Cubicle art explodes during the holidays

The call to "deck the hall" goes back to 1877, but the humble office cubicle has become a modern-day equivalent.

Angela Westfield, a sales coordinator at the W Minneapolis hotel, became something of an international celebrity after co-workers posted photos of her intricate log cabin cubicle on social media. She and her husband spent more than 18 hours fashioning logs out of 15-foot cardboard carpet tubes for the W's first cube decorating contest. The couple spared no detail, including notching out the corners with power tools.

"We love DIY projects and love doing it together," said Westfield, whose "Christmas cabin" creation drew attention from WCCO, CNN and the Daily Mail in London among other outlets.

At Hallett Financial Group in Plymouth, the holiday merrymaking hit an all-time high this year. The staff of 21 moved to a bigger space during the year, and someone suggested having a cubicle decorating contest.

"It just exploded," said Natasha Cornelius, whose title, Director of First Impressions, speaks volumes about the culture at the firm. (There's also a "fun czar," who coordinates an internal party or potluck every month.)

The top prize in the cube contest went to Patty Compton, a case manager who turned her workspace into a glittery Santa's Workshop, where white sheets billowed from the ceiling above her cube to create a "snow-covered rooftop" for Santa to land and drop down the chimney.

"Most people were really into it," Cornelius said. "And they decorated the area for those who weren't."

From cubicle cornucopias of wrapping paper to gingerbread houses and peppermint poles, it's difficult to quantify how many businesses have joined the Christmastime cubicle craze.

Lizzy Wilkins, a senior data scientist at Nina Hale Inc., dipped into the data and found more Internet searches on cube decorations this year than at any time during the past five years. There now are 924,000 pages in Google for "cube decorations Christmas," and about 236,000 for "cubicle Christmas decorations," Wilkins found.

An International Facility Management Association survey reported that 93 percent of its member companies decorate for December. While the survey noted that holiday decorating was considered a mostly positive workplace activity, there are some problems — including complaints from non-Christians and atheists, fire hazards, allergic reactions to live greenery and, not surprisingly, distractions from work.

Carrie Hagan, a manager at the North Chicago office of AbbVie, a biopharmaceutical firm, considered her department's first office decorating party a good team-building exercise. Workers were charged with revamping their boss' office.

Hagan's office became a scene from the animated Disney movie "Frozen," with snowflake wrapping paper on the walls, a dazzle of lights and icicles made of spray paint. Hagen dressed as the blond-braided Elsa, earning her team a double crown for best decoration and costume.

"It was a runaway victory," she said, throwing down the gauntlet for next year's contest.

Hagen suspects that the uptick in cubicle revelry is tied to an improving economy, after years when layoffs and wage cuts dampened the mood.

"I do think the recession has had an impact on overall culture at organizations, and they're trying to make things more fun," she said.

Jackie Crosby • 612-673-7335