Every year I decorate 13 Christmas trees. I spend between $600 to $1,500 per tree and it brings me so much joy.

Kelly Okrepkie wishes she could decorate trees for other people at some point.

Courtesy of Kelly Okrepkie

Kelly Okrepkie, 47, lives in Monroe, Connecticut and loves Christmas. She started decorating Christmas trees in her house in 2011, with the goal to have one in each room.She now has 13 Christmas trees that she decorates every year.

This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Kelly Okrepkie. It has been edited for length and clarity.

I love Christmas.

When I was little my mom worked at a department store and I would always walk by their Christmas trees and think, “I want this when I grow up.”

I started with my first tree when I got married in 2011. Then I had an idea: why don’t I have one tree in each room? And then I started looking at the corners of each room and it slowly started to expand.

Now I have 13 Christmas trees that I put up every year.

Each tree has a meaning

I enjoy decorating trees that represent a certain meaning. I have a gold tree and a silver tree that remind me of the song “Silver and Gold” from Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. That song takes me back into my childhood.

I have a tree for my dad. I decorated it with cardinals and I actually found ribbon with music notes on it. He loved music. He grew up on a farm so I used burlap and natural wood, too. I also have a tree for my mother-in-law. She always wore red, so I used lush red roses with big blooms — it’s very vibrant. There’s an angel at the top to represent her.

Kelly Okrepkie decorates 13 Christmas trees every year.

Courtesy of Kelly Okrepkie

I feel so excited when I decorate trees for my loved ones who have passed. It’s like I get to celebrate Christmas with them.

I put a little glass angel in every one of my trees as a blessing for the new year. My nephew bought them for me years ago at his school fair.

I like to decorate trees for my husband, Joe. My “Emerald City” tree is for his favorite childhood movie, The Wizard of Oz. For that, I made a hot air balloon and I put ruby slippers under the tree. This year I’m making him a Pontiac-inspired tree. He loves cars.

I plan the trees a year in advance

I start planning my trees a year ahead of time. I begin getting ideas and slowly collect ornaments throughout the year so that when the time comes, I already have everything and I’m ready to start.

I have bins and bins and bins of ornaments in the basement, all categorized. It takes me days to bring everything upstairs. I start making props in July. I made an ornament wall out of styrofoam that I glued to the wall. I hot glued every single ornament. It took me 12 to 14 hours.

When I create, I can’t have any interruptions. I get filled with adrenaline and excitement. I just put on Christmas music, put my phone on vibrate and get into the zone.

Kelly Okrepkie started with the goal of having one tree per room in her house.

Kelly Okrepkie

Each tree takes me about three to five hours to decorate, depending on the size. I always try to update my looks. I try to make them better and invest more into them. I learn a lot from designers on Instagram. I’ve learned how to work with ribbons and picks. Here’s a great tip: if you want a different look for your tree, just buy picks and insert them all around. It’s a cost-efficient way to change things up.

I spend between $600 to $1,500 per tree

Each tree, with its decorations, cost me probably between $600 and $1500, depending on the height and width. This year, I took a trip to the Christmas Palace in Florida and I got some giant candy canes and bears and penguins and ornaments and globes.

But you don’t need to spend that much to have a beautiful tree. You can do things like add a lot of lights, add picks and cover them with a lot of ornaments to fill it out. Instead of throwing empty boxes out, recycle them under your tree. Wrap them up like big presents. I do this so my cats don’t climb the trees.

Courtesy of Kelly Okrepkie

I would love to design meaningful trees for other people. I’d help them pick colors and items that remind them of their loved ones. My dream is to create a Santa’s wonderland where families could come visit and take photos and create traditions of their own.

When my trees are up from November until January, they’re the first thing I see in the morning and the last thing I see before I go to bed. I don’t know when this obsession is going to stop but it just makes me so happy.