Holiday Decorating Tips

How to embrace your inner Clark Griswold, but make it look good, instead.

It’s our personal opinion that there is nothing better than a nicely illuminated house at Christmastime—and nothing worse than a poorly done one. You want people to drive past your home at night, but you don’t want them laughing. To help, we consulted a pro who spends October through January making houses look like a million bucks.

• Use the proper hanging technique. Aimee Dixon Plumlee, owner of Springfield-based home- and yard-decorating company Christmas Décor, says it is essential to use plastic hooks, not nails or staples, when hanging lights. This prevents damage to the strings, the risk of shock or fire, and putting holes in your home frame or roof. Hooks are also easier to remove, and can be left on the lights to save time next year.

• Use enough cord. Don’t scrimp or stretch, and never plug your string of lights directly into the outlet. Use an extension cord or three-way splicer. Try not to string too many strands consecutively, to avoid blowing fuses, Dixon says.

• Don’t overdo it. From an aesthetic standpoint, tastes vary, so decorate until you think it looks nice. “I don’t think you can ‘overdo’ it,” Dixon says, “but just throwing lights up on a bush is not decorating. Take your time and wrap it deep into the bush. It looks like the entire bush is lit up and shows up the shape.”

• Make storage simple. This year, instead of piling the lights in a box, wind them into a ball. “It makes them very neat and tidy,” Dixon says.

• Avoid “dingleberries” (our word, not Dixon’s). If you absolutely cannot avoid a rogue bit of string—lights that hang between bushes or at the end of your roof—don’t just let them hang. Frankly, it looks horrid and lazy. Wrap the lights in black electrical tape or, if you’re fancy, buy black caps to put over the lights (Christmas Décor uses these.)

• Don’t mix your color theme... Dixon says its best to choose either white or multi-colored lights, never both, and add single-color strands (green, blue, red) where you see fit.

• ...but don’t copy your neighbors. Find out what the homes around you are doing, and do something else. “It’s always nice to mix it up within your neighborhood,” Dixon says.

• Conserve energy—unplug. It’s the ultimate in “no crap” conservation, but the surest way to keep your costs down over the holidays is to unplug your lights when you go to bed and—you’d be surprised how often people don’t do this—during the day. City Utilities estimates a strand of holiday 40-watt mini lights can burn for 10 hours for only two cents at current rates. Bigger, brighter strands can use up to 200 watts per hour.

• Hire it out. If you want a nice looking yard, you can always hire a pro. Dixon and Christmas Décor can be reached at 417-882-2536.