As each year draws to a close, everybody chooses their own time to hang holiday lights and adornments, with the classic debate of “When is the earliest time to set up these decorations?” Should it be right as Halloween ends? Sometime in November or December? Or Christmas Eve?

The earliest acceptable time to put out holiday decorations is November 1st. Following Halloween, Christmas is (usually) the next holiday that most people would want to decorate their house for. There simply aren’t many decorations made solely for Thanksgiving or any other fall holiday before the winter holidays arrive.

Another question that people may ponder over is when should these winter holiday decorations be taken down? In my opinion, the latest time to take them down is January 2nd. This is due to New Year’s Day coming soon after most winter holidays. Leaving holiday lights up until after the first day of the new year is perfectly acceptable in my opinion. However, leaving Christmas or other winter holiday lights after that point just doesn’t make too much sense, unless they’re out for a specific event in your household, such as a birthday or January holiday that you want to celebrate using the same decorations.

However, with these dates there are exceptions. Some of my neighbors set up decorations inspired by the movie The Nightmare Before Christmas for Halloween, which is a great idea for those who want to save a little money. Because the film functions as both a Halloween and Christmas movie, therefore these decorations can be set up in October, and remain out until December.

There are numerous start and end times that you could potentially have your holiday lights out through, but November 1st through January 2nd is a range that should work for most people.