Remove the Stress of Holiday Decorating

As the winter Holiday season ramps up it is easy to get bowled under mountains of to do lists, social obligations, presents to buy or make and of course, decorating your home.  Decorating can be a hugely stressful endeavor for many people, as it is a front and center visual and therefor easy for other people to judge.  Or for us to feel like they are.  Every year the media, (both professional publications and social media) seem to scream at us about what we ABSOLUTELY MUST DO THIS YEAR!  Did you see that A-list actors Christmas tree???  These seasonal boughs will change your life!  Wreathes in this new style will show everyone you're in "the know"!!!  Must be cutting edge!!  No one will come to your party or have a good time if you use last years colour scheme!  OK, that last one might be a stretch, but its what it feels like to me.  I'm here to tell you all of that, and I mean ALL OF IT, is a load of BS.

Sure, change up your decor, follow a trend - but do it because you like it, not because you feel like your stuff is not good enough.  Trust me, it is.  The holidays are an industry like everything else.  If you don't need to buy new stuff every year then they don't make as much money.  It piles unnecessary stress on an already stressful time.  

I promise I'm not as pessimistic as that sounds.  And I love winter holidays.  There is something so incredibly cozy and wonderful about being surrounded by so many tiny lights in the darkness.  Where I live we have snow every year, and that magical time of day, when everything starts to turn blue and the tiny lights start to appear in the darkness, when rose and saffron still stain the sky as the sun sets, it sets my heart alight.  That's what I think about when I start to be pressured by the industry of holidays.  I try to remember what it means to me - not everyone else, but just in the quiet of my own thoughts and heart.  And I try to use that feeling when I decorate. 

I'll be perfectly honest, I haven't bought a new ornament (other then one as a present for my son every year) a or holiday decor item in at least 7 years.  Probably more.  I HAVE bought new lights because those things die at an alarming rate, and I like a tonne of them.  Its not that I don't ever see anything new that I like, but that I have nothing I want to replace and a limited amount of storage space. 

So how do I achieve an apparent stress free atmosphere?  It is definitely more then a mindset, and I'm sharing my personal strategies below.  There is no one right answer, and what I do may not resonate with you and that's OK!  But maybe it will spark an idea, or maybe it will make you appreciate what it is that you DO do more. 

1.    I reflect on what matters to me. This is perhaps the most important one. I remind myself that the goal is happiness and comfort, not perfection.  Although I will admit that is becoming less and less of an issue as I age.  I decided to be selfish in my holiday decor, and put out what I like, what my husband and son like, and leave it at that.  My things don't match, there are projects that my son made when he was very obviously a small child, but they make me happy and that is all that matters to me.

2.    I take steps to enjoy the process. I have saved patterned gift boxes with lids and use them to store my Christmas decorations. Granted the pretty boxes are bundled up into a giant Rubbermaid bin for storage, but when I open that bin I am greeted with cheerful themed boxes and it honestly feels like opening presents early. I also save the tissue paper from gifts to wrap the fragile decorations in, and every time I unpack I say “yes, it WAS worth the hassle”

3.    I simplify my designer tendencies. I take hygge as my theme, which means there’s a place for anything that is meaningful or wonderful to me. Aesthetically, my ornaments tend towards Scandinavian design. But I do have decorations that aren’t even a little bit Scandinavian, and you know what? A place can be found for them where they punctuate rather then stick out like a sore thumb, or fill in an otherwise open space.

4.   I make decorating a small scheduled event.  My sister in law comes over, my husband makes mulled wine, and I put on Christmas music for literally the only time during the whole season (I can't NOT listen to a Muppet's Christmas album with John Denver, or a Prairie Home Companion's Norwegian Christmas!  Otherwise the season literally won't start!).  Other then the tree I have only a few things I put out, and we only decorate in the main room so doing this in one shebang is not a stretch,  but there have been times when  broke it up into chunks.  When my son was little I did everything but the tree while he was at school so he felt involved, but I didn't have to deal with little "helping" hands and strings of (tangled) lights.  

Burnout and overwhelm are real issues that can take what is supposed to be an enjoyable celebration and turn it into a nightmare.  Creating systems that work for you can turn into traditions that are both enjoyable and take the stress and guesswork out of the season.  

So if you are bored with your decor, or see something that inspires you that you want to integrate, that's wonderful!  There are always new ideas out there and our tastes and environments change throughout our lives.  Changing up decor and including the tastes of those around you, are things I greatly encourage.  Give yourself room, however, to do what makes YOU happy, makes YOUR heart sing, regardless of the industry side of the holidays shouting at you from grocery store check out aisles and social media.  Choose peace on earth and a silent night.