Every year, I wrap green Christmas garland around our stair railings. The problem is, it feels so top-heavy. It feels like I’m squeezed and assaulted by greenery when I come down the stairs! Like, it’s reaching out and suffocating me in a forest of sharp pine needles. That is not the holiday spirit I’m going for! I like the holiday decorations AND I like having generous elbow room around my house.
So what do you do?
How about this … this idea shows “outside the box” thinking:
Shared by Desire to Decorate, the solution is so obvious now!
Wrap the garland around the bottom of the railings. Be careful so that you, your family, friends or pets won’t trip on the garland. Falls can cause serious injury. Did you know that falls are a leading cause of injury death? It is true. I’d say the garland as shown above is creeping a bit into the area where you’d walk on the stairs. Keep the garland close to the railings, so the steps are free of garland.
You could even let the garland spill over the open side of the stairs as a decorative display, keeping the steps clear.
How many ideas found on Pinterest do you really use? After the tens of thousands of pins I’ve saved, I have used very few ideas. But I did use this idea! Because of this idea, here’s our staircase garland now. There’s lots of elbow room now and I don’t feel squeezed by greenery:
You can see I designed the garland and other decorative things to spill over the side. I kept the steps free of garland. I don’t want it suffocating my face, and I don’t want it wrapping around my feet either! Especially while I’m carrying laundry to the basement, or hauling our big 22-pound Maine Coon cat upstairs to go to bed. Yeah, he likes being slung over the shoulder and carried upstairs at night — it’s a cute routine.
Here you can see there’s still plenty of room to walk up and down the stairs.
Here’s what it looks like when you’re walking down the stairs:
Another good thing about this arrangement is, the railing is clear so you can use the railing for safety. There’s nothing that can ruin the holidays faster than falling down the stairs and landing in the hospital. So let’s keep the holidays pretty AND safe!
Deb, I love this, to me it looks better, too bad I don’t have a staircase to decorate, I am envious. Well not really, n my present condition I sure don’t need a house with stairs!!
No you don’t need stairs! :) I really want to rip up that carpeting on the stairs and put a runner down. That’s what I think now when I look at these pictures!
Very pretty. How do you keep wire-backed garland from scratching the woodwork?
Hi,
All wires in my garland are covered, so they really aren’t scratching the woodwork. I’d say if there are any exposed wires, covering them with green florists tape would protect woodwork. I hope this helps! Deb