I can tell you the opposite. I live in Maryland and you don't often see people here decorate with palm trees or flamingos.

I don't care at all for the use of South Western decor in this area either. If the homeowner is from the South West I could see some use of that decor, otherwise I'm mystified by the homeowners choice.

If I moved to Florida I would want to see reminders of "home". I suspect my bedroom and office would each have a nice display of snow and ice, but I would keep such things out of the public areas. Geez, I even question the wisdom of displaying snowy pictures here during summer months!

I live in a fairly temperate climate. Except for the past two years which were atypical, we never have real snow. I decorate with a lot of snow at Christmas and in January because I miss the snowy Christmases of my childhood.

I live in Georgia, and we might get a bit of snow once a winter. I don't really decorate with a lot of snow unless it's snowmen that my boys create at school! We have needlepoint stockings, and I think one of them has a snowman, but other than that there's not much in the way of snow and ice.

I cover my ears and shriek when they have "back to school" ads on TV (cripes... for my kids, school only ended a month ago).

When I saw your post I thought "they couldn't possibly mean THAT holiday". It must be Labor Day or National Polka Day (Aug 9) or Middle Child Day (Aug 12) or

I also live in Georgia and it can be quite warm here in December. I decorate for other people at Christmas and everyone seems to go for the typical traditional Christmas decor. Snowmen, frosted ornaments and fake snow!! I think we're all dreaming of a white Christmas and even if it's 80 degrees outside we can fake it with our decor. Honestly, if I had to move to FL (a possibility in the future) I couldn't change my decorating ways...palm trees just don't seem right to me. I would probably be an oddball down there.

I was born and raised in Michigan. I lived in South Florida for a number of my single gal years. And I've lived my entire married life here in the Southwest/New Mexico. I think that you need to decorate however makes YOU and your family happiest and most comfortable. I totally understand not enjoying Southwest decor if you don't live there or aren't from here and looking for a touch of home (LOL). Garden Web has a wonderful forum
"Garden Web's Holiday Forum"
The gals that most frequent it are the nicest, friendliest and most helpful bunch I've ever encountered. Don't be afraid to jump in and ask for opinions or advice. They also have an extensive site for photos on every holiday you can think of and then some! Decs, tables, crafts, etc. You'll probably need to ask for the link for that, as I didn't see it last time I was there.
Lynn

If I set up a sleigh decoration, it is likely to be on white of some sort, and my miniature houses all have a snowy theme going on, but that doesn't mean my house is filled with fake snow. I won't not use a snowman, polar bear, sleigh or reindeer because I'm not likely to find one in my yard. I also won't cover my tree in nothing but Texas ornaments -- cowboy boots, longhorns, hats, cactus and chili peppers, etc. Everything has to do with Christmas and it is Christmas where ever I am.

You have violated Kswl rule #1: ÃÂ Do not use the Ch------- word before November 1. ÃÂ Dire consequences ensue if you do.....time suddenly goes faster.....displays begin appearing in stores......mailboxes are suddenly choked with catalogs full of useless thingamabobs....

It is as if Someone hears that Ch------- word and all over the media buyers' universe they smile and whisper to each other, "It's not too early, see, they're even talking about it amongst themselves"......

The rule is strictly observed in my office--- I do not allow anyone to say it before Nov. 1. If ÃÂ some uninformed outsider starts to use it my staff quickly usher the offender down the corridor!

We lived year round in Florida for about eight years and I tried the Santa wearing Florida shirts on a surfboard thing, but ultimately that was unsatisfying. ÃÂ It looked a little too much like a drunken "Jimmy Buffet does the holidays" iykwim. ÃÂ So I switched to an all natural approach with fresh garlands, pine cones, magnolia leaves, and apples and pomegranates. ÃÂ That worked pretty well until the last year, when I was so tired of creating the world of Ch---- that I went on strike for the last year we were there, and then we moved ÃÂ to Georgia and my SIL decorated for me the first year as a gift.

I posted this before: another reason I love Nordstrom's: awhile back, Macy' tree display...up before TG ( maybe Hween) carried this sign: '"forgive our early decor, but we must, you see, as we have so many stores to cover'. At the opposite corner of the mall Nordstrom' s gorgeous autumn, slightly wintry window scene had this to say...' we believe each season should be enjoyed in it's proper time'...or something like. Loved it!
Back to your question, fun, Christmas for me, wherever I may be, will always be a childhood dreamland of snow , starlight, frosty panes and candy canes. Uh oh, I'm getting carried away rhyming!
But yes! What MTN said! Get thee gone! Off with you to the holiday forum, and end this foolishness before the eager, evil rapacious retailers overhear us! :> ).
Marti

...that was kwsl with the dire predictions. MTN and I are not even ready to go back to school shopping yet!! I need another month of tomato sandwiches and lemonade on the porch. Ah, summer.

