Forget Low-Key. Brits Are Going All Out This Christmas!
2020 hasn’t given us many reasons to celebrate, but according to our latest poll, most people are determined to make up for it this Christmas! After spending more time at home this year than ever before, two in five Brits will splash out up to £300 to turn their living space into a cosy and bright winter wonderland, with most anticipating a much higher electricity bill in January.
After an uncertain year of living and working in the same space, and many of our favourite events cancelled, the one thing we have control over is how we celebrate at home this Christmas, and Brits are going big!
To increase the festive atmosphere around the house, 67% of people admit they’re going all out on Christmas décor, with two in five spending up to £300 on decorations for every part of their home. A massive 79% anticipate a higher electricity bill due to Christmas decorating costs in January, against just 8% who plan on using battery-operated decorations to save cash.
The average cost of electricity across the UK’s 27.6 million households is typically £58 per month, but costs could be up to £20 higher over the festive season, jumping to almost £80 in households that plan on keeping lights on all month while continuing to do things like work from home and cook Christmas lunch. That could equate to more than £2 billion in electricity spend across the UK for Christmas.
Christmas Home Décor: Deck The Halls Like Never Before
Up until recently, no-one was entirely sure what Christmas 2020 would look like, whether we’d be in lockdown or able to visit friends and family. The government has allowed up to three households to meet between the 23rd – 27th of December, which means get-togethers over Christmas will likely be much smaller than usual across the UK. Some people started planning and shopping for their Christmas home décor as early as October to plan for a homebound festive season.
According to Google Search data, online searches for Christmas home décor like lights, baubles, wreaths and trees jumped by 25% in October compared to the same time last year as more people started gearing up to decorate their homes.
Most Brits also revealed they’ll be adorning parts of the house they’ve never decorated before, like the hallway, the stairs and the garden, as more people are expecting parents to take their children on Christmas light walks and drives in place of Christmas markets or events.
When all is said and done, however, the tree takes centre stage. According to our poll, 79% of Brits prefer real trees, with 7 in 10 people admitting decorating the tree is their favourite festive activity, followed by stringing up the lights and decorating the table for lunch.
Rise In Google Searches For Christmas Décor
We compared average Google Searches for Christmas décor in 2020 compared to the year before, with searches for outdoor Christmas lights, wreaths, garlands and trees skyrocketing! We’re also likely to see more indoor Christmas window lights this year than ever before.
| Christmas Décor | Rise in Google Searches |
| outdoor Christmas lights | 413% |
| wreath | 413% |
| garland | 185% |
| Christmas tree | 171% |
| candles | 158% |
| tree topper | 133% |
| Christmas tree lights | 83% |
| string lights | 83% |
| outdoor string lights | 80% |
| baubles | 78% |
| Christmas stocking | 70% |
| LED lights | 60% |
| fairy lights | 52% |
| Christmas decorations | 51% |
| tinsel | 22% |
“With several households gearing up for a smaller Christmas and some people choosing to spend Christmas alone to keep other family members safe, we’re looking at a very different festive landscape in 2020 than we’ve ever seen before. Despite this, it’s positive to see so many people are planning on recreating their own winter wonderlands in the comfort of their own homes.
Christmas can be a difficult time to be separated from friends and family, but it’s also great for our moods and mental health to decorate our homes and get into the mood even if we aren’t planning on having visitors! With many people planning Zoom Christmas visits and chats, we can still spread the joy and positivity of the festive season from a distance.”
– Tyrena Dangerfield, Head of Refurbishment & Interior Services at Douglas&Gordon
Read more government guidance for Christmas.
Method:
- We polled the Douglas&Gordon audience over Twitter, LinkedIn and Instagram Stories to find out what their Christmas plans are. We collated the data from almost 400 respondents to analyse their answers.
- Increase in electricity cost based on the total cost of festive energy (£512,150,137 divided by the number of UK households at 27,600,000)