Neighbour finds our christmas lights "annoying"...

RacyRed

I love to see Christmas lights on dark winter afternoons and early evening but I do think that leaving them on overnight is OTT.

Re the leaving the curtains open, I'm claustrophobic and have to open my bedroom curtains again before I go to sleep. If I leave them closed then I wake in the night screaming my head off. I learned early to choose to live in places where the bedroom wasn't overlooked.

My next door neighbours have lots of outside lights but are considerate enough to turn them out at a reasonable hour so I don't have to worry about excessive light in my bedroom overnight.

Bumpmakesfour

RacyRed wrote: »

I love to see Christmas lights on dark winter afternoons and early evening but I do think that leaving them on overnight is OTT.

Re the leaving the curtains open, I'm claustrophobic and have to open my bedroom curtains again before I go to sleep. If I leave them closed then I wake in the night screaming my head off. I learned early to choose to live in places where the bedroom wasn't overlooked.

My next door neighbours have lots of outside lights but are considerate enough to turn them out at a reasonable hour so I don't have to worry about excessive light in my bedroom overnight.

Ours are off by 10pm at the latest,although maybe an hour or so later on christmas eve x

harrys_nan

Bumpmakesfour wrote: »

Just so you know I was quoting someone else..low rent seaside resort were definately not my words!!:p

I do know that, sorry if you may have misunderstood my post, was saying thankyou for your remark

Bumpmakesfour

xoxo wrote: »

I don't see the problem with it. But to try and keep the peace a bit could you maybe turn them off earlier? I guess by 10pm your kids are fast asleep so wouldn't notice if they were off?

Just saw this.Had to say nope by 10pm my girls are asleep but my son isn't.He has sleep disorder alongside his other things and sleep doesn't happen much in this house.10pm is what we considered to be a reasonable time xx

Callie22

I don't mind a bit of subtle Christmas lighting, and I think the small white lights can look really pretty. I don't think the OPs house looks *that* bad, but I suppose it depends on where you are in relation to it, how long they're left on and how 'flashy' they are.

Have to say I'm not a big fan of flashing blue lights though - I don't think they look Christmassy at all. Where I used to live the opposite neighbour used to cover the house with flashing blue lights and for the whole of December it was like living with an ambulance parked outside the house. Really annoying, especially as they were left on permanently.

RacyRed

Bumpmakesfour wrote: »

Ours are off by 10pm at the latest,although maybe an hour or so later on christmas eve x

Christmas Eve is very, very different, I leave my own (rather tame) decoration lights on all night for the local kids. You HAVE to leave the lights on on Christmas eve, how else is Santa going to find you?

I love to see little faces peering out of windows looking up into the sky for Santa when they are supposed to be sound asleep. Lights, carols, the smell of wood smoke, LOVE IT :D

Bumpmakesfour

Callie22 wrote: »

I don't mind a bit of subtle Christmas lighting, and I think the small white lights can look really pretty. I don't think the OPs house looks *that* bad, but I suppose it depends on where you are in relation to it, how long they're left on and how 'flashy' they are.

Have to say I'm not a big fan of flashing blue lights though - I don't think they look Christmassy at all. Where I used to live the opposite neighbour used to cover the house with flashing blue lights and for the whole of December it was like living with an ambulance parked outside the house. Really annoying, especially as they were left on permanently.

Neighbour is directly opposite,they are on 4 ish hours a night and are not remotely at all even a teeny bit "flashy"

I would totally understand the neighbour objecting if the house was covered in flashing blue lights because that would annoy me too!When hubby was putting the lights up and tried out the flashing function I immediately screeched at him to turn it off.One of the sets of lights on the tree can flash but I won't let the kids put that on either.Just like I make hubby turn music down and the bass off because I hate disturbing neighbours and ask the kids to turn their volume down if they get too loud on the trampoline etc.I suppose that's why I'm a bit shocked about the complaint over the lights as we give nobody reason to complain the other 49 weeks of the year and totally overlook the nuisance they themselves cause ALL year round:mad:

FatVonD

I think the house looks pretty as you've posted it but you've cropped off the garage and that sounds less so but I'm so an@l about decorations looking 'just right' that I won't put lights in an outside tree (even though I love them) because there are weeds in the garden :rotfl: (I'm a bundle of laughs taking photos too, by the time I've checked there's nothing visually offensive in the background the moment has passed )

I'd never complain about anybody else's decorations though but you could be stressing over nothing, if she's anything like my mum she might just like a good moan and if it wasn't that she'd find something else to moan about.

RacyRed

Your lights and your attitude sound totally reasonable to me bumpmakesfour.

Don't pander to your neighbour unless she comes back with something more constructive, like "I go to bed at 9pm, would you mind switching your lights off a little earlier?"

claire16c

I live in an affuent area but there are still a fair few lights up, Ive never seen any characters but there are quite a lot of houses who are now starting to put up white lights and some coloured ones in the trees. They dont look tacky at all.

I normally just put a string of icicle type white lights across the top of our living room window and thats it.

There used to be a house about 4 miles away that did a huge scene in their front garden, a father christmas in a sleigh with reindeers going across the neighbours' houses, and in the bay window a grotto thing with animals a nativity scene and all sorts! They used to leave buckets outside for people to donate money to charity and we would always drive down there once a year to see it. Not sure if they still do it or not.

I love seeing peoples lights when Im driving home from work in the evening. I dont see what the problem is with the OPs neighbours shutting the curtains - I always shut mine as soon as it gets dark. We have a path going past our house as we live in a cul-de-sac and I dont want everyone peering in thanks!