Every fall I help set up the craft fair at our church, and every fall I watch the same thing happen. Someone buys a silk wreath because it photographs well, hangs it on the door, and by February it is crushed flat in a garage bin, faded on the side that faced the sun. I have been making wooden wreaths and ornaments for six years, and the ULIOMU round wood wreath has been on my front door long enough to prove itself. I would not trade it for silk, and I am not the only one who feels that way. After a season on a real door, most people can see the difference for themselves.
This is not a complaint about silk as a material. Silk wreaths are lovely in the right place, like an indoor mantel or a wedding arch. But the front door is a hard job. It gets sun, wind, dust, and the occasional slammed screen door. A wooden wreath is built for that job in ways silk is not. Here are ten reasons I keep reaching for wood, and why the ULIOMU is the one I would hang again.
The wooden wreath that outlasted the silk one on my door
The ULIOMU round wood wreath is handmade, weighs 7.2 ounces, and is made to hang through every season. If you are tired of replacing the front door wreath every year, this is the one to look at first.
Amazon Check Today's Price on Amazon →Silk fades in the sun. This wood does not.
The front door takes the worst light in the house. Afternoon sun hits it for hours, and a silk wreath bleaches on the sunny side within a few months, right when you are trying to make the house look its best. The ULIOMU wreath is made of solid wood with a printed design that is not prone to fading. Mine faces the afternoon sun, and it still looks the way it did the day it arrived. The front door is the first thing guests see, and a faded wreath is the first thing they notice.
It will not crush flat in the storage bin
A silk wreath is fabric on a wire frame. You put it away in January, and by next November it is flattened on one side with petals bent every which way. Silk also picks up creases where the wire bends, and those never come out. A solid round wooden wreath keeps its shape. The ULIOMU is 12 inches across and about half an inch thick, so it hangs flat against the door and stores flat against a wall. It takes up almost no room, which matters in a garage that already holds a work table and a pegboard full of tools.
At 7.2 ounces, it hangs on one nail
Most silk wreaths weigh more than this wooden one, even the ones half its size. The ULIOMU comes in at 7.2 ounces, so you can hang it on a single nail or a small hook without wrestling with wire stems or worrying about it pulling loose. I hung mine on a plain door hook and never thought about it again. That matters when you are getting the mail with your arms full.
Nothing to shed, fray, or sweep off the porch
Silk wreaths shed. Fibers, loose petals, and if you bought one with glitter, glitter everywhere. I speak from experience here. I swept glitter off that porch for a full year once. Every time the door opens you are sweeping. A solid wood wreath has nothing to lose. The design is printed onto the wood, so there are no petals to come loose and no edges to fray. The only thing I sweep off my porch now is leaves.
It is handmade, and you can tell
The ULIOMU wreath is handmade, designed by a European designer named Charlotte Evelyn. I have owned machine-made wreaths that looked exactly like every other one on the block. A handmade wooden wreath has character. You see it in the way the wood grain catches the light and in the small details of the printed design. It is the difference between something made by a machine and something made by a person who cared.
One wreath for all four seasons
Silk wreaths get packed away when their season ends. A wooden welcome wreath does not have a season. The ULIOMU is made for spring, summer, autumn, and winter, which means you hang it once and leave it. I hung mine in March and have not touched it since. I change the rest of the porch decor, but the wreath stays. That is one less thing to store, one less thing to buy, and one less thing to remember.
12 inches across, the right size for a normal door
Twelve inches is the sweet spot for a front door. The ULIOMU is 12 by 12 inches, sized to fit most doors, and I believe it. On my standard front door it reads clearly from the street without covering the whole door. It does not look lost, and it does not look like it is trying too hard. A silk wreath in the same size tends to look thin and wispy by comparison.
Dust does not collect on solid wood
Silk wreaths are dust magnets. They sit on the door, catch pollen and dust, and you cannot really wash them without ruining them. A wooden wreath collects far less, and when it does get dusty, a dry cloth takes care of it in seconds. I wipe mine down about once a month and it looks fresh. That is more than I can say for the silk wreath I used to own.
A gift that does not end up in the donation pile
I have given silk wreaths as hostess gifts and seen them in the garage sale pile the next year. They are pretty for a season, then they look tired. The ULIOMU is listed for gift-giving occasions, and I think it earns that. A handmade wooden wreath is the kind of thing people keep and hang for years. I have given two of them as housewarming gifts, and both are still hanging.
It reads better from the street
From the road, a silk wreath is a blob of color. A wooden wreath has depth. The ULIOMU design uses a 3D effect print, so it catches the light differently as you walk past. My neighbor asked where I got mine, and that is the highest compliment a front door can get. That is the kind of reaction no silk wreath has ever gotten me.
What I'd Skip
I would not tell everyone to buy a wooden wreath. If your front door is part of a very traditional look, with lush flowers and big bows, a wooden wreath will feel plain beside it. And if you are the kind of person who changes the door decor every month, this is not the wreath for you. It is meant to hang for a long time, and that is the point. Buy the ULIOMU if you want a solid, year-round welcome sign that does its job quietly. Skip it if you want something frilly that you will swap out with the seasons.
Silk fades in a season. Mine has sat in the afternoon sun and still looks the day it arrived.
The honest bottom line on wooden wreaths
The ULIOMU round wood wreath is the one I reach for when I want the front door to look right without fuss. It is handmade, it is light, it does not fade, and it hangs through every season. If that sounds like your kind of wreath, it is worth a look.
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