Neighbour finds our christmas lights "annoying"...

Bumpmakesfour

We put our christmas lights up( as we have for the past seven christmases)yesterday and I have to say the house looks FAB.There is a fine string of lights round the top of the house/bay window,a string of icicles across the middle then 3 characters on the garage.We don't use the flashy onoffonoffonoff settings,they go on when hubby gets in(6pm ish) and off at about 10pm.
Anyway this morning after one night of having them on a neighbour who lives opposite wanders over whilst we are putting the tree up and says she isn't impressed that she has to close her curtains to block out the light from our decs.I didn't really know what to say tbh,we've been neighbours since we moved in and she's never mentioned it before.
I'm sat here now feeling bad but should I be?It's christmas,we have young kids who LOVE the house looking like it does and were so happy when we switched them on..are we being selfish?:o

dirtysexymonkey

the lights sound nice but the characters sound common and tacky. sorry.

you should remember that you dont have to look at them, your neighbour does. they may not be able to escape them or the glare they cast. i suppose it depends on whether you value a good relationship with your neighbours.

balletshoes

Doesn't your neighbour shut her curtains around 6pm anyway, as its dark by that time?

If the lights aren't flashing, and they're off at a decent time of night (ie not disturbing anyone's sleep with their brightness) then I don't think you have anything to feel guilty about. Enjoy them!

aliasojo

Bumpmakesfour wrote: »

Anyway this morning after one night of having them on a neighbour who lives opposite wanders over whilst we are putting the tree up and says she isn't impressed that she has to close her curtains to block out the light from our decs.

I'm normally one who advocates not doing anything to annoy others but in this case I'll make an exception.

I could see her point if the lights were blinking but they're not.

Shutting her curtains is hardly the hardship of the century. It's not even as if she will always have to do this, the decs are only temporary.

Tell her to look on the bright side (;)) and consider the fact she is drawing her curtains as an aid against winter draughts.

The other alternative is to move the lights to the other side of the house if possible. I don't think I'd be so inclined though.

meritaten

Your house hun, and tbh, what you describe you have put up doesnt sound excessive! I think you have a killjoy neighbour. you love it, your kids love it - and its not Blackpool Illuminations! you dont have carloads of people coming to laugh at your OTT decorations!
Ignore her. if the lights go off at 10.00pm then I really dont see her problem - its not keeping her awake is it?

Badger_Lady

Yep - I'm in agreement, closing curtains in the evening is FINE and not something you need to prevent

McKneff

dirtysexymonkey wrote: »

the lights sound nice but the characters sound common and tacky. sorry.

you should remember that you dont have to look at them, your neighbour does. they may not be able to escape them or the glare they cast. i suppose it depends on whether you value a good relationship with your neighbours.

They can avoid them by shutting the curtains. As long as there is no noise, jingles etc. you keep on putting your lights on, they give pleasure to more people than they dont so just keep on keeping on OP, the kids and not just yours, and adults like them.

Up and at 'em, they add to the enjoyment of the season so let them keep on shutting their curtains.

Bumpmakesfour

dirtysexymonkey wrote: »

the lights sound nice but the characters sound common and tacky. sorry.

you should remember that you dont have to look at them, your neighbour does. they may not be able to escape them or the glare they cast. i suppose it depends on whether you value a good relationship with your neighbours.

I guess some might think they are tacky.It's a snowman,father christmas and a stocking.They're not huge and are at eye level on a garage,my car is parked in front and actually hides a lot of it.I DO value the relationship with the neighbour,hence my post.We don't make noise,if our dog starts barking we call her in,we don't park in their "usual" spaces etc and the decs have been the same for years which is why I'm surprised I guess.

balletshoes wrote: »

Doesn't your neighbour shut her curtains around 6pm anyway, as its dark by that time?

If the lights aren't flashing, and they're off at a decent time of night (ie not disturbing anyone's sleep with their brightness) then I don't think you have anything to feel guilty about. Enjoy them!

She says she likes her curtains open...fair enough I guess.I suppose not everyone closes their curtains but even so I honestly don't feel we're being inconsiderate

MatyMoo

I would be finding them a bag of humbugs for the festive season!

dirtysexymonkey

McKneff wrote: »

They can avoid them by shutting the curtains. As long as there is no noise, jingles etc. you keep on putting your lights on, they give pleasure to more people than they dont so just keep on keeping on OP, the kids and not just yours, and adults like them.

Up and at 'em, they add to the enjoyment of the season so let them keep on shutting their curtains.

should they be forced to shut their curtains at 6pm? i dont think so.

the op should bear in mind that their neighbours could make their lives very difficult in future so she should try and get to the bottom of what the problem is.

some may like character style decorations but many people dont - and if they are negatively affecting the neighbours then the op would be wise to move them to where her family enjoy them without affecting others, the back garden for instance? as i said the neighbour (who may talk and be listened to) could make life very difficult for the op in future so a bit of tact may be necessary to keep them onside.

Alikay

No you're not being selfish - your neighbour is being a misery! 6pm to 10pm isn't unreasonable, and what's such a problem about having to close curtains once it's dark? Most people do it for privacy, anyway! I guess if they have a child's bedroom facing your house, with thin blinds or curtains there's a chance that the lights could disturb the child going off to sleep, but I don't think it would bother most people just downstairs watching TV in the evening.

Round our way there used to be a few houses who went mad with Christmas lights, and loads of people from around the area, us included, used to take a tour down that road to show our kids...they even put up collection bexes and people gave donations which went to a local children's charity. Of course, some locals started whingeing to the local paper about the traffic causing a nuisance...miserable s@ds!