Festive decor is one of the things people love most about the holidays, but thinking about when to take down Christmas decorations can be a concern even as you’re just starting to enjoy how you’ve spruced up your space for the season. When it’s 365 days until next Christmas and you’re pondering all the work you’ve put into getting your home holiday ready—from Christmas lights gracing the front of the house to the Christmas tree bedecked with ornaments to your greenery, garlands, wreaths, and holiday knickknacks placed in all their old spots—the thought of finding to right time to break out the storage boxes can be a little daunting (and hardly in the spirit of the hap-happiest time of the year).
Every family has its own answer to the age-old question of when to take down the Christmas tree. In fact, often members of the same family have their own conflicting answers—which is why we sought out some expert advice to help you decide when is the best time for you to take down your Christmas decorations.
Just remember to be flexible on your deliberations around un-decorating, says Laura Price of UK-based professional home organizers the Home Organisation. “The [right time] is whenever you have time to do it properly! People have busy lives and lots to do. For us, there’s no hard and fast rule for the best time to take the decorations down—if you love having them up for months, go for it, but if your house is starting to feel cluttered and you’re ready for a fresh start to the new year, it’s time for them to go.”
Option 1: Take down the Christmas decorations on New Year’s Day
Many people use New Year’s Day as the time to strike the holiday decorations. (Assuming they have the energy following any New Year’s Eve revelry.) “Taking down decorations shortly after New Year’s Day is a great way to refresh your space and start the year with a clean slate,” says Bree Steele of RJ Living. “Removing decor early also helps prevent the post-holiday clutter feeling and allows you to transition your home into a cozy winter theme for the new year.”
From a practical standpoint, it’s a day that many folks don’t have to go to work. It’s also a day meant for setting your intentions for a productive new year, making it a good time to let go of everything—the Christmas atmosphere included—from the past year. Also, on a practical level, most real cut Christmas trees last between four and five weeks at best before they start shedding like a Siberian husky in springtime, so the longer you wait after this date, the more of a piney mess you’ll have to clean up.
Some might still be celebrating and enjoying time with family on January 1, but taking down your holiday decor anytime in the beginning of the month can allow you to get in on that “fresh start” feeling. “Early January is a good time to take down the tree and pack up your holiday decor [because] the new year is a time of new beginnings and fresh starts,” says Anjie Cho, feng shui expert, architect, and co-author of the book Mindful Living. Cho also offers an important note when it comes to one very time sensitive decor element, which brings us to option two…
Option 2: Take down the decorations when the Christmas tree droops
“In feng shui, a fresh evergreen tree brings vibrant energy and fragrance into the home. Typically, a fresh tree will stay lively and green for four weeks. This means your holiday decor season will have an expiration date,” Cho says. “Also, a dying, needle-dropping tree represents lifeless and stagnant energy—not an ideal symbol to have in your home during this time of renewal.”
It’s difficult to form a universal response when it comes to the question of how long do Christmas trees last, and we can only really address it with that approximate four-to-five week range, as different species have different characteristics—and because varying factors like interior temperatures, humidity, proximity to the fireplace (beware those dancing embers), and proper care all play a role. But we can say this for sure: No real Christmas tree lasts forever. From the day you put that Christmas tree up in the living room or den, it’s on the proverbial clock.
After your Christmas Day celebrations are over, start turning an objective eye toward your Christmas tree. Sure, maybe it looked great all throughout Advent and up until Christmas day, but is it shedding needles heavily now? Has it been done “drinking” water for days? Are the boughs starting to sag and droop? Then, sadly, it’s probably time to take down the tree and the rest of the holiday decorations.
Option 3: Take down the Christmas decorations on the Epiphany
Whether or not your family is religious, you can look to Christian tradition for some guidance as to when to take down Christmas decorations. The Twelfth Night marks the Epiphany, the day the so-called Magi (also known as the Three Wise Men) are said to have arrived in Bethlehem to visit baby Jesus and venerate then newly-born Christ. Also known as Three King’s Day and Eid al-Ghitas, (yes, it’s a day of many names), the end of the 12 Days of Christmas marks a prime time for many households to ditch the decorations.
Once you get past the first few days of January, unless you have an artificial Christmas tree, you might not have the choice to drag the holiday season out much longer. “By January 6, most fresh-cut trees are dropping needles faster than you can vacuum, and it’s time for [the tree] to make its exit,” says Brooke Droptini of design firm LittleCreek+Co.
