a specific room. That way I can get down the tub for the dining room and do that whole room at once.... easier to pack away too.

Now is a good time to think about what needs to be "refreshed" in your home. I've started to move paintings around to achieve a more eclectic and less traditional look, will be searching for a glass coffee table to make the front room look more contemporary and am buying new floor mats and bath towels to achieve a more coordinated look in two of the bathrooms. All this gives me something to look forward to. I also change my bedspreads in the master (and for fall also have different curtains) three times a year) so all these projects give me something to look forward to. It really helps.

me and haley are on the same wave length. For the 1st time in years I was so glad to get it all put away and vacuum and dust and return my wonderful wood bowls and spartan designs to their rightful homes. This year I took everything down ( DH bless him was the best !) and put it AWAY today. We normally leave it up till Jan 2. Not this year.

I was ready....I think our lives speak to us in different ways ...different years...this year is shaping up to be "lean and mean". c

I love the lights - could leave lights up ALL year! (I won't, but I could lol) This year I only have the 3 front windows framed in white lights, & it's simple & elegant & adds just the right amount of brightness.

Everything else I'm taking down soon, & can hardly wait for the breathing room! Even thought there really isn't THAT much, I'm with trailrunner - it's looking like a lean & clutter-free year :)

I too am surprised that quite a few people take down their Christmas/holiday decor immediately after the 25th! Why not leave it up to enjoy at least through the start of the new year? Ah well, everyone's different I guess! :-)

Last time I really decorated the house for Christmas, I got a pair of topiaries I loved so much I never put them away. Then topiaries came into style like crazy and I got more.

Maybe it's just a phase but I haven't decorated specifically for Christmas for a few years -- because it is sort of a let-down afterwards. I pretty much decorate all year round anyway -- Christmas is all year round for me, lol! But seriously, I've started to feel more that Christmas is truly with/within us every day whether we have decorations or not.

This is the first year I've decorated at all (minimal though it was) for quite a few years - I guess I just felt like the lights & brightness were needed.

And while I've enjoyed it, I've had enough, & it will be down by the 1st.

A fellow is changing out the windows in the back room/office as I type, & I had to move everything off that wall - including the Size Large Cat Tree - & I LOVE the open feel of having nothing in front of the windows! The cat tree won't be going back. Right now I just want less less less.

We take ours down right after the New Year. Actually...I can't wait to put them away. I just can't stand clutter. DH is the same way about the outside stuff. He hates the cords running through the yard. It's pretty at night but junky looking during the day.

Everyone is so different about this. Our association has rules as to how long you can leave lights up. Thank goodness...as I've seen houses with Christmas lights hanging in August.

I'm just really fed up of it for this year.

Just finished taking down my few-and-far-between Christmas decorations -- a great day weather-wise AND my DH is home today to help out!

Anyway -- the house does look a little bare -- but then I see that as "breathing space" for the New Year and Fresh Ideas and Possibilities!

Besides -- in Scotland (my family heritage LOL!) ALL Christmas decor MUST be down by Jan. 6th (or the evening of the 5th in some places) or Twelfth Night. Or else the household might court bad luck!

NEXT -- on the calendar -- on to HOGMANY or New Years Eve -- with all of its traditions!

Jan

Christmas is my favorite holiday, so I start early with the decorations and music. It takes me a couple of days to unpack and get everything "just right". I really enjoy the process of putting it all out. It makes my heart happy!! I love the anticipation of Christmas, the bright eyes of children, the wonderful music program's at church, and shopping for family and friends. Christmas day is wonderful. Then on Dec. 26th , I go to a couple of my favorite stores to buy a few decorations for 1/2 price. Then, it is over and we start packing things up. We have been married 26 years and we have never left up Christmas decorations to greet a new year. I do, however, appreciate the 12 days of Christmas tradition that people practice.

This was my first Christams in my home. It's my favorite time of year. I went all out with inside decorations. We have a lot of stuff going on over the next couple of weeks. The big thing will be all our carpet is being fixed/installed PROPERLY and we'll need to move things in, out, and all around. What a PITA. Anyhow, I took everything down the 27th. It took ALL day and into the night long. I was flipping exhausted. I think packing everything up properly and inn the right containers since again, this was the first year. Surprisingly I was very ready to see it all go. That or it was just easier in my mind to do it now vs. later. Growing up we never put things away until after New Years. I probably won't either from here on out.

It's a tradition where I live to put one white candle in every window. I never do much decorating and that's the only thing I even bothered to do this year. I'll take them down on Jan 7th.

Inevitably, I drop one of the candles while setting them up or taking them down. It is amazing how many pieces those little nite-lite bulbs can shatter into.

hhireno -- Oh I just love the candle in every window, they did that a lot where we used to live, in Pennsylvania. Some people did it all year 'round in the first floor windows and at Christmas added to the top windows. It is supposed to be a sign of welcome. There is nothing prettier than a colonial with candles in the windows.

One year we put a candle in every window and a wreath hanging outside on every one too. Had snow too! I still smile when I look at the old photos.

We haven't taken the Christmas tree or other things down yet but will this week. I'm ready for the stockings & nutcrackers to be done with.

I do leave one thing up though - a small pre-lit tree in an urn - I remove the decorations, but leave the tree in the family room by the fireplace...the tiny clear lights reflect in the glass of my grandfather clock and I just love it. We leave it up as 'winter' decor until spring comes, at the end of March.

Susan

I adore Christmas decorations and if people wouldn't think me a kook, I'd leave them up year round.

I too love the look of my "bare" house after the Christmas decorations are put away. I start out decorating after Thanksgiving and am all too ready to start putting things away after Christmas. I start putting away a few days after Christmas, but I always leave the tree up until after New Years. I really go all out so it's usually and week's work to get everything put away. I'm fortunate that I teach school and have the time off, so I just do it at a snail's pace. I do like to everything put away before heading back to work after the new year. We put up a tree in the LR that has all vintage ornaments (over 1000), it's actually my DH's baby. He collected most of the ornaments. He takes that down, and he does it real slow. That tree has been up as long as the beginning of Feb. LOL.

i haven't even *thought* about taking down all the christmas decorations ~ they just make my spirits soar ~ wish i could keep it looking like this for another month ~ course, i just *might* (grin)

the pictures are from last year; but i do quite a bit of this sort of decorating to help me get thru the long winter ~

phyl, very pretty. Your holiday decor could stay up year round because it's in black and white and can go either way. Very nice.

phyl, I love those cardinal pictures. I have a couple of resin cardinals that I leave out year round---maybe in a flower pot or anywhere that looks lonely! Is the letter opener and magnifying glass from Mackenzie Childs? I'm a big fan of their b/w checked things!

I didn't put out my village this year (because of construction and drywall issues), but it usually stays until the end of January.