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??

I don't like Halloween so my autumn decoration goes from October to December.

I started in 2020 when I needed some cheer-me-up with the darkness and more Covid coming along.

I have several battery operated candles as DH can't deal with anything smelly. It's just nice having the lights on when it's dark.

We have a couple of figurines as well plus a door wreath.

We do a bit for Easter.

All is packed away and comes out each year.

Some of it is really pretty, but I don't have the money or space for it, or the time to do all the coordination of decorations and work out what looks good. Too busy to craft too.

I have a bag of Halloween tat and Xmas Dec's, but that's it for me and takes up enough valuable space as it is.

I like the embracing spring and autumn idea though....I love spring brights and muted, rich autumnal colours, so maybe when I'm rich I will be into it.

No, i don't think it's silly.
I don't remember it being a 'thing' here until recently, although something i wouldn't do myself.
I do recall trips to America and being in awe of the seasonal decor - was also going to mention Turtle Creek Lane on instagram who takes it all very seriously!
I imagine shops this side of the pond have realised they too can make a bit of £££ for it all.

It's a social media American thing isn't it though; "decorating for fall". I decorate for easter, xmas & halloween. I suppose summer to autumn is one of the more noticeable seasonal shifts & I do change my bedding eg use a duvet etc

TBH it has never occurred to me to decorate for anything other than Christmas.

I'm pretty sure this is a recent thing. When I was a child people only decorated their houses at Christmas, and none of my friends decorate for other seasons either.

I dont do it but i would love to be able to! I haven't got the money to even decorate my house properly let alone to change it up seasonally -even if I got everything from charity shops/carboots/vinted etc

Maybe you all in UK are getting it from US but it certainly is not just "that American thing" and many people have been doing it for way longer

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

I always bring greenery in at christmas

Different decor/ations for every season here but mostly natural materials not plastic tat. Stored in loft and added to at changeover times. Currently have furry throws, cushions in autumnal patterns, hues and fabrics, collections of metal, ceramic, glass, wooden and crocheted gourds, pumpkins and acorns, battery candles on timers, real candles with autumnal scents. Real fire crackling away. Cheers me up after the end of summer. At the end of November the more obviously Autumn stuff goes back in the loft and the Christmassy stuff comes down. I love to mark the change of seasons. Much of it is recycled from charity shops, with the occasional splurge at Homesense / T.K.Maxx or John Lewis but some of our new bits this year have come from Asda and Tesco. We don't go out much unless we're on holiday, so enjoy making our home an interesting place to be.

I love all the different seasons and how distinct they are. And I love crafts. I like making my own decorations for each season. At least I actually get some use out of the stuff I make this way, instead of shoving it in a drawer because I don't know what else to do with it. I don't have the money, time, energy or desire to redecorate my house two or three times a year the way some people do, but I like having different decorations up every few months.

I do some seasonal decorating. It grows every year. I don't think any of it is tacky, but maybe others would. I go all out for Christmas and Halloween, but do spring/easter and some autumnal things. It is not bad for the environment if it is not plastic tat and it is used for many years. I love door wreaths, cushion covers etc. I enjoy following the seasons.

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.

Totally this. I think part of the reason Christmas is so ridiculously massive is that it's the only festival most people do really still properly celebrate in the UK. If we embraced the changing of the seasons and the rhythm of the year and marked those changes with nice little traditions, maybe we wouldn't feel the need to pin so much expectation and expense on Christmas. Spreading our festivity throughout the year seems better to me, much as I like Christmas!

A shop you say… It’s almost like THEY HAVE SOMETHING TO SELL.

Don’t fall for it OP. Just because it’s in the shops doesn’t mean it’s mandatory.

Whilst driving today, I noticed one garden that was all done up with Christmas lights, inflatable Santas, etc. In September!😂

American cultural habits, social media influences, capitalism, "keeping up with the Joneses" (once one house starts, the others in the street often catch on), a psychological need for routine and knowing what's coming next, familiarity and nostalgia.

I'm not a fan. I don't mind tradition. But I detest plastic tat and feeling forced to display rubbish for the sake of it. I'm all for traditional crafts and traditions eg a wreath made out of actual greenery at Christmas. But we've gone from that to plastic wreaths with baubles and lights in to plastic wreaths with fake Easter eggs in. It's just designed to make people spend money. And influencers convince the impressionable that they NEED to be doing/buying these things.

Can you knit? A rectangle of ribbing gathered at top and bottom and stuffed, with a green stalk made by casting on a few stiches then casting off, looks great, and is super easy to do.

I like it. I like to appreciate the changing seasons. It's not "bad for the environment" because anything I buy gets put away when not in use ready for the next time or sometimes re used with a few adjustments for the next season.
I make some things - I love to craft. It's relaxing and fun.
This has reminded me I better start building my annual Lego Halloween display. I did a pumpkin house last year but thinking of a witchy style cottage this time.
Don't like it then don't do it. But those of us who do like it - leave us alone. We aren't bothering you.

Many years ago we were staying with some friends when one of them said she was going to get the winter cushions out that afternoon.

Both of us were somewhat flabbergasted by the concept of seasonal cushions and still, pretty much any time we are in a homeware shop one of us will ask the other in mock panic if we have bought the winter cushions yet.

All of it is a mystery to me. I put up a Christmas tree and decorate that. I don't put up other decorations around the house at Christmas or any other time.

I went into B&M on Sunday.

They have a Rudolph toilet seat cover and pedestal mat set.

That's all I have to say on the matter.

I've had most of my Autumn/Halloween decorations since my children were tiny and they are all in their 20's now. There's a witch and a ghost standing either side of the front door - I got them for 50p each from a charity shop, a wreath I made myself with dried, varnished gourds, pumpkins and berries, a door mat that howls when you step on it (from Poundland about 5 years ago), a ceramic pumpkin and a luminous skeleton - and we always get a real pumpkin to carve and light up for the trick or treaters.

It's a bit of fun and it's not contributing to landfill.

I absolutely love decorating for the seasons, especially Halloween and Christmas.

I've got my Halloween decor out now, and have had it out for a while. It's stuff I bring out every year, so I don't see how it's all that bad for the environment.

Most people aren't buying stuff, using it and then tossing it in the bin. Most people, I would imagine, put it up and once the season changes, pop it into storage and bring it out the following year.

For some, it's "tat" and a "waste of money." For me, it's a thing that makes me happy and I don't honestly think it costs that much. I add a couple of new candles each year to get a fresh scent and maybe the odd decor item.

Right now, I have a windowsill that is filled with Mexican sugar skull theme. I have a cabinet that is witchy-themed with a pumpkin with a witch engraved on it and witches boots and my TV stand is full of ghosts, Pennywise and Nightmare before Christmas merchandise.

As all of it was collected over a few years, it hasn't really cost me that much. TK Maxx and Homesense tend to do bits for reasonable prices.

Isn't halloween mainly for children?
DH and I don't "do" halloween. I did for DD when she was younger, but she is an adult and has left home now.

I'm currently wearing my Christmas pyjamas
They fit

I don’t do seasonal home wear changes but I do have a collection of decorations (some upto 15/20yrs old) that come out for the week before Halloween, Friday closest to December 1st and the week before Easter.

The simple answer to that is, no.

There's no age limit on who can enjoy Halloween. I wouldn't go trick or treating, but I'm sure going to celebrate it with a Halloween movie watch list and my decorations.