Survey Reveals Just How Judgy Your Neighbors Are About Your Holiday Decorations
How long is too long? And what’s too early? People apparently have lots of opinions.
There will probably always be a debate on when the best time to put up our holiday decorations. There’s Team Before Thanksgiving and Team After. Some people just throw a little bit of cheer through décor, and others go totally all out. But have you ever wondered what your neighbors think about your holiday decorations?
HomeAdvisor wanted to find out what neighbors think about holiday decorations, so they surveyed 1022 people and asked a variety of questions to get to the bottom of how people feel about holiday decorations, including when the right time is to put them up.
The people who participated in the survey were a good mix so we can get a varied look at how people feel. This included including men, women, and nonbinary people. Their ages ranged from 21 years old to 75, with the average age being 39, which means there were a range of millennials, Gen X, Gen Z, and boomers.
“We asked 1,000 homeowners how (and why!) they decorate their homes for the most wonderful time of the year to the New Year,” the site explained. “And you might be surprised at how your decorating habits compare.”
According to the survey findings, neighbors were, for the most part, pretty relaxed when it came to how their neighbors decorate for the holidays. However, more than one in five respondents did say that neighbors who leave decorations up “for too long had a negative impact on how they perceived them.”
Not only that, but neighbors seem to favor those in their neighborhood who put their Christmas decorations up early, and doing so has a “positive impact on how they see you.”
Well, how long is too long? And what’s early? That varies, too. “The average suggestion for when to put up Christmas decorations was a little over three weeks before the holiday,” HomeAdvisor wrote. Respondents also said that Christmas decorations should be taken down nine days after the holiday “at the latest.”
So, there you have it. We have about a week left to get our lights up before our neighbors start looking at us differently, and we shouldn’t delay much past the New Year to take them down. That is, if you care a lot about what your neighbors think. (You certainly can do whatever the heck you want!)
