I don’t start decorating until the first Sunday in Advent. Unto everything there is a season...

What a space you have! Beautiful

I am not lazy, I just ain't a fan of Christmas. I especially don't like putting up the tree. But I do it for my grandkids. I put the stuff up after Thanksgiving and usually tear it down the day after Christmas. I don't think LED lights get hot so they shouldn't hurt your plant.

I love your house. Your kitchen is gorgeous. Everything is perfect.

Like Anglophilia, no Christmas decorating for me until Advent (in the past in my family the tree went up on Christmas Eve while the children slept- everything comes down the day after Epiphany- so the actual 12 Days of Christmas.)

At any rate, my only suggestion is to add something colorful. A vase of red tulips or an old-fashioned poinsettia, perhaps an amaryllis or two or some paper whites. IDK about lights on the tree. That would look great if you got the go-ahead.

PS A big bowl filled with seasonal fruit, like clementines is festive too. Think about bowls of nuts, pomegranates, even pears, all look great. Abundance and color make a fabulous impact with natural things.

I get overwhelmed by the commercial din of CHRISTMASCHRISTMASCHRISTMAS that starts earlier and earlier every year (my daughter complained about hearing Christmas carols before Halloween). The louder and earlier the commercial cr@p starts, the less energy I seem to have for decorating.

Plus it's a busy time at work. Plus it's a busy time socially. Plus I usually make homemade treats to give as gifts. Something's got to give, and it's usually decorations.

So if that's lazy, then yeah, I'm lazy.

I LOVE to decorate for the season and/or holidays, and I have some ideas for my new house:

I have collected plastic tubs -- Sterilite name brand, 18 gallons -- in various colors. Having them all alike in size is key; right now they're stacked in my attic, but in my new house I'll have a built-for-them shelf in the garage, and they'll be easier to access.

I have only one (pink) bin for Easter because it holds only a few things: a pastel tablecloth, some small ceramic bunnies, and a few other things. If I buy clearance items after the holiday this year, I'll store them in the bin for next year. On the other hand, I have -- I think -- eight red-with-green-lids bins for Christmas. Those bins hold wrapping paper as well as decorations.

While I LOVE a Christmas tree, I'm thinking more and more of NOT doing a big-big tree in our new house. They are real work to put together /take down. I'm thinking instead of investing in really nice holiday-swags for the porch, fireplace, stairs ... and having SMALL trees for several rooms ... small trees which could stay decorated /wrapped in a sheet in the garage.

Alternately, I've seen really nice rolling tree stands, which allow you to keep your tree decorated /roll it in/out of the garage. The base "zips up" around the tree and holds everything nicely together.

I'm definitely putting nice permanent hooks on the front porch so they will be ready for hanging swags (I definitely want to make some nice red, white and blue banners for July 4) and/or lights.

You know I am a pretty old fashioned kind of gal where Christmas is concerned and I don't think anyone here is describing lazy decorating. I think you are talking about resisting commercial imperative to cover the house is acres of themed kitsch for a couple of months. That is not only tiring to put up and clean around, but it is tiring to look at and kills the joy of the season.

I consider Thanksgiving a holiday to decorate for also so I can't read this thread until December 2. Bring on the turkeys and keep those pumpkins on display!

Hi Hello Kitty! I have been enjoying your ficus post.

I don’t know you well enough to tell ... but I hope you are not really calling yourself lazy? You don’t sound that way at all ... plus, for situations like this, if anyone complains - and I can’t imagine who would - just tell them you’re a “minimalist.” Or that you are “right-sizing” your decorative footprint. Or something nonsense like that.

I have enjoyed the pictures. Thank you for sharing.

I do decorate for Xmas ... discovered that if I don't, I just don't get into the spirit of the season. Don't put anything up until sometime in Dec. Things stay up into February. The latter most people find bizarre, I know. But I look at it this way .... The commercial side of Xmas irritates me and "burns out" a lot of folks because of the pressure commerce puts on people. After Dec 25, the commercial crap ends and I can sit back and take the time to enjoy the season for what it is meant to be. And why all the way into Feb, you ask? Anyone with winters like ours knows that January and February tend to be back to back chilly, grey days. Sunny days in the winter are rare. Having the lights and decor up adds some extra brightness and color to those months.

Seems the lights should be fine with the fig. During the holidays I use lots of those battery-powered "fairy" lights around the house. Tiny lights on very thin wires and easy to shape/mold onto, into or around anything. These are some inside lanterns.

I was lazy last year, and also leaving town, so I didn't want to put up a tree. I put white lights on my ficus benjamina, hung a lighted wreath indoors for some fresh pine smell, and bought a table-top wrought iron Christmas tree from Pier 1 that could hold my favorite ornaments. I also filled a big glass jar with gold balls.

I haven't decided yet what I'll do this year. I have a house full of family coming for Christmas, but they're mostly secular Jews, so I'll try to get festive but might skip the tree again.

Other than a few hundred luminaria to light paths for an annual bonfire on the winter solstice or hanging the wreath my neighbor usually sends me, I don't decorate for the holidays. Problem solved.

Hello Kitty, the light weight of the fairy lights is nice for plants.

BTW, we love Seattle...so pretty!