Holiday Decorations

This time of year you’re probably bombarded with articles about decorating for Halloween, decorating for Thanksgiving, and having your home picture perfect for when friends and family come for holidays. These stories come with affiliate links and a less than subtle suggestion that this type of decorating and merry-making is what makes the holiday season magical.

It’s not.

You know this, but sometimes it helps to be reminded right about now. Holidays should be fun and there’s nothing less fun than being stressed about everything looking perfect. In fact, I would argue that overly curated tables and mantles can actually make your guests uncomfortable. Some mess, some signs of life, some level of casual comfort will make everyone more at ease. No one wants to eat Thanksgiving dinner in a showroom.

So step one: look deep in your soul and ask yourself if you want to go all out this year on holiday decorating. If no, simply don’t.

If yes, ok! But then let’s consider doing it in a way that will be interesting, personal and sustainable, rather than just buying cheap plastic versions of whatever Amazon is recommending.

These companies and publications are using your emotions to try to get you to buy their version of holiday cheer. Isn’t it kind of fun to not play into that? Here are a handful of ideas for more sustainable, unique and (mostly) more budget friendly ideas for scratching that decorating itch this season (at least when it comes to tablescaping):

Buy a set of matching china from Facebook Marketplace or Craigslist. There are tons of beautiful sets out there for very good prices. Just check that they are dishwasher safe (if that’s a thing you care about)! A quick search near me found tons of options, generally between $50-$200 for a full set of china that seats 8. That’s generally 56 pieces of china. A crazy bargain, and this stuff will hold up if you take care of it. Etsy and Ebay are also good options for china.

Same for silver! It’s actually wild how cheap silver is these days. Your local antique store, an estate sale, Facebook Marketplace… they all have full sets of silver for super low prices. As a bonus, the designs on old silver are often so much more interesting than modern stainless steel flatware.

For something festive that will take you from October 1 through November 31, you can’t go wrong with some real pumpkins and decorative gourds. Chill, compostable, and you can buy them at your local farmstand, bodega, grocery store… pretty much anywhere this time of year.

Candlesticks are also an easy things to find in secondhand markets and antique shops and can being a ton of personality and fun to tables, shelves, mantles, etc. I’m a little obsessed with this jaguar(?) candlestick for sale on Chairish.

I’m also quite taken with these 1980s amber glass Turkeys. If you live near Montclair, NJ, just go get these and enjoy a little charming kitch on your table:

Or if you’re not into animals, maybe something really classic and timeless? This vintage brass pair is $25. You really can’t do better than that, and I bet you’ll love and keep them a lot longer than a similarly priced aluminum pair from Target.

(Getting off my soapbox now. Sorry, I just really hate mass-manufactured cheap decor.)

Anyhoo. Some things from around the internet that were enjoyable this week:

Talk about bad design, this Boston slide has been making the internet rounds and this video made me laugh (he’s ok):

Look at these gorgeous vintage windows. H/t to my friend Elizabeth for sharing:

You have to read this Substack post about making friends. I love it so much.

And finally, RIP Diane Keaton. Just one of the absolute coolest to ever do it. I’ll be rewatching several of her movies this fall.