I love christmas decorating, so I definitely took this into account. Outlets by the doorway, on the front porch, at the end of the mantle, above the kitchen cabinets, and at the base of the stairway.

We also have a ledge on one of the stairways and along the windows in the basement.

I made sure to have several outlets along our wrap-around porch for lighting but I really, really wish I had an outlet on *both* sides of my front door for my decorated entry trees. It wasn't a big deal to run an extension cord under the welcome mat but would have been much neater with their own outlets.

as did parsonse, we added lots of outlets on our wrap-porch and our front porch and we aren't huge decorators

dh also says we're adding permanent wreath hangers
for the windows, i'm just not sure if he's settled on what
he wants to use yet

mrspete-for sure! I think it helped that we were deciding lighting during the holiday season. We have outlets outside on the porch with switches inside. It's an open plan so not a lot of options for the tree so where I envision it most I had an outlet ran with a switch so I can just turn it on and off easy without slithering on my belly to reach the outlet! Ours will also be at the back of the house. It's just how it laid out. We will be able to see the tree from the living/kitchen/dining rooms though so I am happy about that. :)

I made sure there were outlets beneath each window facing front so I could put the little candelabra lights there. To me that is the ultimate picture of peace and quiet joy (although I am sure once you break the threshold that peace and quiet will be shattered by the jovial sounds of 2 crazy boys). But you get the vision! I love the look of it when I drive by houses that have them.

rb-gah! I forgot about a plug in the mantle! I did plan for one hooked to a switch that is in the built ins flanking the fireplace though. I guess non-lit items go on the mantle and the rest will have to surround it!

Great ideas everyone.

I did an energy rating for a lady who had a christmas tree closet. big enough to roll the fully decorated tree in and out plus room to store other xmas decos & acessories.

most do outdoor outlets & for mantle etc.

I'd like that tree from the grinch who stole christmas
that closes like an umbrella...LOL!

Happy New Year everyone/

In our original plan, it wasn't on my radar. However, that changed when we did our planning before our walk-thru with the electrician.

We put electrical outlets on both sides of the front door so I can put decorations/small trees on both sides which might need electricity. We also put outlets on both sides of the mantel.

And, I had to give it some thought where I could fit a tree. We have a wide entry and go from a 9 foot entry ceiling to a vaulted family room. I thought I could put a tree in that transition of the two locations (even though DH says "No Way!"). But, just in case, I'm putting an outlet in the floor around that area. :-) We have a crawl space and we had wiring run under the house and will select the areas for floor outlets later. The outlet for the tree could be the same as where we will be putting a table in-between two chairs. However, the probable space for the tree will be on one side of the entry which we've had outlets installed.

Am hoping to have my staircase visible from a main living area so that I can enjoy the lights and greenery. I never see it now since my foyer is surrounded by two rooms I never go in.

My daughter and hubby have one switch that controls all the electric candles in their front windows upstairs and down for the holiday. Sure saves a lot of time.

We have outlets in our eaves for Christmas lights and the switch is in our coat closet. I also made sure there were outlets in the back of the pillars on our front porch so that I could plug lighted trees on either side. Our mechanical room is also large enough that we can put 2 7-foot trees in there covered with sheets. Didn't plan that but it was a nice surprise!

I have never heard of a permanent wreath holder either and now I'm intrigued. I'm guessing that it is in some way invisible or unobstrusive the rest of the year?

I was thinking about Christmas before we even had a house plan, ha ha. So far we've added extra outlets outside, and are planning to add one above the kitchen cabinets, one down low behind the staircase and one behind where our mantle will be when we do our electrical walkthrough.

We also put a bay window in the dining room, which is basically in the center of our open floorplan, and nixed the idea of built-in seating there just so that there would be room for a large Christmas tree to go in front of it :)

Another thing we did was add a dormer window upstairs (it's a one and a half story), where I'm planning a lit window box and wreath. Where we currently live there are no exterior outlets in the front of the house- can't wait to move!!