Saturday, October 31, 2026, is All Saints’ Day, and in many Swedish homes the Halloween decorations have barely made it back into the box before the Advent candleholders come out. It’s called novent: November plus Advent, a habit no one has quite decided whether to call a tradition or a misunderstanding. This guide isn’t about decorations. It’s about the wall, and how a poster can carry you from the first day of November to St. Knut’s Day without you having to redo the room twice.
Novent: the word from 2020 that made November a second Advent
The word is a portmanteau of November and Advent. According to The Local, it was already highlighted in 2020 by the Swedish Language Council and Språktidningen as one of the new words that had become part of everyday conversation, but it took a few years to really catch on. In November 2024, SVT Västmanland reported on 24-year-old Saga Thunholm in Västerås, who had put up most of her Christmas decorations in the first week of November, just a few days after taking down her Halloween decorations. Her reasoning is easy to understand: when it gets dark, you want the glow of Advent candleholders, and if snow comes in November, you want to be ready.
What makes the phenomenon interesting to anyone thinking about wall art is that novent isn’t about what you hang up, but how long it stays up. Decorations have an expiration date. A poster doesn’t. That’s the observation the rest of this guide is built on.
Quick facts: The first Sunday of Advent falls on Sunday, November 29, 2026, the fourth Sunday of Advent on December 20, and Christmas Eve on Thursday, December 24. There are 54 days from All Saints’ Day on Saturday, October 31, to Christmas Eve. Novent is a portmanteau of November and Advent, and SVT Västmanland wrote about the trend on November 13, 2024.
The fourth Sunday before Christmas versus the ethnologist’s negotiation: who decides when Christmas begins?
Sveriges Radio describes the rule as it appears on paper: Christmas decorations should go up on the first Sunday of Advent, four Sundays before Christmas. In the same segment, Stockholm residents have their say. One thinks anything that makes people happy is good, while another says that, by the same logic, you might as well start celebrating after Midsummer. That’s the whole debate in two sentences, and neither of them is wrong.
SVT News reminded readers on December 1, 2024, that Advent used to be about restraint and, above all, waiting. It also quotes Jonas Engman, an ethnologist at the Nordic Museum: "Holidays and traditions are constantly changing. But we are, so to speak, negotiating how we should do things, what is right and wrong." SVT also notes that if Novent were to catch on, it wouldn’t be the first time Advent celebrations had taken on a new form.
The debate takes place in every household, often around the dinner table. In some homes, the tree is already up on November 1; in others, it comes in on Little Christmas Eve. A poster is neutral in that debate. It doesn’t require a decision about the date, and it doesn’t need to be taken down because someone in the family thinks it’s too early or too late.
Greige, shine, and flexible lighting: what Markslöjd’s 2026 Christmas trends mean for the wall behind the decorations
Lighting company Markslöjd identifies a few trends in its 2026 Christmas report that influence how a wall looks in December. Greige, the gray-beige midtone, continues to grow as one of the season’s most popular colors, according to the company. Wreaths and garlands of greenery are becoming more common, both indoors and outdoors. After several years of understated minimalism, there is also growing interest in shimmer, reflections, and metallic surfaces, and demand for flexible lighting, such as rechargeable cordless lights, has increased markedly. Note that this is a retailer’s own take on its product range, not an independent study, but the direction aligns well with what we see around Advent windows.
In practical terms, this means two things for the poster. First, color: greige and green work well together with muted, earthy motifs, while sharp neon colors make it feel like two different rooms. Second, the surface. When string lights and metal are meant to shimmer, the art behind them should be matte and calm; otherwise, everything competes for attention. We’ve reviewed this season’s trade show trends in a separate guide, Christmas 2026 – three trends from Christmasworld, which complements this post if you’d like to explore the decorations themselves in more depth.
