HOLIDAY | when it comes to decking halls (and more), the pros can be worth the cost

Sorgel isn’t alone. Angie’s List has seen a 241 percent increase in the number of requests for holiday decorators in the past five years. Holiday Bright Lights, a manufacturer/distributor of high-end lighting and decorations, operates a national showroom in Chicago that has nearly 600 clients across the country who either buy sup- plies wholesale or work as affiliates designing, installing, removing and storing the holiday pretties. Six affiliates operate in the Chicago area, serving approximately 1,000 customers.
“While homeowners have been torn. hiring companies to string lights for a good decade, there’s been a huge pick-up in the Chicago area that includes landscapers, tree trimmers, day lights,” she said. within the past three years for more sophisticated and unique decorations,” said Scott Heese.

We take a lot of precautions from the protagonist, the client’s house crew, and we wind and ice.” With Lisa LoVallo’s family recently moved to Lincolnwood Towers, a neighborhood famous because of their holiday decorations. She hired Light Up Your Holiday concern with the size and height of her house, not to mention the weather. The 4,000-square- feet Kelly Fitzsimmons directs Raul Jimenez outside the home of Sylvia Sorgel. RICH HEIN-SUN-TIMES home takes a full day to decorate, things to do, especially around the and LoVallo pays an average of holidays.

While Fitzsimmons’ and Anderson’s clients can pay anywhere from $500 to $5,000 for decorations and labor, there are cheaper alternatives. For the past two seas- Herb Ruterschmidt has hired his window washer to decorate the trees, bushes and roof line of his Arlington Heights home for a mere $250. “It was a lot less expensive than I thought it’d be; plus, it looks better and they do it faster than I could,” he said. “Everyone wants their house to look nice, but people have other service, however, decorating decisions shouldn’t be based solely on the price. Before finding Fitzsimmons, Jessica Erickson paid a handyman $200 to hang icicle lights two years in a row on her Glenview home—one year they looked great, another they didn’t. “You think anyone can do it, but there’s a big difference,” she said.