Lisa Watts has spent over three decades collecting more than 1,000 vintage Christmas decorations from the 1960s and 1970s, and has decked out her home to resemble a festive time capsule
A mum has transformed her home into a festive time capsule filled with more than 1,000 retro Christmas decorations from the 1960s and 1970s – including an 80-year-old vintage tree made from toilet-brushes.
Vintage fanatic Lisa Watts, 53, started collecting her decorations in the early 1990s – spurred on by fond memories of Christmas shopping as a child.
Now her two-bed maisonette in Cardiff feels like stepping back in time, with a 1940s tree and a 1970s TV converted into a diorama and covered in tinsel. Lisa, who acknowledges her interest in vintage decs is “niche”, said: “I just think it’s nice to be yourself and not worry about what anyone else thinks.”
She has decorations up and spread across every room in the house and says her husband Keith, 72, and son, Jake, 18, love the vintage display too.
She has built a massive collection of over 1,000 decorations over three decades but says she has only spent £3,000 – as all of her decs are thrifted from charity shops and car boot sales.
Lisa, who runs a popular stall selling retro festive decorations, said: “It’s just a nice alternative to all the commercialisation and the pressure for your house to look a certain way. Christmas is a time when you should be allowed to go over the top.”
Lisa started collecting her decorations after marrying Keith, a painter and decorator, 32 years ago. She said: “My dad would take us into town at Christmas to look at the window displays. You would have animatronics, fantastic sets and scenery.
“It was amazing how the shops used to totally change themselves for Christmas. I married my husband at 21 and we didn’t have any Christmas decorations, so I went to Woolworths and surprised him with a tree and a load of decorations.
“That was when I first started collecting. We still have all those decorations that I bought 32 years ago.”
Although admitting her house is “over the top”, she sees it as an antidote to the “commercialisation” which has taken over the festive season. She added: “Years ago, you kept what you had and used it all the time.
“With Christmas, it didn’t matter how poor you were. People would make decorations so they had something for Christmas. Nowadays, it’s so commercial. People are following trends and they don’t always even really like it.”
Lisa says more and more people are opting to buy vintage, rejecting modern decs for more ethical and older alternatives. She said: “I think after lockdown there’s been a lean towards nostalgia and reconnecting with happier times.
“I find lots of younger people are starting to buy more vintage. They’re fed up of going to Ikea and buying the same decs as everyone else. And from a sustainable point of view, I don’t want to buy new all the time.”
Lisa’s retro pieces evoke special memories for many who visit her House of Christmas Nostalgia stall at Cardiff Indoor Flea Market. She added: “I love when I find homemade stuff that people have held on to.
“I have a wish-book and people will get me to find maybe an angel they had on the tree as a kid. When you get the message and someone’s in tears because you’ve found a pink teddy they had on their tree as a kid, it’s really nice.”
Lisa’s unique style also touched the heart of Wales’ Christmas Home of the Year Glen, who was moved to tears upon entering her house on last year’s BBC show because it reminded him of his late grandmother’s home.
Her business is going from strength to strength, helped by fellow Christmas lovers on social media who sell her heritage decs. Among Lisa’s favourite items is the affectionately-termed “marriage tree” she bought for her husband back in 1993.
She also loves a 1940s “bottle-brush tree” created by the Addish Brush Company using the same material as it used for toilet brushes.
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