Decorate Early: A Simple Holiday Setup Plan for November

By mid-November the Halloween bins are back in the closet and Thanksgiving is still a couple of weeks out. That quiet gap is the easiest window all year to get holiday decorating done. Do it now and you are not hauling boxes down the night before guests arrive, or deciding where the tree goes while a turkey is in the oven. Here is a simple way to work through it in an afternoon or two.

Pick One Room and Finish It

Decorating stalls when you start everywhere at once. Choose the room where people actually gather, usually the living room, and finish it completely before you open another box. One finished room feels festive. Four half-finished rooms just feel like a mess.

• Clear the surfaces first so you can see what you are working with.
• Sort your bins into keep, repair and donate as you unpack.
• Make a short list of anything missing, then order it before the shipping rush.
• Set out a box for anything you did not use this year.

Hang the Wall and Door Pieces Early

Wall and door decor gives you the biggest visual change for the least effort, and it is the part you will not want to do with a house full of people. Our Christmas Décor Hanging Set comes with a needle and string for hanging, so it works on the tree, on a wall or on a door, depending on where your blank space is. Walk the entryway first. That is the view every guest gets before they take their coat off.

Make the Tree Feel Like Yours

A tree reads as personal when something on it is actually about your household. The Christmas Tree Hangings are a DIY family ornament available in 1 to 7 heads, and you write a family name on each one. It is a good project to hand to kids on a cold afternoon while you deal with the lights, and it is the kind of thing that comes back out of the bin every year.

• Lights go on first, then the personal pieces, then filler ornaments.
• Keep breakable items above curious toddlers and pets.
• Take a quick photo when you are done so next year's setup is faster.

Let Soft Touches Carry the Rest

You do not need to decorate every shelf. Swapping textiles changes the whole mood of a room in about five minutes and costs you no storage space worth worrying about. Our holiday-theme Pillow Case Covers are 44cm x 44cm and slip over the cushions you already own, so the sofa joins the theme without a single nail in the wall. If you are setting a long table for Thanksgiving or a holiday dinner, a holiday-theme Chair Suit dresses up plain dining chairs the same easy way.

One Last Pass Before the Guests

When the room is done, sit down in it. Look for cords you can tuck, a corner that is still bare and anything sitting where someone will knock it over. Five minutes of that now saves you a fix-it moment later, and it means that when the first guest walks in you get to enjoy the room instead of adjusting it.

Ready to start? Browse the VIGOR holiday collection and pick the pieces that fit your space.