The One Product That Makes Holiday Decorating Way Easier

If you love to decorate your home during the holidays or with the change of seasons, yet lack the time or know-how to source and style decorations, there are subscription services that will send you décor items—think boxes filled with garlands, candles, and signs—to make decorating easier and more convenient.

“A subscription service saves the customer the frustration of having to go from store to store to find design pieces that suit their needs,” says Michael Siegel, a co-founder of the décor subscription service Decocrated. “It can also help with styling—for example, each of our boxes come with a 10+ page brochure that features different room scenarios and how to use your items to decorate your home.” 

Owners of these companies stress the items in their boxes are carefully sourced and curated. “My co-partner and I attend industry trade shows looking for the season’s trendiest décor products,” shares Liz Voelker, a co-founder of another décor subscription service, ReadyFestive. Adds Jen McClard, owner of Our Blessed Nest Of 4, “We work hard to find items that coordinate, taking the guesswork out of decorating.”

MyDomaine talked to Siegel, Voelker, and McClard to get more details about how someone can take advantage of their services.

MyDomaine: What gave you the idea for your company? 

Voelker: I was a tired, busy working mom when I took a late night trip to a store to buy Easter decorations—only to return with a bunch of random things that didn’t work together from a design standpoint. I knew there had to be a better way. At the time, there was Instacart for groceries, Honest Co for diapers, StitchFix for clothes, BarkBox for dogs, so I thought, why not something for home décor?

Siegel: The idea came after studying other subscription services like FabFitFun, IPSY and Boxycharm—I realized there was a market for home design.

McClard: After purchasing several of my competitor’s subscription boxes for myself and experiencing the joy they brought me, I wanted to extend this service to my customers already in love with my Etsy shop.

MyDomaine: Who’s likely to buy into a subscription box service?

Voelker: Our customers include parents who want a festive home for their kids, teachers who love to decorate their classrooms and newlyweds looking to start and build their home décor inventory.

Siegel: Our clients are mostly women who love to dress up their homes during the holidays and the change of seasons and need help with sourcing quality items. 

McClard: Shoppers include busy moms who don’t have time to shop for themselves or who want to treat themselves to something special. 

MyDomaine: How many boxes do you offer?

Voelker: We have 15 boxes (including Valentine’s Day, St. Patrick’s Day, Easter, Memorial Day, July 4^th, Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, Hanukkah, New Year’s Eve, a birthday box and the four seasons), that come in three sizes. Within each holiday or season, we offer different theme options for customers—they can look online and view the items before choosing the box they’d like to purchase. 

Siegel: We offer five boxes including Christmas, Easter, Patriotic, Halloween and a Luxe Box collection featuring elevated home décor looks. The size of the box will vary depending on the size of the contents.

McClard: We offer six to eight boxes per year, including Winter, Valentine’s Day, Spring, Summer, Fall, Halloween, and Christmas. 

MyDomaine: What type of items can be found in your boxes?

Voelker: You may find a candle, pillow, cloth napkins, or wine glasses dipped in sprinkles!

Siegel: Items include holiday banners and signs, tiered trays, woven rugs, blankets, baskets, planters, pillows, and wall art.

McClard: We fill our boxes with things like garland, kitchen towels, wooden trays, and pillow covers. 

MyDomaine: How many pieces come in each box?

Voelker: There are 4+ items in our mini box, 6+ items in the standard box, 8+ items in the deluxe box. 

Siegel: The number of items range from 6 to 8. 

McClard: Customers will receive between 5 and 7 items. 

MyDomaine: How do you choose what goes inside each box?

Voelker: We begin by assessing the current trends in the home décor space and then choose our themes and the items accordingly. Most of our assortments are designed to coordinate so you can put one or two pieces in each room or all in the same room. 

Siegel: We have a creative services team who plan out our boxes a year in advance. They craft mood and trend boards and then go from there. Our items are meant to coordinate within each box in addition to pairing well with future boxes—so after a year, our customers will have amassed items that work well together. 

McClard: We feature items from our Etsy shop along with products from other small Esty shops and retailers. 

MyDomaine: Can customers choose the items they want in each box?

Voelker: No, they can choose a box theme but they can’t choose which items will go into each box. They can though preview the items online so they know exactly what they’ll be receiving. 

Siegel: Annual subscribers can customize one to two boxes per season, quarterly customers cannot. 

McClard: No, each box features items chosen by members of our company.

MyDomaine: What if a customer receives a box and isn’t happy with the items?

Voelker: You can upgrade or downgrade, skip, cancel, or add a box at any time. If you’re not 100% happy, we’ll offer a credit or refund but do not accept returns. (We recommend giving any unwanted items to a teacher or someone less fortunate.)

Siegel: Customers can cancel at any time. We do not accept returns or provide refunds but we do have a Facebook community where our clients can trade and sell products.

McClard: Ours is a no commitment subscription service. We don’t accept returns. 

MyDomaine: How much does your service cost?

Voelker: Mini boxes (4+ items) run $69, standard (6+ items) $99, deluxe boxes (8+ items) $159, plus shipping. You can pay upfront for all your boxes and save 10%, or pay as you go and be billed before your box ships. We require customers select a minimum of three (any sized) boxes at the time of sign-up. 

Siegel: We offer a quarterly fee for $89.99 or yearly payment for $299.99. Shipping is included.

McClard: Our larger boxes sell for $55, our smaller boxes for $35.

MyDomaine: Does the box arrive on a set date? 

Voelker: We ship boxes at least one month in advance of the holiday or season and publish shipping dates on our online calendar.

Siegel: Our Halloween box is shipped in August, Christmas in October, Easter in January and Patriotic in April.

McClard: We have no set shipping schedule but our boxes are made available six weeks before every holiday so customers have plenty of time to receive and decorate. 

MyDomaine: How do you keep your inventory fresh?

Voelker: We offer new products every year—you’ll never receive the same décor item twice. 

Siegel: The same team chooses the products to ensure different items year after year.

McClard: We guarantee a completely different box each season. The older items are still available to purchase individually in our Etsy shop.

MyDomaine: Do you offer any specials?

Voelker: There’s a 10% discount for customers who pay upfront. 

Siegel: We provide special discounts for new customers, ranging from $10 off to 50% off the first box. We also have a loyalty program where subscribers accumulate points redeemable for both shop and subscription renewals. At times, we’ll include a past top-selling box with a purchase of a new box.

McClard: We run sales throughout the year, plus you’ll get an exclusive coupon in every box that can be used on a future purchase.

MyDomaine: What’s your best-selling box?

Voelker: Christmas.

Siegel: Fall box.

McClard: Fall box.