My Seven “Stress Less Days” of Christmas Decorating Plan

Ahh, the holidays.

A wonderful time of the year when the joy of the season makes everything seem magical. A time we can enjoy making memories with friends and family that we’ll cherish for a lifetime . . .

Well, that’s what we’d like to think but in reality, we seem to have more stress and far too few memories we’d like to cherish. That perfect holiday seems only to exist in the pages of magazines and Martha Stewart’s television show!!

This year, why not stress less and enjoy the holiday season more by incorporating this easy plan that breaks the work into seven simple steps spread over an entire week – NOT a weekend – a key aspect of the plan. If needed, you can even spread the work over a two-week period.

The key here is to ENJOY the process and ELIMINATE stress. Below is my plan which was featured in Cleveland Magazine a couple of years ago. Hope it helps with your holiday decorating!

DAY 1: Exterior Decorating: This can be as simple as just decorating your door & mailbox or doing a “Clark Griswold” and going all out!

When implementing this plan, it’s best to store everything you need in boxes marked with the appropriate day (for example, “DAY 1″). It makes the process very easy to implement. If you do after-season shopping for bargains, make sure to  items by day and store accordingly.

DAY 2: Get out your mantel decorations. That’s it. Nothing more. If you don’t have a mantel, you may have an entry table in the foyer to deck out. If not, you have a couple of bonus days of rest!

DAY 3: Decorate the mantel and/or foyer table. That’s it. Nothing more. You can get as elaborate or stay as simple as you wish.

TIP:
Make holiday decorating less stressful by selecting a decorating theme to eliminate many of the choices that make holiday decorating so overwhelming. It can be a color theme like white, or it can focus on one of your collections, perhaps nut crackers. You might invent a theme like “an old- fashioned family Christmas” to guide your decorating.

DAY 4: Get out (or go buy) your tree and trimmings.
This is a great opportunity to organize your tree decorations. If they are scattered hither and yon, take some time to gather them all together. Buy a few clear bins at Wal-Mart and label them for future use. Store all your empty boxes in these bins while the ornaments are in use.

Stress Buster:
Opt for an artificial tree instead of a real one. Real trees can be the source of a lot of holiday work and stress! The clean up of falling pine needles can seem endless and sometimes you feel like you’re going to be left with a Charlie Brown Christmas tree!! Artificial trees are wonderful for a number of reasons

1. Far less cleanup and no scootching under the tree for watering!

2. The “green” choice – Artificial trees are better on the environment. Not only do they reduce the number of trees being cut down, but they also save man hours for the clean up of trees thrown to the curb after the holidays.

3. Easier to decorate. Branches of artificial trees are sturdier and hold heavier ornaments. You can also manipulate them since they are wired so you can precisely place your trimmings. They are a designer’s choice.

4. They are generally not a fire hazard. We have all read the sad stories of what happens when a real tree gets to dry and becomes a fire hazard.

Think you’ll miss the smell of the pine tree? There are fabulous air sprays and candles that will fragrance the air with a fresh-smelling pine scent.

DAY 5:
Put up the tree and on the lights. That’s it. Nothing more.

DAY 6:
Decorate your tree. Make this a fun evening!! Light a fire, make cocoa with peppermint stir sticks, play festive holiday music, and cherish time spent with family and friends.

DAY 7:
Rest & enjoy your beautiful holiday home!

Now you have a plan you can implement that will help take the stress out of decorating and put some joy into your holiday season.  Enjoy!

I’m linking to Melissa’s Ideas for Simple Holidays - part of her “Beautiful Life Friday” series. . .  ’tis the season!

About Diana

I’m a busy working designer & home stager who gets a lot of joy & happiness helping clients transform their houses into homes they love. I blog as part of that creative process. In our “spare” time my hubby & I are updating our Cottage in the Woods that we share with our cats. I’m a Christian & look forward to someday working for my Heavenly Father, the Greatest Designer of all, decorating mansions in Heaven!

Tagged as: christmas decorating, christmas decorating plan, holiday decorating