Where holiday decorations are concerned, it's best to go the Full Griswold, stuffing as many lights and ornamental bulbs and ribbon and dead tree limbs as fire code allows.
Sure, a single strand of holiday lights can be pretty on its own, in a way that their twinkling presence reminds you of simpler times when all you needed were 120 tiny bulbs to make you feel warm and full inside. But decadence wins in all categories every holiday season, so when decorating your home or establishment please do so with absurd abundance, and keep adding more and more until your space is the visual equivalent of eating an entire turducken on Thanksgiving. Overdo it and don't stop, ever. Fill the void.
Stuff your space in a way that would make a Cracker Barrel look empty. In a way that will make torching the place seem like a better option than cleaning all that shit up in January. Weave together strands of lights with dolls and pine needles and shiny bulbs until you start to get claustrophobic. And then still, keep going, until you're in full panic attack mode looking back at what you've just done. Sit in the corner and gaze upon your creation with a deserved amount of fear. Wonder why it's not making you feel that happiness you thought it would. Maybe it needs more tinsel.
Rolf's Bar & Restaurant in Gramercy (which has been open for around four decades now at 281 3rd Avenue) changes its decorations with every season, and they offer a fantastic blueprint for how to properly overdo it this holiday season. The German joint has created an amazing space that sort of makes it feel like you are living inside of a snow globe or like you are part of a Christmas tree—click through and feel the Joy.
