It is that time of year when many a homeowner will start putting up Christmas decorations. The festive holiday season is the perfect time for strings of colored lights, beautiful Christmas trees, candles in the windows, and wreaths on the doors. Unless you are the kind of person who would make Clark W. Griswold proud, holiday decorating can be enough to make you crazy.
Unpacking decorations stored away for the last year can be a mind-numbing exercise in futility. Then there is the chore of figuring out what your display is going to look like this year. And of course, you have to pack it all up and put it away in January. It is worth it, at least for now. But will it still be worth it a decade from now?
Below are a few tips for making holiday decorating easier. If they work out for you, you might find yourself continuing to decorate for the rest of your life. That wouldn’t be a bad thing, would it?
Install Permanent Hooks
Perhaps you are the kind of homeowner who gets up on the ladder every year to staple strings of lights to the eaves. Make 2019 the last year you do that. When you go up on the ladder this year, install permanent hooks for your lights. Your local DIY store undoubtedly sells many different varieties.
The benefit of permanent hooks is that you can hang your lights from the ground. You can buy a specialized pole with a hook on the end for lifting lights into the air and over the hooks you installed on the eaves. If you do not want to buy a pole, you can make one pretty easily. Lights go up and down in mere minutes, rather than hours. You are safer because you’re no longer climbing a ladder.
Pack Lights in Plastic Bags
Having to untangle light strings every winter is truly a drag. When you pack your lights at the end of this season, don’t just wind them up over your arm. Coil them flat on the ground and then put them in the largest freezer bags you can find. One light string per bag does the trick. You will never have to deal with tangled lights again.
Convert to LEDs
Incandescent Christmas lights were the only option until just a few years ago. But guess what? You now have the choice to use LED lights. We recommend converting all your incandescents to LEDs this year. If you don’t want to do it before Christmas, you can wait until the week after and get some really good deals. Then you’ll have LEDs starting next year.
The biggest benefit of LEDs is not having to go through strings of incandescent lights trying to find that one blown bulb. You’ll also save a ton of energy too. LEDs use a fraction of the electricity normally consumed by incandescents.
Use Mounting Putty Indoors
Hanging decorations indoors has never been easier thanks to a product known as mounting putty. This is a sticky putty that will hold a fairly decent amount of weight on virtually any wall. The great thing is that it will not damage the wall surface underneath. At the end of the season, just get a finger under the potty and roll it up. It should come right off without harming wallpaper, paint, or tile. Best of all, it is reusable.
There are plenty of additional holiday decorating tips that space doesn’t allow for in this post. The point is to let you know that holiday decorating doesn’t have to be a nightmare. With a little creativity and a willingness to try new things, it can actually be a lot of fun.