To bling or not to bling?
December 19th, 2008 by Rachel Newcombe
There used to be a time when decking the halls and adorning your home with twinkling Christmas lights merely meant sticking up a few tired decorations and a Christmas tree inside. But for many people, those times are long gone – as decorating the outside of their homes is now just as important (if not more so!).
The obsession with so-called housebling has gone a bit crazy over the last few years, with some houses draped to the rafters with endless flashing lights and mad yuletide creations. Even this year’s economic climate doesn’t seem to have put people off, with houses dolled up to the nines for Christmas.
For the seasoned houseblinger, the bling is likely to be well and truly up and in action by December 1 – or earlier, for the true devotee – but there’s still chance to add a bit of interest to your home now, if you so desire. In fact, you could even save yourself a few pounds by buying late, both in terms of the cost of electricity and with bagging a lighting bargain.
Argos, for example, has reductions on most of its Christmas decorations, including this set of 80 blue multi-function LED lights, and at Tesco there’s up to 75% off Christmas lights.
If you need inspiration of what you could create, then Festive-Lights is brimming with product ideas, from simple sets of strings of lights, to elaborate decorations and light-up moulded figures. Or there’s even a whole website, Houseblinger, dedicated to the art of housebling, where you can see current and past housebling in action – or submit examples of your own.
Getting involved with housebling is a sure-fire way of making your house stand out from the crowd – but can easily become for the wrong reasons. If you’ve currently got your house on the market, then it may be wise to tone down your bling, just in case. In the same way that buyers can be put off by unsightly interior issues, too much housebling can have the same effect.
Your neighbours may not love you either, especially if your lights are blazing late into the evening and shining into their rooms when they’re trying to get to sleep. So have fun and be creative with your decorations, but do remember to spare a thought for those who live around you.
