Britain’s most festive man has revealed how he decorates his house with more than 10,000 decorations, which take two weeks to assemble and dismantle.
Geoff Stonebanks, 71, spends a week every Christmas decorating his home in Seaford, East Sussex, with 40 boxes of decorations.
Then you have to spend another seven days in the first week of January taking everything down and putting it away, ready for next December.
Geoff estimates he owns about 2,500 individual baubles, but he has lost count of the number of other festive baubles he keeps under his roof.
His collection was previously estimated at around 10,000.
Geoff’s haul has been accumulated over several decades and includes decorations he purchased on various holidays, as well as ones passed down from his family.
Some of their decorations date back to the 1930s and one of their trees was purchased from the beloved but now defunct Woolworths store.
Last December, he had no fewer than 40 trees at his house, ranging in size from seven feet to 18 inches. He has seven this year.
Geoff Stonebanks, 71, from Seaford, East Sussex, decorates his home with 10,000 decorations, which take two weeks to set up and take down.
Geoff has been obsessed with Christmas since he was a child and was tasked with decorating his parents’ pub for the festive season.
When she left home, she began collecting her own decorations, and when her parents retired, she inherited the ones they had collected over the years.
His collection has only grown since then.
Geoff said: ‘My parents used to open the pub every Christmas Day so people who were alone would have somewhere to go.
‘So decoration was always a big thing.
‘As a child, I got involved and started helping. And then my mother finally realized that she could let me do it on my own.
For Geoff, the most special thing about his collection is the memories that each piece holds.
He said: ‘Christmas is about people and memories. And every year, when I take out the decorations to sort them and decide where I’m going to place them, I remember where I got each piece from.
Then you have to spend another seven days in the first week of January taking everything down and putting it away, ready for next December.
For Geoff, the most special thing about his collection is the memories that each piece holds.
Some of her decorations have been passed down to her from her childhood (left), while others are new to the collection (right).
Some of their decorations date back to the 1930s and one of their trees was purchased from the beloved but now defunct Woolworths store.
Geoff estimates he owns about 2,500 individual baubles, but he has lost count of the number of other festive baubles he keeps under his roof.
Geoff’s haul has been accumulated over several decades and includes decorations he purchased on various holidays, as well as ones passed down from his family.
‘Some have been given to me by people who are special to me, others I bought on a vacation that I enjoyed. So all those memories come back every year.”
Although Geoff’s house is set for a massive celebration, this year he will enjoy a quiet Christmas with his 97-year-old mother, his partner Mark and their rescue dog Chester.
On New Year’s Eve, the week-long process of removing decorations will begin.
Geoff said: “I love Christmas and have all the decorations ready for December 1, but even I must admit I get tired of them by the end of the month.”
“So I’ll start taking them apart, which will take me a week, and then I’ll pack them up so I can have them ready for next year.”