Pack them up or drag it out? When to take down Christmas decorations | Australian life-style

Anthony Hawwa’s residence Christmas mild show, that includes 7,000 bulbs, could be extra extravagant than most however, on the subject of the date of taking them down, he’s a proud traditionalist. He makes positive the whole lot is boxed up and put away simply after 7 January, the date Orthodox Christians have a good time Christmas, yearly.

“I find it wild that some people take their decorations down on Boxing Day,” says the freelance TV producer, whose annual mild exhibits have made him one thing of an area movie star on his road. For the previous 5 years, Hawwa has gone all-out on adorning his two-bedroom cottage in Sydney. Think hundreds of LED lights programmed to a fastidiously chosen record of Christmas songs, all managed by a set of buttons on the fence exterior. “The kids in the street love it – every night before bedtime they come and stand at the front fence, pressing all the buttons. One of the kids next door basically made himself the project manager, at one point,” he says.

The setup course of takes weeks however Hawwa makes positive his lights are on by 1 December. He says he can’t see the purpose of undoing all his arduous efforts till that first week of January, given what number of social occasions are likely to happen within the first few days of the brand new yr.

It will depend on your custom

Sydney architect Georgina Wilson takes a distinct method, saying she likes to have her decorations down by 31 December. It units the tone for a “calm, uncluttered start to the year” – regardless of her associates teasing her about it. Stacey Cabot from Brisbane says she and her 4 grownup sons usually take theirs down as early as 26 December. “It helps that the Boxing Day [cricket] test is on, and the TV and tree are in close proximity,” she says.

Wilson and Cabot aren’t alone of their rush for a post-Christmas cleanse. Last yr, Halle Simons racked up 106,000 likes on TikTok when she broadcast herself taking down her decorations on 27 December, saying she grows uninterested in the “clutter” when the massive day is over. “Ours went down today too”, “so glad it’s not just me”, and “I did it at 8pm on Christmas [Day]” had been among the many feedback on her video.

Jo Hayes, founding father of EtiquetteExpert.org, says that within the Christian calendar she follows at residence, the interval till 24 December is technically creation, not Christmas, so her view is that celebrating the total 12-day Christmas interval means protecting decor up till 6 January. She personally believes any time earlier than then is simply too early however any time past the second week of January is simply too late. There’s a superstitious ingredient to this logic – some traditions recommend leaving decorations up previous the twelfth night time of Christmas brings dangerous luck – however it’s sensible, too.

Daniel Vasilevski, an electrician based mostly in Sydney, factors out that Christmas is commonly one of many sunniest instances of the yr in Australia. “Removing lights before mid-January will ensure the cables and fittings are not damaged by the UV rays, which may compromise the insulation and reduce their duration of operation,” he says.

Some Australians don’t appear to thoughts a couple of sunburned cables. Kerry Morrison, proprietor of on-line get together store Christmas and More, retains her tree up till mid-January to “drag Christmas out for as long as possible” – she’d depart it there all yr if her husband was on board. Hawwa says he repeatedly spots festive lights up in properties as late within the yr as Valentine’s Day, and cleansing agency founder Jason Shipway says February is positively early in contrast with a few of his purchasers in properties throughout Perth. Shipway is aware of households who preserve their decorations up till March, whereas others – his grandparents included – depart their tree up all yr spherical, although they do finally take away the decorations. “I think some people just can’t be hassled with taking it all down,” he says.

How to pack your decorations away

When you do get round to taking down the tinsel, how will you keep away from tying your self up in knots?

Both the January traditionalists and new-year-reset varieties agree you might want to be as organised as potential, as a gift to your future self.

“Rushing to stuff the decor, lights and ornaments away will likely lead to tangling and smashing,” says Hayes, who likes to make use of the Christmas pack-up as an opportunity to pause and be conscious. “As I’m pulling down the decor, I like to take some time to reflect on the joy and events of the past few weeks – the Christmas celebrations, the social gatherings, the essence of what Christmas 2025 was all about.”

Morrison follows the same ritual. She and her household make a practice out of the placing up of Christmas decorations each November – why not do the identical factor in reverse come January? “In our house, we put on Santa hats and music and make a big deal of it – it helps to combat the post-Christmas blues,” she says.

Melbourne-based social media creator Jessica Ricci likes to hearken to Christmas hits and make a day of it, too – although, as a self-confessed organisation freak, she says she would most likely benefit from the course of regardless.

Cabot’s type is extra of a navy train. She, her husband and 4 sons put their decorations into labelled plastic tubs, wrap tinsel round coat hangers and thoroughly cushion their lights earlier than placing the tree away in its bag. She’ll throw a couple of moisture absorbers into the packing containers, too, to forestall ornaments from going mouldy.

Cabot codes her packing containers by color – silver and gold decorations in a single, yellow and pink in one other, and so forth – whereas Wilson and Vasilevski swear by labels to avoid wasting your self digging by way of packing containers for particular ornaments the next yr. “I wrap fairy lights neatly around a spool or a piece of cardboard, and use plenty of tissue paper for delicate ornaments,” Wilson says. “Also check all the strands and change broken bulbs before storing – it’ll save hours of guesswork and electrical faults next year,” Vasilevski says.

Hawwa may not sit up for the take-down like Ricci or Morrison however he is aware of being hyper-methodical is his solely choice. His set-up includes tons of of strips of LED lights custom-made for various pillars, home windows and doorways round the home, all run off a pc with 16 completely different ports. Sure, creating structure paperwork and fixing damaged LEDs might be tedious. And sure, the youngsters subsequent door get a bit of unhappy once they realise Christmas is over however he’ll thank himself subsequent November. “Every year I think I’ll remember the set-up, and every year I have to re-learn it,” he says.

While Hawwa leaves his lights on till early January, he laughs at his neighbours’ options that he preserve the lights on year-round. Although if he did, he wouldn’t must waste time taking them down once more.