To think decorating your home for different seasons is silly

[harrisaar]

I LOVE autumn, and Christmas. So much. I understand decorating for Halloween maybe a couple of weeks before it if you’ve got kids and they’re excited to Trick or treat or they’re having parties etc. And Christmas decorations through December, fair enough

What I’ve been noticing is most homeware shops and supermarkets alike are full to the brim of autumn decor. Cushions, throws, pumpkin bedding, wall art, Halloween bath mats… the list goes on. If you were to kit your home out and make it autumnal, as pretty as it would look that’s a huge expense for items you won’t really want on display after October. Not great for the environment either. AIBU to think why??

You only agree with it if it's 'for the kids...'

Yabu

I definitely can't be fucked to do this, but MIL does and her house always looks lovely. I love it after Christmas when the daffodil dinner plates come out 😄

I do it for autumn and Xmas. Kids have been mithering me about the autumn decorations since the start of September- they love them (and they’re cynical teenagers).

I understand decorating for Halloween maybe a couple of weeks before it if you’ve got kids

In todays edition of what you can't do if you are childfree - celebrate Halloween

Do pagans get a free pass or do they still need children to be considered valid enough to celebrate a holiday?

We used to have when we were little because we made decorations in preschool and school. I still like bits!
Flowers and seasonal branches, different candle stands, chickens and eggs etc. Not Home bargains affair though, but absolute each to their own as long as people don't just throw them every year.
Christmas is mental in mine😂

I love decorating with the seasons. It breathes a little life in to the room, it's not all about plastic, consumerism tat either. I'm not on Instagram or have any other 'influences' either.

I love having all the crochet and needle felted pumpkins out, even acorns from my walk at the weekend. Makes me feel warm and cosy.

I love Christmas so have spent hundreds on decorations and rarely throw old decorations out. It's an eclectic mix from through the years.

I love the bright colours of Spring after a gloomy, dark winter. So I bring colour inside, more pinks, purples, yellows and greens. A welcome scheme after all the strong Christmas colours.

I hate summer. But I love the beach. So I have a gentle beach theme. Large pictures of Australian sunsets are memories of a pre-covid adventure. Sandy coloured cushion covers. Shells and sea glass in my glass lamp. Seaside resin coaster etc.

TLDR: I love my home and the constant way it reflects who I am and what I love at the time.

In the middle ages people would have decorated for harvest festivals, decorating for Halloween is just an alternative way of celebrating the passing of the seasons

It's hardly a new fad to decorate for an autumn event

Fuck the environment

Well there's your answer!

I don't do it but I understand the urge because industrialisation and secularism have meant we have lost the major ways we used to mark the changing seasons (I.e. Christian festivals and the agricultural cycles). I guess it's human nature to want to somehow feel connected to the rhythm of the year.

I think in small doses it's nice and a pretty way to reflect the season - I have a pumpkin spice candle on, neutral not pumpkin printed throws out and I'm going to get a wreath for the door.

But I totally agree with you when it comes to bedding, pyjamas, totally redecorating art on the walls.. changing all the cushions etc. too much!

A few subtle changes and cooking the seasonal food and doing the activities for that time of year though, absolutely!

Also spring. Christmas, well solstice and mid winter were also originally accompanied by bringing greenery in to keep in touch with nature iirc

Oh no I disagree, I'm Pagan and decorating for the seasons is one of the things that makes me really happy. It's all kept from year to year though so no waste. Just a big box in a cupboard with different cushion covers, table cloths, duvet covers, strings of lights, blankets etc. Then we collect seasonal nature, flowers-mostly ones I grow myself. The only new things I tend to buy each season are scented candles and sometimes a new decoration from somewhere meaningful that will be kept for future years.

It’s a way for companies to make more money. Seems stupid to waste money on it.

I've collected seasonal stuff over the years, including bath mats. I had my loft boarded out and a extra large hatch/ladder put in for storage for just decorations. It's done to sell people stuff, they want us constantly consuming, but if kept it isn't bad for the environment. I like to be busy and it's up to me what I spend money on. I'm still wearing summer clothes and will probably go straight to winter. I've got clothes and boots, at most I'll buy a couple of pairs of leggings and some foundation until next summer. We've all got things that we like to spend on that others wouldn't bother with.

I agree about the tat. I do quite like the idea of a bit of seasonal decorating, but don't have time / can't be arsed. There's no reason it has to be plastic, disposable tat. It could be flowers / foliage from the garden, pine cones, craft stuff you make yourself, or stuff you buy to last and reuse every year.

Agreed I enjoy her decorating videos but it must cost so much

I voted YABU, sorry but it entirely personal choice. I wouldn’t do it, CBA, but I had a friend in Latin America who loved decorating the house for any reason. Her husband wasn’t too keen but it made my friend and the DC so happy he just went along with it.

Copying the USA who have done this for many years.

I don't think you're expected to buy all of it. A nice pair of cushions or a cosy rug or mug can really mark the passing of time without a) setting the planet on fire (also, you use them year after year like Christmas decorations) and without b) needing three garages to totally redo your whole home.

Instagram and Pinterest are full of ridiculous people who take things to OTT extremes to get more likes/comments. Regular people with actual liveable homes don't spend their free time redecorating every week to desperately get likes/shares.

Could someone please link to a nice crocheted pumpkin please? Not one made in China though 😫

I don’t have the storage nor money to be able to decorate for each season - but if I did I definitely would. It’s fun and it gives people a bit of happiness and a reason to get creative.

I'm in Canada and we have Thanksgiving early Oct, which is a big family celebration so it makes sense to have the house looking nice for then and the run up. It's a massive thing to buy fall Chrysanthamums too, people display them on their porches along with pumpkins etc from late august until they die off in late November. We have gorgeous fall weather and ''colours' , which we have to embrace before the neverending winter arrives.

I enjoy decorating for Halloween too, but that is a strictly one night thing, make the porch look spooky, then take it all down the next day. I get irrationally annoyed if people put Halloween stuff up now.

Why do you care? I have things I put out for easter, valentines day, autumn, halloween, etc. I change things between seasons too - throws, etc. Why not? I use the same things every year, it does not affect anyone else and I get pleasure from it.

Yep I have different decor for the seasons, I’m lucky we have lots of disposable income. On Sunday I’ll be getting out the autumnal table runner, mats, pumpkin display for the hallway, tea towels, cushions for both reception rooms sofas and a wreath for the door.

I did consider one of those twig trees to use for Halloween and Easter trees but thought that might be too much 🙈

I love looking at the decorations in the shops but I know if I bought them they'd all just live in a cupboard forgotten about.