By Elli Hodgson via SWNS
A festive family has come together to create a Christmas window display – for the 30th year in a row.
The King family, from Rochester, Kent, first started transforming their windows into a winter wonderland back in 1995.
Janita King, who has five children with her husband Phil, says she was first inspired by a memory from her teens – when the care home where she worked would paint their dining room windows for Christmas.
She decided to start up the tradition with her family – and each year, she and her children Claire, Andrew, Neil, Melanie, and Jonathan painted their windows in a different festive theme.
Even though they have all now moved out, Janita and Phil’s kids still return each year for the family tradition – and now their own children have started taking part.
Jonathan, Neil, and Melanie still join in on the painting – while Claire and Andrew return to see the finished piece.
This year, the display is inspired by Hogsmeade Village from the Harry Potter series – in a tribute to actress Maggie Smith, who played Professor McGonagall, and died earlier this year.
Youngest son Jonathan, now 31, said: “As the youngest sibling, Christmas is always associated with painting the window.
“It’s a tradition that goes back as long as I can remember. I really enjoy the challenge of thinking about and designing compositions.
“It’s a lot of hard work in a condensed period of time – we are effectively painting a mural in the space of 24 hours.”
Melanie, now 37, added: I feel very nostalgic about painting the window and love that it has become a family tradition.”
And Neil, now 39, said: “What started out as simple characters depicting the nativity or characters from Narnia, developed into whole sceneries as our skills and confidence have grown.”
This year, the youngest King generation got involved too.
Janita said some of the seven grandchildren “had a little paint under supervision” – before declaring they wanted to paint the whole thing next year.
For Janita and Phil, the festive tradition is an essential part of their Christmas.
Phil said: “I can’t imagine a Christmas without the window painting now. It’s something to look forward to.”
Meanwhile, Janita added: “It’s lovely that the children want to come home and we love to hear their laughter together. That’s the real joy of it.”