Mtn, as someone who likes to decorate at Christmas, now is the time to start planning, especially if one is going to buy new decorations. Some decorations are on sale now too.

Fun, when I see pictures of homes in warm climates decorated with snowy accessories on the outside of a house, it looks weird to me since I have 4 seasons. lol.

However, I don't think there's anything wrong with making snowy scenes in a grouping inside the house. How else can you dream of a "Winter Wonderland?"

As far as school, we start in a week and a half!

My boys go back to school in two weeks! The neighboring district goes back on Aug. 6th. Now is the time for back to school shopping for some of us!

I totally forgot about my main tree in my earlier answer. It is covered in sterling ornaments tied with red satin ribbon and glass icicles. I probably have more snowy things, but it's hard to remember when it's 96 degrees outside!

I'm not much of a seasonal decorator, which always surprises my friends, given my affection for design. But growing up in the Virginia traditions, heavily influenced by the all-natural approach of Colonial Williamsburg (stinkyg, are you listening...?), I favor greenery, fruit, flowers, candles, bells, birds, and good-quality ribbons rather than images of Santa and snowmen and the like. Probably because there are no children about. But I've always preferred the mid-winter, seasonal, light-returning-to-the-world approach.

I relate to the European traditions that influenced the first colonists and settlers here - British, French, German, and Italian, mostly, with the restraining effect of Scandinavian purity and simplicity.

At the Holiday Which Shall Remain Unnamed, I miss my previous yard mightily. It was full of magnolia and holly and ivy and boxwood and conifers, and I never had to buy a stick of anything green.

One more tale, and then I shut up. One year, I had a white flower fit. In November, I planted two dozen white amaryllis bulbs and five dozen narcissus bulbs in every container I could round up, set out armloads of greenery and beeswax pillar candles, loaded up the tree with everything white, silver, gold, pewter, brass, and bronze in the box, and used gold-wired white and green silk ribbon all over the place.

My DH was away for the first ten days of December, and came home just as everything was madly blooming. It was breathtaking.

Literally. His sensitive sinuses clogged up within ten minutes of walking into the house. I had to cut every bloomin' narcissus stem and give them all away.

HEy, I was answering a simple question. Never said I was ready to go there. My son starts band practices next week, so true summer is nearly over here and I've spent all of what we had helping my dad move, staging his house and helping with selling it, getting it through inspections and clearing it out. We closed yesterday afternoon. I hope we will soon move my mom to the memory care area of the same facility. I am exhausted and have piles in three rooms to start clearing (including one storage tub of additional Christmas ornaments -- there, I said it again), furniture to rearrange to try to work in a few new pieces, and about 20-30 photo albums or boxes of photos to scan and send to my siblings. If I can figure out how to convert my computer desk armoire into china storage so I can keep my china and my mom's, I just might be able to get it all put away! Maybe by this Christmas -- maybe next Christmas. LOL

K, you're not the boss of us so we can talk CHRISTMAS all we want! LOL.

The Holiday forum is a great place, full of wonderful people. However...a summer or two ago I asked a Christmas decor question and the majority of them told me they don't even think about Christmas until December.

If someone wants to discuss Christmas decorating, let them. If you don't like the topic, skip it.

Oh, now, I think K was tongue in cheek. Let's give a break, shall we?
After all, it's Christmas!

Oh, wait, no it isn't...
Hee hee.

Thank you all for your thoughts.

I remember being in the Caribbean on a cruise over Christmas a few years ago. The big plastic snowmen and Santas in the front yards made me chuckle,the temps were in the upper 80's and they looked so out of place. I did notice that we seem to use a lot of red in decorating for Christmas in the States, they really had a lot of blue and white.

And according to the music playing on the radio, they were Dreaming of a White Christmas too.....

Has no one heard of Christmas in July?? Lol

I just scored a huge, gorgeous Santa figurine on sale from the Fitz and Floyd website, 20% additional off, free shipping and no sales tax. I've lusted after it for a long time. No harm in thinking about winter holiday decorating now!!

seagrass

Lol, Oakley! Sadly, you are right! :)

My Ch---- ban is one of two office vetoes.....the other is no country music. Of course, they all got together and told me they were banning opera, lol, so i guess that's fair!

