By Holly Margaux for Margie Mae’s Holiday Decor
The Homes That Look Effortless in December Started Their Checklist in September
I ran into a Phoenix homeowner outside her house last week, and she had a date circled on her kitchen calendar: one hundred days until Christmas. I asked her why that particular number mattered so much. She told me it was the deadline that finally taught her to stop waiting until Thanksgiving to think about her home. Watching her walk me through a plan that was already finished in September, I understood exactly why the countdown works.
Why Do 100 Days Actually Matter for Holiday Decor Planning?
A hundred days sounds like an arbitrary number until you break down what actually has to happen before a single light goes up in December. Design consultations take time to schedule. Material orders, especially for custom colors or specialty fixtures, need lead time to arrive. Installation calendars fill from the outside in, meaning the homeowners who call first get the dates and the designs they actually want. Marking one hundred days is less about superstition and more about giving every one of those steps enough room to happen properly, instead of being compressed into a panicked few weeks in November. It also gives a home time to look considered rather than rushed, warm and welcoming from the very first week of December instead of the third.
I see this most clearly in neighborhoods like Mountain Park Ranch, where HOA architectural guidelines and mountain-view lots mean every property needs its own plan rather than a generic package. A hundred days gives me time to walk a property, notice the quirks that only show up in person, and design around them instead of guessing from a photograph. This is often where a home earns real elegance, not from a bigger display, but from choices made with enough time to get them right.
I always start homeowners at our full-service holiday decor guide, because it walks through the entire process from that first consultation to the day everything comes down in January, so nobody has to wonder what happens between now and December.
What Should a Homeowner’s Checklist Actually Include?
A real holiday decor checklist covers more than the roofline. Phoenix homeowners who wait until the season is already underway to think about their interior often end up choosing whatever is left on a shelf, rather than a tree and garland that actually suit their home. By the time family gathers for the holiday celebration, the whole house should feel ready, not still catching up.
I think about this every time I drive past Dreamy Draw in the evening light, watching how differently each home near the preserve catches the last color of the day. The homes that plan early get to work with that light instead of against it.
Our Christmas light installation guide breaks down exactly what a well-planned exterior display requires, from roofline coverage to accent lighting, so a homeowner’s checklist has real substance behind it instead of just good intentions.
I wrote about this exact mindset back in July, in Christmas in July: Lock in Your Phoenix Installation Now, and the homeowner I mentioned earlier is proof that the habit sticks. She started in July. By the hundred day mark, she was simply confirming details, not making decisions under pressure.
What Does the Process Actually Look Like Once You Start the Checklist?
The homeowner I keep mentioning has a home in North Central Phoenix with a deep, mature yard and a roofline that wraps around three sides of the house. When we sat down together, we walked the property first, noted where her existing landscape lighting would need to coordinate with new holiday lighting, and mapped a plan before touching a single strand of lights.
Her property also backs up to a greenbelt, which meant thinking through wind exposure and how the lighting would read from two different approaches, depending on which side of the house a guest arrived from first. None of that shows up on a generic checklist. It only shows up when someone walks the property in person before making a single decision.
“I used to be the one still hanging lights the week before my family flew in for Christmas,” she told me. “This year I get to just enjoy them.”
Her checklist this year came down to exactly two calls: one to confirm her design, and one to confirm her installation date. Our crew handled the measuring, the ordering, the install, and will handle takedown when the season ends, which meant her actual to-do list stayed remarkably short for a home with that much roofline to cover.
Why Does Starting the Checklist Now Beat Waiting Until November?
Every year, the same pattern repeats. Homeowners who start their holiday decor checklist around the hundred day mark get their first choice of installation date, their preferred design consultation slot, and first access to specialty materials before anything sells out. Homeowners who wait until Thanksgiving are choosing from what is left, not what they actually wanted.
This is also when the honest answer about cost comes up. A hundred days out, we can plan a design that fits a home’s actual architecture and budget without rushing the numbers. Waiting until November often means paying a premium for expedited scheduling, if a slot is even available at all. The homeowners who plan early are not spending more. They are simply spending it on purpose instead of under pressure, and that difference tends to show in the finished result as much as in the invoice.
By the time I left her driveway, the Phoenix homeowner had crossed one more day off her countdown, and I found myself wondering how different this December would feel for her compared to the ones she used to dread. The hundred day mark, I realized again, was never really about urgency. It was permission to stop worrying two months before anyone else even started. And that is exactly what the homes which look effortless in December have in common: warmly lit and ready for whatever celebration the season brings, they were the ones someone thought about back in September.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why do professionals recommend planning holiday decor 100 days before Christmas?
Planning around the hundred day mark protects a homeowner’s first choice of date and design. This is why waiting until November often means limited scheduling and fewer material options. Starting in September gives design, ordering, and installation each the time they need.
What should a Phoenix homeowner do first when starting a holiday decor checklist?
A homeowner should book a design consultation before worrying about specific decorations. Because consultation slots fill first as the season approaches, securing that appointment protects every later step in the checklist. Everything from material selection to installation date depends on getting that first conversation on the calendar early.
Is it too early in September to book holiday lighting installation?
No, September is one of the best times to book holiday lighting installation. Because design consultations and installation calendars fill up as the season gets closer, early booking secures the date a homeowner actually wants. Waiting until October or November often means choosing from whatever availability remains.
What happens if a homeowner waits until November to schedule installation?
Waiting until November usually means choosing from whatever installation dates and materials remain. Because the busiest weeks of the season fill up quickly, popular designs and specialty lighting can sell out entirely. A homeowner who waits may still get decorated, just with fewer choices than she would have had in September.
Begin Your Hundred Day Checklist
If your home could use the same kind of head start, I would love to walk through what a hundred day checklist looks like for your property. Take a look at our holiday decor services, browse our exterior or interior gallery, visit our FAQ, or reach out for a free quote whenever you are ready.
Holly shares stories about the homes, neighborhoods, and homeowners she meets across Arizona each season, always looking for the small habits that make the holidays feel effortless by December.
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