DITCH THE LADDER: DAZZLING DISPLAYS
Those towering evergreen trees along Rio Grande Boulevard filled with colorfully dancing lights, and the elegant yards adorned with multiple arrangements of Christmas decorations don’t just happen.
Sure, some home owners get out there and find a way to string lights on a 30-foot high tree. Or spend hours upon hours creating just the right layout. Or even take a day to doll up the interior of the home to make it look like the North Pole.
But many others call in professionals to do the work.
Luminaries Unlimited and Lawn Call Does It All are two local companies that deliver holiday decorating cheer, saving home owners time and energy while safely sprucing up for the season.
“We do residential and commercial,” said Adam Pehrson of Luminaries Unlimited. “We set it up and we maintain it. And then we remove it and store it so customers don’t have to worry about any of those things.”
Lawn Call Does It All provides a similar service.
“We install Christmas lighting and we can install our lights that they can use, or we can install customers’ lights,” said owner Jason Casados. “We maintain it throughout the season. We put just about everything on timers so it’s all hassle free and you don’t have to worry about it running all night. In January, or whenever you want, we take it all down and store it for the customer.”
Since tastes can swing wildly depending on the customer, the companies have to be prepared for just about any type of request.
“We can use all types of lighting,” Casados said. “Incandescent bulbs, LEDs, icicles, pretty much anything a customer wants in a bulb. We do garlands, we put up wreathes, do interior decorating, we do windows, we do trees, we ground displays.”
For some people, bringing in a decorating company can alleviate personal safety concerns.
“It’s for people that don’t want to climb ladders or are afraid of heights,” he said. “We’re able to handle that for them. My favorite is clear bulbs, clear incandescent bulbs. When you do the whole entire roof, the fascia and the peaks, it outlines the house really nice.”
Given the nature of Albuquerque, many of the designs take on a southwestern flair.
“We do the gamut,” Pehrson said. “From luminarias, the southwest traditional thing that we’re all accustomed to here, to wreathes and garlands and interior trees. We also do outside lighting, and architectural lighting, including large LED bulbs spaced about 12-inches apart, to outline rooflines.”
One of the main areas to address is decorating trees outside, he said, and there are several ways to accomplish that.
“We do tree wraps and tree swirls,” Pehrson said. “A tree wrap starts at the base of the ground and goes up the trunk and then goes out some of the branches. A tree swirl put the lights in and around the tree all the way to the top. We have a bucket truck and can also lift them up with poles, depending on how tall the tree is.”
The process begins with a company representative sitting down with the customer to discuss ideas.
“Generally when a customer calls and wants an estimate, we go to the home, draw up a map and I’ll design it myself, and give them options” Casados said. “Maybe they want just the roof and the windows. But we can outline the roof, the fascia, and the soffits. We can design it for them or they can design it for themselves, or they can decide what they want from there.”
Again, it comes down to giving the customers options so that can choose what’s best for their property.
“Some customers have an idea of what they want,” Pehrson said. “We can take their vision and provide our vision and experience and the material. We make suggestions and give our opinions, but it’s really up to the customer. We’ll do whatever we need to do to make them look good. We provide quotes. Either we’ll meet with them or we’ll drive by the home or business and come up with ideas or suggestions and create an estimate.
With a name like Luminaries Unlimited, one would think the company’s bulk of business might be in setting up those famous bag, candle and sand decorations.
Surprisingly the company does not do a lot of them, said Casados; at least the real ones.
“We do sell some that are real luminarias with the paper bags and sand, but it’s not the bulk of our business,” he said, adding that the company uses far more of the electric ones, particularly for businesses like banks and shopping malls.
With the popularity of the seasonal shows like the “Great Christmas Light Fight,” one would think that there would be a call for some truly outrageous designs, but that hasn’t really proven to be the case.
“The craziest one is probably my house,” Pehrson said. “I do oddball stuff. Trial and error on what I do and don’t want to do with advanced technology and lighting. I use my house as a kind of guinea pig.”
Even when the clients are high-end, it seems local customers eschew the truly extravagant designs.
“We’ve done high-market, highdollar houses, Casados said. “And there are a few houses where we do a lot of lighting. But it’s not like the show.”