Meet the woman so obsessed with Christmas she has an entire room in her house dedicated to it – even though her husband is a ‘Grinch’.
Heather Shayne, 32, has a ‘Santa room’ bulging with £8,000 worth of Christmas decorations which she keeps up all year round.
The sales assistant keeps more than 1,200 decorations in the room – despite the fact Daniel, 50 is not a fan.
Heather calls landscaper Daniel her “real life Grinch” as he grumbles about the room – but she has no intention of taking the decs down, and she adds to it every year.
She’s got 500 Santa themed mugs, thousands of baubles, dozens of elves and hundreds of strings of lights.
Speaking to the Real Fix podcast, Heather from St Louis, Missouri, said: “The ‘Santa Room’ is more than just a room, it’s an experience – when you walk in, it’s a Christmas overload.
“I just love the Christmas spirit, with all the music and decorations..
“Daniel isn’t a fan and he’s happy it’s in the basement, so we can close the door and pretend it isn’t there – but he’ll just have to deal with it.
“I might not be Santa’s biggest fan, but I’m definitely up there among them!”
Heather told the Real Fix podcast – which features real people telling their extraordinary stories – her obsession began in 2015 when she bought a four pack of Santa mugs.
Working her way up to buying a range of trees, garlands, ornaments, baubles and twinkling lights, the Christmas-lover eventually needed an entire room to store them all.
And so she could keep them up all year round.
She reckons it has cost her more than £8,000 since she began.
She said: “My goal is for there to be so many decorations that you can’t see the walls.”
Heather spends weekends scouring flea markets, online auction sites and antique festivals for new decorations, all year round.
The Christmas-lover calls the room her “place of peace and happiness” where she goes to enjoy year-round festivity.
She says Daniel is a ‘clean freak’ and gets annoyed with all her purchases – but she has no intention of stopping adding to her collection.
Heather told Real Fix: “I just love everything about Christmas – the music, the decorations, and spending time with family and friends.
“Everybody knows I’m obsessed.
“I don’t think they totally understand it, but they know I have fun with it!”
*Listen to the Real Fix podcast here https://www.real-fix.com/real-fix-podcast/ or subscribe using the appropriate podcast platform here https://plnk.to/realfix
