Decorating when living alone

[Anonymousess]

I am 25 and live alone for the first time. I have a good job and it’s my first place. Sometimes I have visitors but the majority of time, I’m the only one here. Is it weird to decorate for occasions like Christmas, birthdays, Halloween etc? I just wonder whether it’s a waste of money as I’m the only one who will enjoy it and perhaps the only one who would even see it - but also I feel like it would bring me joy.

The beauty of it being your place is that you get to have it exactly as you want it to be. If decorating it would bring you joy, why wouldn’t you??

Not weird at all, if it will bring you joy it’s worth it! You don’t have to buy everything all at once, you can build it up each year 🎄🧑‍🎄

Don't think it's weird to decorate for Christmas etc just because you live alone tbh me and dp live alone and never have visitors because well I don't really like people lol but still decorate for occasions if we're home

It's your home and you get to do exactly as you please. Nothing weird at all about decorating it!

If it brings you joy, knock yourself out.

It's not weird at all.

I've always decorated wherever I am at Christmas OP. We once went to a nice hotel for Christmas, but knowing it was unlikely they would decorate the rooms, I took a miniature tree, a couple of boxes of baubles, and took all my Christmas cards with me. By the time DH had parked the car, he came back and the room was a decorated home from home. So if you want to decorate, go ahead.

I've just had a similar conversation today, not about Christmas though.
I was asked why I "waste money" decorating, putting up nic nacs etc.
It's for me, it makes me happy.
So go for it, I wouldn't bother for Halloween (I'm old!) but definitely for Christmas

Thanks everyone!

Prior to living here, I have lived with parents/uni flatmates/friends where I never really had a proper place for all my things. It was almost like I was collecting home stuff for “one day” in the future, and now I have my own place I can’t bring myself to use the nicer stuff or to decorate etc! It’s a weird mindset I need to come away from

There's also a security aspect - a house undecorated for Christmas may mean the occupant is away over Christmas.

It wouldn't occur to me not to decorate just because I was alone. I always decorated for me father after he was widowed.

Oh, please do use the nicer stuff. What's the point of having stuff if you don't get pleasure out of it?

I used to feel like this but honestly I never used the nice stuff. Now I only have nice stuff (well, nearly, I do have ‘outdoor mugs’ but I LIKE them 😂). Life is too short for saving things for best.

Now that you have your own place OP, feel FREE! Free to run around naked if you wish. Free to stay up until dawn watching TV if that's what you want to do, and DEFINITELY feel FREE to use all of your nice stuff, as we never know what tomorrow will bring, and it would be such a shame if your nice stuff never got to see the light of day. My DM used to save her nice china for best, and was amazed when she came to mine one day and saw me using my best stuff, warning against it getting broken, etc. I said to her 'but if I never break anything, I'll never get the chance to treat myself to something new, ever again, will I?' She clearly thought about it, as next time I visited, the best china was out, and she told me that she 'felt really naughty using it mid-week, and with only family there', which we both thought was hysterical, and thereafter, often shared a grin, when the best cups came out. Enjoy it, OP, it's ALL YOURS!!

I love christmas so would absolutely do it up! Why not, especially if it brings you joy 🥰🥰

It's just me and my 5yo dd - she doesn't care about christmas and just wants to pull the baubles off the tree 😄😄 but I've still done it up & spend every day replacing the baubles while sighing

Couldn't be happier 😄🥰

it’s a personal choice i didn’t decorate till i had children though

Looking back to my early 20’s, I had my own flat, as did most of
my friends. We all decorated it at Christmas like we had children🤣 go for it! There’s a single guy opposite me & he makes his house look amazing at Christmas!

I now live wth my DD & dog & decorate at Christmas, Halloween etc & when my DD leaves home, I’ll still do it!

Goodness! The trouble with living alone at 25 is that you could meet a potential love interest at any moment who could come along and ruin it for you. Enjoy it whilst you can!
ENJOY your freedom, ENJOY doing what you want, WHEN you want. ENJOY decorating things exactly how YOU want with no other bugger to disagree with you.
I promise you, if your circumstances change you’ll never look back on these days and think “I wish I’d never made the most of them”. The trouble is you don’t appreciate these freedoms until you lose them.

Disclaimer: whilst I do love my husband and children IMMENSELY, and my children bring a magic to Christmas, they do also detract from the magic at the same time…. We call that the gift of Christmas

If you live with each other, you don't live alone...

Yes, decorate! But why not have a party as well so other people can appreciate it?

Obviously but I have lived alone and decorated sad sap

Ultimately you should do things for you not for anyone else. Do what gives you joy.

When I was living alone I used to decorate for Christmas despite the fact that I was always elsewhere for Christmas eve/day/boxing.
Got me into the spirit of things plus many of my decorations were brought from my parents house so it made it more homely.

I still remember my flat with so much fondness. I decorated it exactly the way I wanted it and had light up roses and garlands around my fireplace and lots of lovely candles and things. Decorate with things you love and that make you smile. I’ve always decorated for the seasons with foliage and seasonal flowers as well as throws and things even when it was just Wilbur the cat and I.

Never keep things for best, use them and enjoy them, they’re there to be used. One of the last things my darling MIL said to me was “use the Denby”. I never quite understood what she meant until we came across boxes and boxes of Denby crockery when we were clearing her house. That Denby is used daily in our house now as is her Royal Albert china, although the china is used in our little coffee shop. I often think how happy it would make her to see her beautiful china being enjoyed by so many people.

I still have my 4 strings of light up tacky roses and they still bring me so much happiness on the fireplace in our bedroom 🥰

Have a party then you’re decorating for that and filling your home with happy memories and people you love.

You can gradually collect baubles from places you've been on holiday, or things that represent important events in the year drawing to a close. Gradually you'll have a tree full of your own special memories.