When Decorating for Christmas, What is your Aesthetic?

By: Emma Hoang

For many holidays, people love to decorate their homes inside and out. One of these holidays, Christmas, is one of the most decorated holidays. I’ve asked a series of questions about Christmas decorating, including what kinds of aesthetics and colors people like to use. I’ve gathered a variety of answers from multiple people, some varying from minimalistic to extravagant in decorating styles. Let’s see what they say!

The first person I’ve asked is David. He says, “My mom usually decorates pretty heavily for the holidays but personally for me, I don’t have the time for that. I aspire to decorate much more but realistically, I am a minimalist when it comes to decorating.” People have all kinds of decorating styles whether it be extravagant or minimalist. It also can depend on the type of person they are, if they like decorating for Christmas, and even the time that they have to do it. In this case, David does like decorating but his time is limited so it makes him a more minimalist decorating style. I’ve also asked David about Christmas decorations in terms of color and kinds. He says, “I like the classic colors of red and green to decorate with. My favorite outdoor decoration would be a lights display.” Since David is a minimalist when it comes to decorating, a lights display on the outside of his house is just enough effort to make it stand out and look nice. He’s a classic stylist because of his preference of red and green colors for decorations.

The second person I’ve asked is Taylor. He says, “My decoration is putting up a few lights but I don’t go crazy. I don’t buy giant blowup dolls to put on my lawn.” Taylor is also a minimalist when it comes to decorating as well. It also seems to be a pattern that people prefer Christmas lights because it’s easy to throw them on yet it looks very good in the end. He also says, “We usually do red, green, and white colors when decorating.” Again, the classic colors of red and green are incorporated into Taylor’s decorating. With the addition of white, it gives it a nice classy style. Taylor is similar to David because they both enjoy lights, being more minimalistic, and prefer classic colors.

The third person I’ve asked is Amanda. She says, “I like to decorate but I’m worried about putting stuff out because it takes so much effort. I’ve had people steal my decorations before.” Now for Amanda’s situation, she enjoys going all out for decorations but is limited due to an external source. Some grinches of Christmas would steal her decorations, ruining the fun for her. She also says, “It depends on my mood for decorating Christmas trees. It has LED lights on it to change colors. I kinda like white lights, and the ornaments stand out a lot. Majority of my ornaments are actually sentimental. I don’t buy ornaments to match a certain aesthetic. Christmas is about family, not about decorations.” Unlike David and Taylor, Amanda has LED lights on her Christmas tree to change colors based on how she feels that day. She could have a multicolor tree or a blank white light tree. It’s a pretty clever idea. She also discusses the use of ornaments and why she prefers having sentimental ones. I think it’s great that she thinks of Christmas being important for family rather than decorations. Amanda is more maximalist in style and varies more in decorating colors.

The fourth and final person I’ve asked is Emili. She says, “I think I’m good with putting up the Christmas trees and seeing all of the ornaments and memories from all of the years. I really like nutcrackers as a Christmas motif.” Emili also likes having that sentimental value to her decorations. Just like Amanda, the tree ornaments hold memories and family value to them. She mentions nutcrackers which are a staple Christmas decoration that goes into the classic style. She also says, “Having lights on the outside of your house is fun but I don’t like putting them up. I like all colors to decorate with.” Again, the pattern of enjoying lights on the outside of the house is evident. It just looks good and makes one’s house presentable. The effort of putting them up is just part of the process of decorating. Also like Amanda, Emili likes to include lots of color into her decorating. She doesn’t limit the types of colors she uses.

Overall, I’ve gathered a good amount of information from these four individuals about their decorating styles and preferences. A commonality between all of them is that they want to decorate, whether it be more minimal or extra. They all enjoy lights which are a nice decoration, requiring low amounts of effort and time. Everyone seems to have a time limit on how much they can decorate and that’s normal as all have jobs and other tasks of daily life to do. In conclusion, everyone is different and will have different styles of decorating and aesthetics they gear towards. Just to add mine in at the end, I love ceramic Christmas villages, a heavily decorated tree, lights inside and out of my house, and gel window clings for my bedroom. There are unlimited ways to decorate for Christmas, so do it to your heart’s content. Happy holidays everyone!