We actually have Christmas decorations up right now! My five year old attended art camp last week, and it had a Christmas in July theme. There is a Nativity scene shoebox diorama, an elf made out of a fence picket, and a little clay angel sitting on the hutch in my kitchen right now. Don't worry, they'll be packed away after this weekend!

Has no one heard of Christmas in July?? Lol

I just scored a huge, gorgeous Santa figurine on sale from the Fitz and Floyd website, 20% additional off, free shipping and no sales tax. I've lusted after it for a long time. No harm in thinking about winter holiday decorating now!!

seagrass

I've already had my first Christmas decorating meeting with my biggest client. She's on the calendar beginning OCT 8!! She seems to want it up earlier and earlier each year...
Honestly, I prefer to plan early and enjoy the pre-season sales, but to skip fall decor and go straight to Christmas is too much...even for me. I should add it gives me some anxiety to decorate a residential home so early.

We will be in Ho Chi Minh Cty for Christmas, so I guess I had better start early come to think of it. I hate travelling over Christmas, it feels like you lost a holiday milestone.

Please please don't mention BTS.

K, I don't blame you if it's your office. I don't like to decorate for Fall, Halloween, or Thanksgiving. I find the colors ugly! lol

We actually celebrated a Christmas in July once. It was spur of the moment by an extended family member bringing presents. I wasn't going to nix the idea. :)

Sea, I'm going to have to check out F&F. My favorite website is Trendytree.com. They carry RAZ ornaments and decor. Colorful vintage type ornaments. If you can catch a sale, they're pretty good.

IDK. Nowadays, pre-lit trees are so lovely, and you can use real or silk amaryllis or paperwhites.
But- before all this technology, the saddest Christmas of my 12 year old life was when we lived in Venezuela, and featured a long-dead spruce from Canada, spray painted bright green, with spray on "snow". The alternative to the tree, which my parents paid dearly for, would have been the dried flower stalk of a yucca plant, painted green.

I live in southern california, but being from the cold midwest, I didn't like how the warm temps and palm trees didn't seem "Christmasy". Then I realized that the first Christmas, if you believe in that, happened in a climate where it was warm and where there were palm trees. So now I tell my midwest relatives that where I am is actually more "Christmasy"!

To answer the question, I do use snowmen, snow, etc.

You are right Nancy!

That's funny Oakley about you and fall colors. You have many of those colors in your home - the deep red, yellow, dark green, etc. You don't have to use the orange, browns, etc.

We do have the occasional snow, but I don't use snow in my decorations. I know exactly what you mean though - I find it strange that so many use shells, starfish, etc. in decorating these days. Looks right at home in a coastal home, but I'd feel funny with all that in our home.

As far as when to buy/decorate for Christmas - I agree KSLW that the stuff comes out earlier and earlier each year. I do not want to see people decorating for Christmas before Thanksgiving - or Halloween for that matter! On the other hand, I read alot of blogs and decorating magazines, so if I see an idea for Christmas, I save that. So, it may be on my mind from time to time throughout the year. Also, I use mostly antique ornaments or handmade, and I buy from etsy, ebay, etc. throughout the year. My husband and I love scouring antique shops and I buy Christmas decs when I find them. In fact, last Friday, we went to a nearby historical city and went in some of their antique shops. They were actually having a "Christmas in July" celebration over the weekend. Funny seeing Christmas trees, wreaths, etc. out! Sunday I was in a store and saw a decorating magazine on Christmas. I managed to not buy it yet, but I probably won't hold out long! LOL

I also use alot of greenery, white lights, candles, etc. in my holiday decorating.

tina

I enjoy every season, and each of them here in New Mexico is lovely. But the older I get, the less excited I am about buying any more decs. It's gotten to the point where they're taking up too much space the rest of the year. But, that said, I LOVE decorating for Autumn . . . when Autumn is actually here that is! The weekend after Thanksgiving is when I'm finally ready to put up the Christmas decs. This year our DD will be home from her first semester of college and our son will be home from Afghanistan. Both have told me they want all the decs up. Sigh)Someday I really do want to downsize those decs but I guess it won't be this year (LOL)!
Lynn

I don't have Fall colors, so not sure what you're talking about. For me, fall colors are golds, browns, burnt red, and Orange. Green isn't a fall color. I have some yellow, but that's pretty generic.

