‘I’m a Minimalist—Unless It’s Christmas’: How One Woman Turns Into a Holiday Maximalist

Cara Kane is a strict minimalist who doesn’t allow anything on her countertops. Until it’s Christmas.

“The holidays allow me to splurge,” she admits.

Minimalists are people who like to live with as few things as possible and normally abhor clutter or having things around the house that aren’t absolutely necessary—like home decor.

But Kane lets all this slide during the holidays. Especially that big one at the end of the year.

“Like so many, Christmas is my absolute favorite holiday,” says Kane, senior director of corporate communications at KB Home. “I think it stems from all of the traditions we had growing up, and my mom always made it such a special event.”

Kane admits she might go a bit overboard. She isn’t alone.

Americans plan to spend $1,652 on average on the holiday, which is 14% higher than the year before, according to the 2023 Deloitte holiday survey.

Consumers are expected to spend between $979.5 billion and $989 billion in total seasonal expenses in  November and December 2024, compared with $955.6 billion during the same timeframe last year, according to the National Retail Federation.

Kane, who lives in Orlando, FL, with her husband and two sons will put up six Christmas trees, each with their own painstakingly applied themes. What did they cost her?

“A pretty penny!” she says.

A tree celebrating the kids

In the family room is the “kids’ tree.” This is filled with ornaments that represent special memories of her two sons, now 13 and 16.

Whether it’s their favorite TV show or movie from a particular year, a sport they enjoyed, or milestone they hit, there will be an ornament to represent it.

“This year my 16-year-old got his license, so there will be an ornament coming pertaining to that important moment,” she says.

There are also Sesame Street, Disney, Harry Potter, and South Park ornaments dangling from the tree, each dated with the year she first hung them, so she can memorialize what cultural things her children were enamored of through the years.

Despite her kids being more into TikTok than Christmas trees these days, Kane says she still does Elf on the Shelf; and for 24 days straight, Elfie brings a new ornament.

“They still enjoy waking up each morning to discover what unique ornament was brought,” she says of her sons. “So, as you can imagine, the tree is stacked with hundreds of ornaments.”

The marriage tree

The living room tree is dedicated to Kane and her husband, Chris.

The ornaments here are dedicated to the couple’s relationship: photos and mementos from trips, special moments, milestones such as the births of their children, buying their house, etc. There are also ornaments dedicated to hobbies, mutually loved movies, and activities they enjoy such as scuba diving.

“We love taking an evening, just him and I, grabbing a glass of wine and decorating the tree, hanging each ornament and remembering so many moments and milestones,” she says.

On Christmas Day, the couple wake up and exchange, what else? Ornaments.

The sports tree

In the playroom is the sports-themed tree.

“A few years ago, I wanted to do something with all of the various sports team photos that I would buy every year and never display, so I turned those into photo ornaments of the boys and love seeing them in their various team uniforms each year,” she says. “They’re holding whatever bat, ball, or stick they have for the sport of their choice that year.”

She also has an ornament from each of the 15 MLB stadiums they’ve visited.

Then, the boys have a tree each in their rooms. These are filled with ornaments they’d made over the years in school.

“While they were made with love, often they are quite the eyesore on the well-designed trees I meticulously decorated, so are perfect to place on their own trees in their own rooms,” she laughs.

The beach tree

Finally, there is the white tree in the primary bedroom, filled with beach-themed ornaments from vacations or places the couple still want to visit.

“We are located close to the beach in Orlando, and it reminds us of our ‘happy place’ where we hope to someday retire,” she says.

Unsurprisingly, this self-described minimalist keeps her extensive decor out of the house when not in use. She has a storage unit, meticulously organized, and stacked not just with Christmas decorations but decor for every major holiday.

She’s had a unit for three years, and it costs $146 per month.

“That feels like a lot, but [it’s] the best money I spend in relative terms,” she says, since the items inside of it bring her and her family so much joy.

This is not one of those storage bins that end up abandoned on “Storage Wars.”

“I neatly stack and sort each holiday and label every bin, and I know exactly what I need and which holiday to dig through,” she says.

Kane goes to so much trouble not just because it reminds her of her own childhood memories, but she wants to create those for her children.

“I hope someday they will have the same desire to carry on the traditions with their future families and always remember how many great memories were made during the holiday season,” she says.

That said, Kane’s minimalist spirit rejoices when the house is back in order on Dec. 27.

“As much as I love putting up the holidays, I get overjoyed the day I take down all of my Christmas decorations,” she reveals. “But there is something about transforming your home for a few brief weeks and getting into the spirit.”