December 23rd 2024.
Lorraine has a special tradition that she has been carrying out for over 40 years. She has a strong passion for Christmas and has been collecting decorations since a young age. Now, at 61 years old, she has amassed a large collection of decorations that takes around nine days to deck the halls of her home in Surrey. Lorraine used to be a decorator and has been collecting decorations for years, as she finds it difficult to part with items.
She has made it a tradition to decorate every home she has lived in for the holidays, and her daughter Mads, 26, has been documenting the process on TikTok for their 585,000 followers since 2020. The videos have become a fan-favorite, with many likening Lorraine's decorating to the excitement of seeing the iconic Coca Cola Advert. Lorraine starts by decorating the greenery, followed by the lights and large pieces, which takes her the longest. She admits that she could do more, but she loses the motivation to continue after a while.
Over the years, Lorraine has curated an impressive collection of decorations, including multiple Swarovski crystal pieces, which are her favorites. Each year, her immediate family gifts her a new decoration, but sometimes they end up getting her something she already has, resulting in a flurry of glass snowflakes. Lorraine has also made it a point to find a decoration from the year each of her three children – Mads, Dev, 22, and Ash, 19 – were born. She searched for these special ornaments on eBay, and for Mads, she found one with her birth year, 1998, engraved on it.
The family also likes to pick up decorations during their travels, such as their trip to Salzburg last year, where they found unique pieces like a rustic bell, an icicle tree, and a star for the top of one of their trees. Despite their impressive collection, Lorraine and Mads believe that creating a magical holiday doesn't have to be expensive. They usually buy decorations during sales and also make some themselves, like their homemade mince pie fairy lights inspired by luxury brand Fortnum & Mason. They also enjoy shopping at budget-friendly stores like B&M and The Range.
When it's time to decorate, Lorraine enlists the help of her children and husband, Glynn, 58. She assigns them specific tasks, and her sons help with the heavy lifting, including an extra large nutcracker. They have a set place for every decoration, and Mads and her siblings usually take care of the three trees. These plastic trees get a fresh look each year as they are spray-painted in different colors. Lorraine's love for Christmas doesn't just stop at decorations; she has incorporated festive elements into her home's design, like a log burning fireplace and wooden bannisters carved into trees.
One unique feature of their home is the giant blackboard in the kitchen, which serves as a canvas for their annual Christmas mural. They invite friends and family over for festive drinks and games leading up to Christmas, and everyone is always amazed by the decorations. Lorraine makes sure to pack everything away by Epiphany on January 6, as she is a little superstitious and believes it's bad luck to have decorations up after that date. However, she loves to keep them up for as long as possible to spread as much joy as she can.
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