I don't know what it is, but I find Fall colors inside a home to be depressing. I love them outdoors, but not indoors.

I actually like when decorations come out before TG because I can get things early for specific Christmas projects. I don't decorate until after Christmas though but I do work on my projects in November.

Now if I can find more of those Walmart "Tiny Lights!" Best little lights ever, and my store didn't have them last year. :(

Ditto what MTN and Martinca said. I'm still picking tomatoes and making sandwiches and plan to keep doing so right up until almost Halloween if I can. Bah, Humbug to those who put out decorations for us to lust after before it's time! Although I've been known to sneak a peak and even buy some things myself, dang it. Now that we live in the country where nobody but my 3-4 neighbors and the neighborhood watch sees my decorations unless we have the odd party or two, I don't do much outside decorating and it's pretty simple greenery and such on the driveway columns and front door. I don't do much 'snow' either since we don't get any, but the kids loved it when they were little and so do the grands, when I hauled out the Alpine Village pieces with fake snow mats, paying homage to DH's German ancestry. I mostly blame those big box decor stores for way-too-early Christmas. You know which ones I mean. A clerk looked at me like I had 2 heads when I asked if they had any bows 3 weeks before Christmas one year.

As for 'back-to-school', it started here about 2-3 weeks ago because this coming weekend is tax-free shopping weekend here in the city. I guess I ignore it since I don't have school age kids, but I have been known to take advantage of a few tax-free items.

Bee, I was in Hawaii one year on business just before Christmas. There was huge Santa in a sleigh amongst a stand of palm trees in front of the Royal Hawaiian. Pulled by dolphins no less. He was dressed in a red Hawaiian shirt with a lei. Looked like he belonged there to me. Who am I to say Santa can't dress like that in Hawaii?

I do sneak in a few pink flamingos, but there is a story behind me and the pink flamingos and it's a whole 'nother story.

Speaking of early decoration sales, for the past two weeks I've received numerous catalogs with Halloween decorations on the cover. Wow.

The thing about Christmas vs. other holiday decorating, is many people keep their Christmas decor out at least a week after Christmas. For the other holidays, they're gone the day after. That's one of the reasons I don't decorate for other holidays except my flags for July 4th.

Hmmm, I was in hobby lobby the other day for some sewing supplies (a pet peeve of mine is the loss of so many cloth shops!), and both halloween/fall and Christmas stuff is out.

Most of the fall decs I see are orange, yellow/gold, browns, reds, dark green, etc.

I always decorate outside for the fall season. Fall comes late here so my fall decs go up and stay up through Thanksgiving. I have a great pilgrim man and woman painted on canvas (it's a cut-out hanging) that I put up for Thanksgiving, other than that, the fall decs stay. I use corn stalks, bales of hay, pansies, pumpkins, gourds, etc. In recent years I've added in white pumpkins. Inside I will usually do a fall themed table setting for Thanksgiving. I LOVE the light blue/grey pumpkins and used several of those and white pumpkins inside last year.

Outsideplaying - I love your name, because that's exactly what I like to do - play outside LOL!! I agree with you - summer is still here in my area for several months. We're often warm through Thanksgiving. Last year we camped Thanksgiving weekend! I'm not over all the summer activities. Schools haven't started here yet except for the few year-round schools we have (they have a shorter summer break but several 2 week breaks during the school year).

tina

I don't even decorate using Santa, so I guess that makes snow even less of an option. LOL As for decorating for fall, since I go all-out for Christmas w/7-8 trees, buffets/tables, and a wreath I change out every year, I need to save all my energy. My space at a local antique mall also gets a little over-the-top for the holidays, but it's all worth it. ;o)

Tina, it's probably a good thing I'm not in my 20's or my body would be a wreck and my ortho doc would be richer.

It's pretty much almost summer, summer, still summer, then Christmas here too lately. But I do love the fall and Halloween. We have a hay ride for the grands and their friends, so we kinda go all-out with a real head-less horseman (a neighbor) and a few other characters. The kids help with decoration ideas, but whatever gets put out for fall gets augmented with the Halloween stuff for the hay ride. Adults have about as much fun as the kids. Then we just put the pilgrims and turkeys out instead of the witches and call it Thanksgiving decorations. Nothing really overboard that can't be re-cycled back into the earth or fed to the animals like the hay bales, corn stalks and gourds and pumpkins.