Decoration Nation

Hey there all you tenants, landlords, property owners and managers. As we find ourselves in the thick of the holiday season, we’re all thinking the same thing: how do we make our houses, apartments, condos and duplexes appropriately festive. Well have no fear, the Hometown Rant is here to help you with all your wildest decorative desires.

As a tenant looking to decorate your rental property in a seasonally appropriate fashion, you’ll first have to know which of the many holidays you’re celebrating. You probably already know what you personally celebrate, but if you plan on having guests over, especially recent significant others of your extended family, you may want to ask them so you don’t seem insensitive. Say you’re celebrating Christmas, but your cousin’s new girlfriend comes over expecting a kosher Hanukka meal, complete with latkes and a nice menorah. Could be awkward if you’re unprepared. Be a good host and observe the traditions of your guests.

Just as each holiday has its own decorations, it also has its own hazards that go along with said decorations. Christmas, especially American Christmas, has a lot of focus on exterior lumiation, i.e. lots of lights on and around your house. In some neighborhoods it even becomes a competition to see who can create the most elaborate and brilliant display. By all means, participate in a little friendly neighbor vs neighbor light show, but don’t get carried away. You don’t want to spend your holiday in the hospital because you fell off the roof trying to do the red lights for Rudolph’s nose. Also, don’t use that old set of lights with the exposed wiring, or create a massive outlet with a series of power strips. At best, you’ll be blowing a fuse every few minutes, and at worst you’ll be watching your rental property burn down because of an electrical fire. National Lampoon has a classic guide involving what not to do.

Hanukkah, being a celebration of a miraculous surplus of lamp oil, is also big on lights, but these lights are traditionally not electric, but either oil lamps or candles. Kwanzaa also involves a seven-candle lamp called a kinara. While perhaps less dangerous to set up, the menorah or kinara can still cause issues if it isn’t properly made, of if it isn’t put in a good place. A good metal menorah or kinara should be safe to let the candles burn down in, but it’s never a good idea to leave open flames burning unsupervised in your house, apartment, duplex or condo, especially near flammable things like papers or cloth. Always blow out your candles before leaving home or going to bed, otherwise you could come home or wake up to a burning rental property.

As a landlord or property owner during the holidays, now might be a good time to remind your tenants of a few things, one being any neighborhood regulations having to do with lighting or decoration–some areas are more strict than others. Another thing to mention might be your regulations for guests staying in rental properties, and disposal of decorations, particularly christmas trees. Sometimes the municipal garbage will dispose of them, but it might cost extra–let your tenants know who is responsible for this charge or you might have to pick it up, or deal with decomposing douglas firs outside of your properties for rent. That’s not how you want to spend your new years. Make sure it won’t be.

As for us, we’ll be busy performing feats of strength for festivus. Do you have rental questions of your own? Comments? Concerns? Love letters? Hate mail? Air your grievances:  Hometownrant@hometownrent.com

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