When should you take down Christmas lights?
Before we talk about when you should take down (or at least stop illuminating) outdoor Christmas decor, let’s start at the other end of the yuletide season. As for when it’s acceptable to put up your outdoor Christmas lights (or to turn them on, assuming you use permanently installed holiday lights), it’s more of a gray area, with no one likely to object to anytime after Thanksgiving. Displays illuminated much before that fourth Thursday in November may be a bit questionable. (Right after Halloween? No way. Does it happen all the time these days? Yes, but consider not hopping on that bandwagon.) But there’s a solid answer among our sources as to when your outdoor Christmas decorations should be struck: January 6.
Droptini put it this way: “Outdoor lights? Turn them off by Epiphany to avoid the HOA stink-eye. Principal designer with Niche Interiors Jennifer Jones wholeheartedly agrees, saying: “I implore you to take your Christmas decor down during the first week of January. Nothing drives this designer crazier than seeing icicle lights, oversized ornaments, and inflatable snowmen in my neighbors’ yards in February! Bonus points for also taking down the Christmas tree in your front window at the same time.” (You can always just draw the curtains if you’re not ready to part with your Tannenbaum just yet.)
When is the best time to take down Christmas decorations? In the end, it’s up to you
“When it comes to taking down Christmas decorations, etiquette meets art in this timeless saying: ‘Let the sparkle linger as long as it brings you joy, but when the Twelfth Night falls, let simplicity restore the scene,’” says noted etiquette consultant Lisa Mirza Grotts, a.k.a the Golden Rules Gal.
But Grotts also allows for some wiggle room when it comes to holiday interior design, adding: “While traditionally decorations come down on Twelfth Night, [not all] etiquette rules were created equal. Modern grace allows for flexibility. Whether you’re keeping them up for warmth through winter’s chill or tidying up to embrace a fresh new year.”
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And don’t let taking down the Christmas decorations add undue stress into your life, says therapist Braquelle Murphy, MS, LCPC. “You can be attached to Christmas decor, especially the pieces that have been passed down. They can bring up a sense of joy, happiness, and nostalgia [and] it can be hard to take down Christmas decorations from a psychological perspective.” So, don’t rush it if you’re just not ready.
On the other hand, Murphy adds: “Removing the holiday decor can bring a sense of closure for some. They can feel a definitive shift that shows that the holidays are over and it’s time to return to normal everyday life. It can also feel good to remove some clutter and have a fresh start.”
Ellen Flowers of the Perennial Style sums it up nicely: “Whether it’s the social norm or simply when the holiday cheer fades, the perfect time to take down your decorations is when it feels right for you and your home.”
From our sources’ design perspective…. just be sure to shut things down outside by the second week of January, in the name of good taste.
As mentioned above, a freshly cut Christmas tree can last between four and five weeks with proper care. Some varieties may last longer, others shorter, but any cut pine tree can have its “life” extended with proper care. To maximize the time before your cut Christmas tree starts dropping needles all over the house, you can consider re-cutting it, removing about two inches off the bottom of the trunk, right before you put the tree into its stand. Then add water to the stand daily until the tree stops “drinking.”
Keep the tree as far away from heat sources as you can. That floor vent is more likely to dry out the tree than your fireplace—granted, the tree’s positioning in relation to your fireplace merits plenty of care and concern.
Yes, it’s perfectly legal in most areas in the United States to leave holiday lights up all year round—even though it’s certainly in violation of many unwritten social compacts. That said, it may be in violation of certain HOA rules, of local town or city ordinances, or of other regulations that do limit the use of holiday lighting at certain times. Also, unless you have purpose-built permanent decorative lighting, even lighting designed for seasonal outdoor use will break down over time if left exposed to the elements for months on end.
As soon as real Christmas trees start to dry out and drop needles, they transform from the heart-warming anchor of your home’s holiday decor to a serious housekeeping headache if they are not disposed of properly. The best thing you can do is to remove all fragile ornaments adorning the tree, then wrap the tree in a large tarp (a painter’s drop cloth or old sheets will work too) and bring it outside, stand and all. Then, you can remove all the rest of the nonbreakable ornaments and the lights outdoors; those string lights can be the worst offenders for causing needle shed upon removal. If you must do all of the un-decorating inside—as may be the case for apartment dwellers—prepare the floor with tarps or drop cloths to catch needles as they fall, then wrap the tree and carry it outside. A few minutes of removal prep will save you lots of cleanup later.
