To think my house looks empty and boring now that the decs are down and I have a sudden urge to buy a lot of house stuff?

[xAwaywiththefairiesx]

Decs only came down today so it's my first time sitting in my living room with it back in it's default state.

It suddenly looks so bland and boring 😭 I know I'll get used to it again but it's making me want to go online and buy loads of crap for my living room.

Anyone else feel like this when the decs come down?

Yes, I can't relate at all to the people who feel relieved when the clutter is away or who like to "go fresh" into the new year. I like how Christmas decorations look and everything does feel really sad and bare to me afterwards.

I love the clear, calm, spacious feeling when the decorations come down! We will probably take ours down tomorrow, we usually aim for 6 January but it depends on what else is going on.

I feel like this, ours are still up and will be until Sunday, but I love the warm twinkly lights. I have a small copper strand on the fireplace all year but it's not enough

Why have you taken them down so early? Seems like a social media trend to me.

I keep the decorations up until I start seeinh signs of Spring. It's theologically legitimate to keep things Christmassy until Candlemas (40 days after Christmas) by which time there will be snowdrops and even some early daffodils and if the house feels bare I can get some flowers.

I agree. Twelfth Night is the way to go!

Please would you mind sharing your tips for keeping an orchid alive???? I have no clue 😆

help please!

Nope, me too. They came down on 30th because they were driving me mad.

I love Christmas, the decorations are gorgeous and festive and I enjoy them. But we don't have a big house, we have a dog and a child, so I love the clean and light feeling when they're gone.

Nope, I prefer a minimalist(ish) space, so it's more of a relief to me. I do always have fresh flowers dotted about, and I keep some fairy lights up year-round, so that maybe makes a difference. Other than that, my home is pretty bare, and I like it that way.

I've not taken mine down yet but I know my house will feel the same because it felt a bit bare before we put them up as we had recently moved.

Maybe get some plant and some candles, they can make a huge difference and the candles will add cosiness.

I wouldn’t. I hate clutter and unnecessary thingummies.

Buy a bunch of flowers or a houseplant, plus some interesting art for the walls.

They aren't supposed to come down until the 5th.
I love decorations and will keep mine up as long as possible.

I'd replace them with large vases of flowers, if you can get affordable ones.

Same. It feels so empty now and looks like we’re moving out!

I always feel this too. I’m leaving all the fairy lights and the light up stars up until the nights start to get significantly lighter again. Also thinking of getting some eucalyptus garlands and a some lilies to brighten things up. Some fresh scented candles - not Christmassy spicy ones but fresh pine and foresty smelling ones. Winter feels like it goes on forever so I’m going to make an effort to keep a few nice seasonal plants and smells around the house for as long as possible.

Mines still up lol 😆

Even if they sre kept up until twelfth night it's still going yo look bare when they come down.
I pack away my ornaments etc when the decorations go up so they just come back out again. I have fairy lights on the mantle all year round.

I've taken my down and I'm not even on social media (only use mumsnet as of recently). I like to take them down new years eve, give the house a spring clean, get some new plants etc .. just feels like a good way to enter the New Year.

Weirdly, benign neglect (or, as I'm typing this list, I'm realising you have to treat them like gremlins...)

Don't put them in direct sun - indirect bright light is fine but they're woodland plants so no cooking them on a south facing windowsill

Also, try to keep them out of drafts and not right next to a heater - normal room temperature and fairly stable and they'll be happy

Don't let them stay wet - when you water them don't get water into the 'heart' of the plant, just hold the pot under a cold tap or over a sink and pour water over the roots and bark in the pot so it wets the potting mix thoroughly and runs out the bottom but doesn't gather in the middle of the plant and rot the leaves

Feed them by getting some orchid feed and making it up according to the instructions and just misting/spraying it over the plant once a week (or if you've only got one you can just get little spray bottle of the stuff. Poundland sell these a lot for some reason)

When they finish flowering, cut the flowering stem down, stop watering it and and put the plant somewhere colder (but sheltered/frost-free) for a couple of weeks to make the plant think it's had a winter, then bring it back to its normal spot and start watering/feeding it again

Don't repot them unless they've just finished flowering - if you do re-pot one, use another clear pot and a mixture of bark and sphagnum moss, dont pot them into compost/soil and don't pack them in too tightly, they usually grow a bit like alpines, in sparse soil on the sides of cliffs (or even in the bark of trees) so the roots don't need to be completely in contact with the potting medium and they benefit from being able to get some light

Hope there's something in there that you haven't already tried that helps!

I was just coming to say I also take my tree down and replace with a large vase of flowers.

I'll take my decs down today, we have fairy lights in the room all year round so will change the batteries for them.

Agree! Last Christmas was our first in this cottage (we moved in late Sept 2024) and as it was bought as a renovation project (previously owned by an old lady who'd lived there since 1970/done nothing since then!), it was very bland and not our style at all.

Therefore, ahead of Christmas as well as the usual couple of real trees etc, we bought loads of indoor bulbs - mainly hyacinths and paperwhites - to grow in bowls dotted around the place. When they finished flowering I packed them in brown bags and forgot about them stored them in the garage.

In November I was delighted to discover they'd survived, so brought them indoors again. We have lots of antique/vintage bowls which look really pretty filled with flowering bulbs when the decs eventually come down...especially as one year on large swathes of the cottage still resemble a building site!

Ours came down yesterday and it’s great. Only put them up on the 21st and my teeth were itching by the 22nd!

Lounge and dining room are pretty minimalist, so I’m happy again. We do have LEDs around the lounge and dining room windows, so have a nice bit of colour going on. A nice shade of blue at the moment.

We had the red on a while ago and someone I know drove past the house and told me it looked like a knocking shop in Amsterdam. 😁

DH went back to work yesterday, we're busy all weekend, have people over today and I'm back next week with DD back at all her activities and pre-school. Best day to take them down and give the house a refresh was Tuesday.

No social media trends, just what works for us.

We hated the stairs after we took the garland down last year, so I ordered another one and have decorated it throughout the year for Easter, summer, Autumn, Halloween and Christmas.