Many still do and if I were to put up a full sized tree, I would as well. But it is no longer common to do so. Tastes and artistic ability have changed all that. None of us are "cool kids" if we use it. A burden I guess we will have to live with until it becomes fashionable again.
I have never really cared about what is "fashionable" because why should I let someone else tell me what my taste SHOULD be? Who decides what's "cool" or "in" and why do they have this power? I buy what I like. When I first moved here, we lived with my in-laws for 3 years. It wasn't my home and it was already furnished and I wasn't allowed to change anything. It was kind of an issue for me, because I had talked to my husband before I had ever been to visit him and we had talked about our favorite colors, our dream homes, etc. I had always said I hated stark white...and I prefer wood to be its natural color, not painted, because it just seemed warmer and more inviting. Stark white was too sterile and cold for my taste. I also don't like wicker/ratan because it's bumpy and uncomfortable to sit in. I prefer soft places where I can just nestle in and curl up with a good book. And I hate yellow walls. I won't explain that one, but it just makes me feel uncomfortable. So we move in with his parents, supposedly only for a couple of months until we could find a place of our own, and our room had yellow walls, stark white furniture, a ratan chair, and a white/grey marble pattern vinyl flooring. It was everything I didn't like in decorating.
We moved in in November, and there was no room for our own furniture....everything of ours was in storage, including my christmas decorations. So not speaking the language, and not knowing anyone, and I wasn't placed in school yet to learn Dutch or meet anyone, the only time I got out was if I went grocery shopping with my mother-in-law, who fortunately could speak English, unlike my Father-in-law. So one day, we went to a garden and decorating store to look at Christmas decorations. I found some lovely matte blue ornaments...blue is my favorite color. I grabbed a box and my MIL took them out of my hands and put them back on the shelf. "No, blue isn't in this year. Last year it was popular, but no one will have blue this year." I said I didn't care what other people liked, I cared what I liked. I grabbed the box and she took it from me and put it back again. "It's my house and I don't want people to think I'm not stylish." I told her that I wasn't buying them for HER, I was buying them for ME. Again, I took the box and she put it back. "No, you aren't putting those up in my house." I finally put my foot down and told her I was buying them, and if I had to wait until next year to put them up in my own house, that's what I'd do.
I bought them and I was allowed to put them just in our room, but not anywhere near the windows, so no one would see them. This same kind of thing happened so many times over the years and not just when we were living with them, but also when we moved into our own place. Not just with chrismas ornaments, but with wall paper, with flooring, with bedding, with kitchen appliances...my MIL is a big believer in being "fashionable", but I don't believe in doing things just because someone else does it. If I want tinsel, I'll darn well put tinsel in my tree, whether someone else thinks it's attractive or not. Life is far too short to cater to everyone at the expense of your own feelings. There's a time for compromise, sure. But in your own home, you should have what makes YOU happy. Just my two cents.
