Or do fake trees always look crap?

[heyyyottoe]

So I treated myself to a Balsam Hill tree and I’m honestly shocked at how shit it looks.

All my previous trees weren’t great but I thought buying this brand would be better … how mistaken I was.

so sparse and ugly. If I ever bother to decorate I’ll just get a real tree from now one.

Shit trees will always look shit, whether they're real or fake.

I love real trees. You can't beat the smell.

I love the fake tree that we've had for thirty years. It's genuinely awesome and puts Balsam Hill in the shade, I've never seen a modern one which matches it.

I also have a small (3') aluminium pom pom one from the fifties, which was my grandmother's. Its stonkingly garish but you will have to prise it out of my cold dead hands.

I am fortunate enough to have a house where I can have all three.

Is that actually the same tree, they haven't mistakenly sent you a different one? It really doesn't look the same at all. My tree needs all its branches pulling out as they all get folded in for storage, it's quite time consuming bringing them all back out again, but them's the breaks.

With my tree, I can move the twiggy bits to stick up, stick down, bend left or right etc, so it's incredibly good for getting the decorations to sit exactly where I want them. When I had a real tree, my options were trim off the branch/keep the branch. Not nearly as useful, so there were lots of compromises made for the real tree. I'd rather have the flexibility of the fake!

I don't think you can expect posters to be aware of your health history. It's not uncommon for people to offer constructive criticism but if you don't want their suggestions, maybe best to say so upfront?

Totally agree with this, ours is part of the family that predates the kids 😁 it’s similar to having familiar decorations that you see once a year. I would however be pissed off if I’d spent loads on a fake tree and it didn’t resemble even slightly the advertised product.

I've got a fake tree I've had for decades. Frankly the tree itself looks crap but i've also got decades of stuff that gets piled on it. They really draw the eye away from the tree itself and I love the effect. Real trees can be beautiful and can smell amazing but I need a tree i know will be big enough for all my Christmas tat.

I think the decorations you've got are beautiful.

I hope you can get a tree, real or fake, that makes you happy You might find some of the real trees have been reduced, or will be soon. Ditto the decorations.

Hope you have a merry Christmas.

I do think you probably need to put the gloves on and fluff it loads but if you are not happy, they should take it back no question. I hope you get it sorted OP - you are doing great so don’t let this trip you up. Take care.

Nah, you need a real tree. 🌲

I'm allergic but I wouldn't have one anyway.

My tree is fabulous.

We have a balsam hill one and it looks great. I don't think you have spread the branches properly. You need to bend them up and down as well as splaying out.

Ignore the tree snobs OP, fake ones are just as good. You just need as many lights and decorations as you can possibly fit on it! I've only ever had fake ones as I'm really allergic to real ones, and none have ever looked like "a green plastic triangle".

Mines 25 years old, I love it.

I think you have a good case to return it. And if you can, I saw some lovely fake prelit trees in Costco actually!

But, I don’t think it’s as bad as you say. It is sparse compared to the picture, but I reckon you should treat yourself to some lovely big baubles. Big baubles make a big difference! So much impact. Perhaps some bows or big (fake) poinsettias sat in amongst the branches. You could absolutely make this look really full and beautiful! I bought glittery gold leaf/ feather looking fronds this year and they are poking out of my tree at all angles and look stunning!

Good luck with whatever you decide and Merry Christmas.

My advice with fake trees is to not only 'fluff' the branches and spread them evenly - but to bend each whole stem, from the trunk, downwards slightly so that you can't see through the tree from straight on (or sitting height). Do it from top to bottom and the lower long branches will sweep down nicely over the prezzies 😊

Fake trees may not look crap but they do look fake, even expensive ones, too perfectly uniform with little twigs up to the top and the embedded lights. If you want that perfect look or the convenience or pet reasons or something, well fair enough.

I like a real Christmas tree, I think it's a beautiful thing. I like a real holly/pine wreath for the door as well.

Edit :OP , hope you get yours sorted, you can always add randomness with decorations!

You have to fluff the branches up at right angles on each spoke.

This is my 15year old Balsalm Hill one

I like both, it’s not really about aesthetics, it’s about what brings you pleasure. I don’t think my fake tree looks real but equally I don’t think it looks shit either

This. It’s not a competition people !

We have a Balsam Hill tree and I absolutely love it, looks like yours needs fluffing though and needs to be out for a while before decorating I think. I’m too lazy to fluff ours to the level of the website photos but even a little fluffing will make it look a lot better! On each main branch, try spreading the smaller ones away from each other, making a kind of star shape.

No, but the actual thread title was about whether people think fake trees look crap or not, so it’s kind of a relevant discussion point 😁

I'd have a stick of holly before a fake tree as the symbolism is evergreen in the darkest months which just doesn't come from plastic...I feel the same about fake flowers too...they just have a sad vibe to me.

We bought a fake one in the John Lewis sale in January, still paid a lot and it’s beautiful.
i got fed up of real ones being dead by Christmas Day 😃

I heard for the first time recently that you have to water the real ones, but they are deeeead.

I don’t like the sparse look of some real trees but you can’t beat the smell.

Totally agree with this , we have 2 BH trees and they are both fab although very different as one is supposed to be a bit sparse the other is really full . You do need to spend a long time fluffing and arranging the branches to get the right look .

Which is fine for you , if I had a real tree I’d likely spend Christmas in hospital as they disagree with my emphysema.