Collins Family
Brian and Suzy Collins holiday display
Brian and Suzy Collins describe their Mayfair Drive home as an “atomic blast of color and inflatables.”
At an early age, Brian Collins fell in love with the magic of Christmas — the lights, the color and the wonder of it all.
“When I was growing up as a kid in Birmingham in the 1960s, you would go downtown and look at all of the storefronts decorated for Christmas,” Collins said.
“The lights hanging over the streets and the buzzing sound from the neon would just create a variety of senses. I would go home and lie under the Christmas tree and just stare up at the branches and it was like looking at the night sky. I think for me, I am always interested in recreating those memories of my childhood.”
Now, Collins and his wife Suzy fill the yard of their Mayfair Drive home with what he describes as “an atomic blast of colors and inflatables.”
“When we put up our decorations and we have kids stop by and say they love looking at our display, it’s just this incredible endorphin rush that keeps us going,” he said. “We just absolutely love it.”
The home has been in Suzy’s family since the 1950s, though the couple has lived there for 18 years.
“When we first moved here, many of the homes in Homewood were decorated with very tasteful white lights,” Collins said. “We were like, ‘To heck with that.’ Since then, we’ve just embraced the whimsy and the explosion of color.”
He started with just two or three inflatables that first year. A neighbor jokingly said she couldn’t imagine him ever going further.
“I immediately walked inside and told Suzy, ‘Get your coat,’” Collins said. “We went and bought more that day.”
There’s no theme to the decorations — just one rule.
Collins Family
Brian and Suzy Collins' holiday display.
Brian and Suzy Collins describe their Mayfair Drive home as an “atomic blast of color and inflatables.”
“If it’s bright and flashy, it stays,”
he said. “We plug things in until we trip a breaker. We don’t have as many as some houses do, but it’s enough to have fun.
When you abandon taste and reason and social norms, you can really get away with just about anything.”
Their children are grown now, the youngest being 27, but that hasn’t dimmed the couple’s enthusiasm.
“My daughter told me one day that she had finally figured me out — that I never grew up,” Collins said. “I told her, where’s the fun in growing up?”
Suzy teaches second grade in the Hoover School System, and many of her students stop by with their families. Collins said the sense of community that comes from decorating has become one of the most rewarding parts.
“We have kids from the neighborhood, students from the school, even nursing home residents drive by,” he said. “It really becomes this great sense of community.”
Collins buys most of his decorations on sale, often ending up with misfits and castoffs — which suits him just fine.
“I have my Christmas snail, for example,” he said. “He was left behind by others, but I just absolutely love him. He suffered a lot of damage in a windstorm last year, so I spent a few hours sewing him back together.”
He also has a blue monster inflatable — not exactly traditional.
“I have no idea what that has to do with Christmas, because it’s slightly horrifying,” Collins said. “But that’s also what makes it fun. We want to bring a smile to people with a little bit of humor.”
If someone shows up expecting symmetry and subtlety, Collins said, they’ve got the wrong house.
“This is the exact opposite of highly curated,” he said. “This is just plugging things in until I make myself happy with the results.”
Several years ago, Collins grew frustrated that the inflatables weren’t bright enough, especially at night. So he started rewiring them.
“I began using commercial-grade LED lights — the kind you’d find inside convenience store signs,” he said. “Everything in the yard is probably four times brighter than what you’d buy off the shelf,” he said.
Over the years, the lights have sparked new connections.
“One night we were sitting here, and this person called me on my phone,” Collins said. “They told me they were outside, and it was actually someone I had gone to high school with that I hadn’t seen in years. Through this crazy Christmas light display, we now have a group from my high school that gets together every year.”
By day, the yard looks a little less magical.
“If you drive by during the daytime, it’s kind of like, ‘What happened there last night?’” he said. “But we really come alive at night.”
What keeps him going is simple: the kids.
“If it takes me getting out a few more extension cords each year and stringing up more lights, then it’s well worth it,” Collins said. “Kids need a little magic at Christmas time. I love being able to provide them with a special memory.”
The Collins home, located at 1909 Mayfair Drive, will be lit up starting Thanksgiving Day and remain on display through around New Year’s Day.
