There’s something very exciting about spending your first Christmas in a new house. It’s a relief to be wrapping things up as presents rather than packing up for the moving van, and first Christmases in a new home are always memorable occasions.
Festive decorations are a matter of personal taste, but new buildings require slightly more care and attention than older properties when it comes to decorating. These are our tips for ensuring your first Christmas in a new home doesn’t require an emergency visit to the hardware store…
- Avoid pinning anything up. Your freshly-decorated home could go several years without needing a paintbrush if you look after it. Punching dozens of holes into the walls to support paper chains or Christmas card display racks will achieve the opposite effect. Once the decorations come down in the New Year, you’ll need to fill those holes in – or spend eleven months ‘admiring’ December’s handiwork. 3M stick-on hooks will do most any job without the damage!
- Match main decorations with new décor. We tend to accumulate Christmas decorations over the years, but colour schemes chosen for our last home might not work as well in a new house. Would a real tree leave needles stuck in your new cream carpet, or clash with a green feature wall? Would the 8ft artificial tree from your old bungalow work in your new kitchen? Get creative, and see if and how you can reuse old decor!
- Think about practicalities. Building on the last point, consider how your new home will suit things you’ve done before. Do you have spare plug sockets in the living room for tree lights, and where would the tree look most appealing? Can you fit everyone around the dining table on December 25th, or entertain New Year’s Day visitors in comfort? You get to make new traditions in your new space – which can be very exciting!
- Look for new opportunities. Many people move to new houses from condos or small starter homes and suddenly have extra spaces to decorate. Staircases can be enlivened with low-energy bulbs and garlands, while frontyard are ideal for displaying wooden sleighs or wicker reindeer. And depending on your area, you may want to consider your neighbours by avoiding going overboard on lighting that might shine into surrounding properties.
- Test new chemicals or products on a small area first. Before covering your windowsills with fake snow, or using tape to hang up paper chains, test these products on inconspicuous areas of paintwork – behind furnishings or doors, for instance. If anything causes damage or discolouration, you can avoid using it in more prominent places and then having to undertake repairs in January.