A Tree-mendous Christmas!
09 Dec
We’re seeing some fabulous Christmas trees all over social media and It’s certainly helping to get us into the festive spirit!
If you're not sure where to start with your tree, we're here to help with this quick tree decorating guide.
All About Position
Think about where to place your tree to get the most enjoyment from it. If you divide your time between rooms then consider purchasing a second tree to avoid one room looking like a grotto whilst the rest of your home lacks festive love.
If you’re dressing a real tree, always place away from direct heat sources and, if possible, raise from a heated floor. Position it close to a plug socket which can be easily reached when the tree is up – you’ll be thankful not to have to crawl underneath the tree to switch the lights on and off everyday.
A great trick is to place your tree near a mirror to get maximum light, sparkles and loveliness from the reflection.
Instagrammable Trees
Whether you’ve gone real or faux both will look their best with a bit of shaping.
Your real tree will probably have been netted so give it a shake to encourage the branches to ease back into position. Saw off 2cm from the base to expose a fresh part of the trunk and place into a base which can hold water. If possible, leave for a few hours before decorating.
Don’t be afraid to trim the tree if it’s a bit too bushy for the room and also shorten by taking length from the bottom to maintain the shape. Use cut branches around the home in wreaths and garlands.
Photo by Євгенія Височина on Unsplash
Ruffle the branches of your faux tree to bring it back to shape. If needed, give it a blast with a cool hair dryer and give it a twirl to make it bouncy and looking lovely.
Always check to see if your lights work before you place them on the tree and make sure that you have enough! It’s suggested that you use 100 lights per foot of tree so if you have a 6ft tree you’re looking at approximately 600 lights.
Photo by Johnell Pannell on Unsplash
We recommend warm clear lights for a natural or traditional style. There’s so much choice these days and you can really go all out with different looks – white L.E.D’s are great for a frosted wintery tree and coloured lights look great with colourful and neon decorations.
Run the lights up and down the tree instead of wrapping around and spend time to position them into the centre and to the tips of branches.
Stand back, walk around and reposition if needed – spending time to distribute the lights is time well spent!
Photo by Annie Spratt on Unsplash
Repetition of decorations always looks great and work in odd numbers; 3, 5, 7… of one decoration, 3, 5, 7… of another, etc. Whatever your style, add a focal decoration to draw the eye – this is especially helpful if you’re wanting to wow your social media followers with a great image of your finished tree.
When placing decorations, think outside of the normal baubles and tinsel. Add extra foliage, sparkly twigs, ribbons, feathers, fresh, dried or faux flowers, to add texture and interest to your tree.
Photo by louis magnotti on Unsplash
However, you decorate your tree, we hope that you love every minute of it. We thoroughly recommend popping on a Christmas album and enjoying a few festive treats to fully get in the mood to create your best ever tree!
We’d really love to see your creations. Please feel free to tag us on your posts or to send us images to: karen@renaissanceinteriorshw.co.uk