Three motif families that work for both November 1 and January 6
The point of a novent wall is for the artwork to work before, during, and after Christmas. That rules out anything that screams Advent, but it doesn’t rule out atmosphere. Three categories of artwork work all season long. The first is nature scenes: snow-laden fir trees, frosty fields, a lake at dusk. They evoke winter rather than Christmas, and winter lasts longer than Christmas. The second is black-and-white posters, where the grayscale works as a quiet backdrop for both string lights and greenery. Black and white can also hang next to a Christmas tree without losing their own character.
The third category is artwork with light in it: a lit window in a dark house, a still life with a burning candle flame, a street at blue hour. Images like these enhance what novent is really about: longing for light during the darkest weeks. They still feel right on January 7, when the decorations are gone but the darkness remains. Choose a cool base tone if the room already has warm light from candles, and a warm one if the room is cool and blue-white.
Size matters more than you might think. A 50x70 poster can hold its own beside a candle holder in the window, while a 30x40 works on a shelf or above a dresser where the Advent candle holder is already placed. If you want to make a bigger statement, two or three frames in the same size can create a small series that grows with the Christmas season and stays up afterward.
Let the lighting do the work: Advent candle holders, string lights, and a frame that doesn’t glare
November and December are the months when light moves into the room. It could be an electric Advent candle holder in the window, a string of lights along the shelf, or candles on the table. All of this affects how a poster looks, so it pays to think about the frame before you hang anything. A frame with glass offers protection and a defined edge, but reflects the string lights. A frame without glass doesn’t glare, but leaves the paper exposed. If you’re hanging it in a brightly lit room, the best solution is often to place the string of lights at an angle to the frame, so the reflection falls beside the artwork.
If you like creating atmosphere with real flames, there is a range of taper candles and designer candles that makes a natural complement to the wall. This combination is an old one: candles and pictures have sat together in Swedish homes for as long as Advent candle holders have existed.
Tip: Keep open flames at least an arm’s length away from paper, and never run a string of lights over the edge of an unframed poster. A windowsill with an Advent candelabra is a great spot for a small 21x30 poster, but never move it closer than a hand’s breadth.
"Decorations should come down on January 6. Art can stay up."
A week-by-week wall plan: from All Saints’ Day to St. Knut’s Day
On Saturday, October 31, take down the last of the Halloween decorations and replace them with the poster that will see you through the entire period. If you’ve read our guide to posters for the autumn darkness, you already know the principle: choose bright, calming motifs as the days grow shorter. During November, you can go all in on the pre-Christmas season, with candlesticks and lights in the windows and a poster that serves as a calming focal point behind them.
Sunday, November 29 is the first Sunday of Advent, and therefore the day when even traditionalists bring out their candlesticks. The wall doesn’t need anything new here, which is the whole point. Sunday, December 13 falls on both the third Sunday of Advent and St. Lucia’s Day, a day that in many homes is about lit candles and white, and when a black-and-white or muted poster works especially well. Christmas Eve is Thursday, December 24, and Epiphany, Wednesday, January 6, 2027, is traditionally the day Christmas leaves the room. St. Knut’s Day, Wednesday, January 13, is when the Christmas tree is danced out.
The point of this plan is that you don’t have to choose between the moods. If you want to change the artwork with the seasons, we’ve gathered our thoughts on a frame system that makes the switch easy in Change the artwork with the seasons. If instead you want to hang a single poster that never needs changing, a winter motif from the nature collection is a safe choice that works for both the pre-Christmas season and the January darkness.
There is also an economic argument. Someone who buys decorations for just one month gets an item that sits in a box for eleven months out of twelve. Someone who buys a poster gets something they use every day, all year round, and can also move between rooms as their needs change. It’s a classic interior design rule to spend money where the eye rests longest.
Another reason to think long term is that Novent, whatever you think of it, has made the Christmas season longer. If the decorations are up from the beginning of November to mid-January, that’s over ten weeks. Over such a long period, it’s the wall, not the wreath, that sets the room’s overall tone.
If you’re looking for a starting point, browse our posters and choose a design you’ll want to live with in both November and January. A good poster is one you won’t get tired of once the decorations come down, and one that’s still there after Novent, Advent, and Christmas are over.