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 have to pry my moms xmas decs out of her hands to throw anything away xD

We go whole-hog for christmas, lounge, kitchen, diner, hall/stairs outside lights, the works.. takes us a couple of weeks to get it all done. We have A LOT of decorations, but we only buy a few new pieces every year.

What does get thrown is either broken, or i persuade mom to donate it to the local school/nursery as they ask for old decs every year for the kids to decorate the classrooms with.

Meh.

Most people I know that do, have the storage space for it so reuse what they have. Others make things by hand and/or do creative activities with their children and use those things to decorate.

No one says anyone has to do it, understand it, or join in. If people don’t want to spend money on such things, great, nothing wrong with that, but the need to moan about what others do and how they spend their own money is eye-rolling.

Agree that some people can be wasteful with it, but not really that different with other plastic tat that is more accepted like that for birthday parties.

You can keep insisting I am not calm. Doesn’t make it true.

Just like your assertion that you shouldn’t decorate for autumn, because it creates peer pressure.

Social media might create peer pressure. That’s not what you said. But again, that’s not unique autumn decor. And plenty of people decorate for autumn and don’t share photos of it on social media. Just like not everyone who decorates for autumn but new and throw loads out or even have loads of items. It’s an issue with social media. Not autumn decor.

No one said your opinion matters. But you shared you opinion on a discussion website and so people are allowed to reply. That doesn’t mean people are in a tizzy or not calm.

Your assertion that’s it’s innately bad for the environment or creates social pressure is incorrect. And I can think that, whilst remaining calms.

Not sure why my opinion on your post means so much to you.

You said ‘I need to calm down’ so I thought you were acknowledging that you weren’t feeling calm.

Now - behave. You can state that I ‘asserted’ that people shouldn’t decorate for autumn until you’re blue in the face but you know I didn’t say that and you would in fact have quoted me already if I had. Don’t you think this would be a more interesting and productive discussion if you responded to what I said instead of making things up and essentially just having an argument with yourself?

Your opinion doesn’t mean ‘so much’ to me, it’s just a vaguely interesting chat on mumsnet and a way to pass the time. It’s a little irritating that you keep blaming me for saying things I didn’t say but I will find a way to survive.

I’m pretty sure in my initial post I said ‘that’s one of the dangers of social media’ didn’t I? So I guess where you said ‘it’s an issue with social media. Not autumn decor.’ you’re agreeing with my point. Isn’t that nice, and a sign that if you were talking to me and not the weird version of me you have created in your head we would probably be getting on like a house on fire :)

Settle down... absolute tizzy.... strident rebukes.... Now - behave....

Gotta love some mysogyny on a thread that's all about rebuking women for daring to make their houses pretty in a tradition going back centuries

This is fair - I shouldn’t have said those things, as well as being misogynistic they were overly snarky. I won’t edit my posts since it would only be self serving but I do apologise for those phrases!

(I do dispute the suggestion that buying three plastic pumpkins and a garland of fake autumn leaves every October 1st is a tradition going back centuries though, since excessive plastic-product consumerism is a new phenomenon)

I’ve got some 🎄pyjamas I bought much reduced in a sale in January - but they’re not obviously 🎄unless you look very closely. Very warm and comfortable - I’ll look out for some more in the January sales.

Dh wouldn’t be seen dead in Christmas PJs - not that he wears PJs anyway - he’d never even wear a Christmas jumper!

I have to confess to being a complete hypocrite when it comes to Halloween stuff - every year I bewail the tons of garish plastic tat in the shops - but then I went and bought this for the Gdcs the other week.
Tin of tomatoes there for scale!

@Yassification100

Decorating for the seasons is a very, very old tradition. Plastic is a new addition I will admit, but not everyone buys plastic decorations anyway. None of mine are plastic and I have had them for years

Reviving this thread.

I decorate a little for Autumn, which I put up on the 1st of September. I have an Autumnal garland for the fireplace, a wreath and two boucle pumpkins. I’ve had these items for a couple of years? Which I reuse each year.

The same goes for my Christmas decorations, which I put up on 1st of November. I have a Christmas garland, a wreath, ceramic tealight houses and a tree with lights and baubles, of course. I reuse the same items each year.

I draw the line at themed bath mats, tea towels etc. though!

We go crazy for Halloween and Christmas, we have always enjoyed decorating. Numerous people over the years told us we should do it for charity. So that's what we do now, it gets bigger every year, but my partner makes most of it. We don't spend money on takeaways, coffees, meals out etc, this is our 'thing' we like to spend money on and in turn make a good chunk for charity.
Its also delightful seeing the local kids faces when they come past.

I'm disabled & home a lot in the same room, so yes, I have a few autumn decorations up. My house is bland, & it makes the place a bit brighter as the weather turns.

i do it but its part of our home ed
at the beginning of each season on the official day we redecorate for that season then spend 3 months studying it and doing crafts, outdoors studying, exploring etc
we also do it in our home ed group
we follow the radical unschooling method in education and parental style

i even buy candles/essential oils to mark that season, that gets put away until next year then
i have a spare room just for storage

been doing it years though so i don't throw out and buy new every few months just gets stored until its that's seasons turn
temu and ali has beautiful inexpensive stuff

autumn is our favourite as we live on the edge of a forest in rural Wales and can explore so much
as there's rivers, ponds and so much forestry
and 20 mins in a car is the seaside

if you know how to study the environment around you everything and anything can be learning

im also a practicing white witch and studies crystal use(that's me not the kids)
we need the different seasons to help us

Seeing as this thread has been resurrected I want to let you know that I have lost my singular bag of Autumn decorations. Somewhere in my house is a bag of 2 decorative pumpkins and an Autumn leaf garland. It is not in the loft, cupboard under the stairs or under the spare bed. I'm feeling very put out.

Are we riviving zombie threads now as well as repeating the topic in new ones?!

Yes

Fair enough 😂

How do you decorate please? I like the idea of decorating with some bits.
I don't think I will change bed linen and bathroom bits but maybe a couple of cushions on the sofa and maybe the top shelf of the bookcase I could out a few bits....

I'm pretty low key, just use seasonal bits mainly, or stuff I've crafted. When you enter my house there's a shelf on the side, and this shelf tends to change with the seasons. At the moment there's a glass with conkers in, some pretty leaves the kids collected on walks (not a long term decoration I expect!) and some pumpkins I needle felted. Have this week found a glass pumpkin dish in a charity shop which I've got to put sweets in for trick or treaters. But that's my first purchase. Elsewhere in the house we bring the blankets out of storage, switch to warm duvets and a few rooms have flannel duvet covers for the colder months so it all adds to the cosy feel. I'd like to add to it slowly but taking my time as we make/find things. Been thinking about crafting a willow wreath and adding some autumn leaves to it for the door. Don't want to be buying stuff new which is going to add to the landfill issue.

Florals for Spring.... groundbreaking.

Have your home how you want it. Reflect the seasons, the weather, the local landscape, the TARDIS, Studio 54, a Moroccan spice market or a concrete box. No two people are alike so why would their homes be the same as each other.