Are you one of this people with a perfect looking Christmas tree?

[Missrabbitt]

If so, how? And where did you get the tree/decorations? We have a mish mash of decorations and a terrible old tree that I’m going to dispose of and start afresh. However I think my decorating skills are as much to blame for the terrible looking tree we had last year as the decorations.

Do you have a real or fake tree? I’m considering investing in a good quality fake which comes with lights- any recommendations of a good one to buy?

Where do I start with buying colour co-ordinated decorations? Does anywhere sell a large pack so I don’t have to choose them myself?

It's too early, not even December yet!

Decs=garden centre? Could get a decent tree there too.

Real, we’ll get it in a couple of weeks.

I’m not sure what perfect means but it’s tasteful, tinsel-free and has a bit of a mishmash but only in that many of our decorations are homemade or gifts. They’re in similar colours and interspersed with clear glass decorations and white non-flickering lights.

I’m all for homemade but if it’s on show it’s got to look okay. Real tat can go up in their rooms

noooo, those perfect trees are soulless imvho. A mish mash of decorations is much nicer.

We have a home made tree every year. It looks pretty shit but we all enjoy making it.

I feel you OP.
I'll be googling for pictures of dressed trees this year to see if I can make mine a little more... intentional looking!
Whatever effect you want, it's so frustrating when you can't seem to make it happen!

I don't think everything has to be colour coordinated for it to look good.

But if you want packs of decorations, loads of places sell coloured packs - everywhere from Asda to John Lewis depending how much you want to spend.

I think tree decorating has to have a bit of method to the madness, whether the decorations are coordinated or not.

I do:

1. Lights first. Arrange them carefully from top to bottom and then plug in, check it's even etc.

1. Then I think you want some long string decorations of choice - be that that you're a tinsel fan, or ribbon or beads.

1. Then you add the baubles, which don't have to all match but you do want them to "go" - e.g. I have some normal baubles, paper ones, a nativity set, and a load of felt ones. Not the same but they don't clash? Arrange smaller things at the top, bigger things at the bottom.

Is that what you meant by decorating technique or have I totally missed the point?

Perfect tree here is faux from the white company, then 1000 cluster lights and then lots of coordinating decorations

I went to a free tree decorating event a few years ago and they said if you use tinsel to push it right in between the branches and not have it on the outer edges. It really makes the lights sparkle more. With baubles, if they have a long string, after you hang them on wrap both bits of the string around the branch so the bauble hangs at the end of it. It works really well with heavier baubles and large ones so they aren't hanging in mid air. They also used sprigs of fake flowers and foliage and pushed that in between the branches which looked quite nice.

Perfect trees are for Instagram, embrace the tree and decs you have, and see where the gaps are to add.

1. Festive music and drink in hand
2. Unpack and erect fake tree
3. "Fluff up" branches
4. Lights on first
5. Then beads or tinsel
6. Then decs
7. Finish with the star

Them's the rules lol.

We bought Wilko's warm white lights this year - and they are genuinely a warm colour and look nice.

I don’t know if my tree is perfect but I am a window dresser by trade and have done hundreds! Feel put together trees have a strong ‘theme’- are you more traditional (red/green classic) or do you like very modern (that could be pink glitter or blue with peacock colours for example). Alternatively all white or one colour can work. The trick to a stunning tree is a lot of decorations; you want to pack the tree so there is lots to see! And a range of sizes of decorations. Some really big and others small. The ‘worst’ trees are ones where there are all mid size or small baubles, all evenly spaced. Unless you’re doing a sort of minimalist tree branch version, you want your tree full of glitz - a real statement. Also lights both on the inside (nearest to the trunk) and on the branches. Don’t mix ‘warm’ and ‘cold’ colours either in lights or decorations colour.
This is our tree last year. I like lots of texture & to add this I mix gold and metallic ornaments with warm lights & spray painted dried foliage.
I love doing the tree!! Xxx

Perfect trees are soulless. Give me a tree full of mish mashed decorations, home made pieces and memories any day.

A tree full of purpose brought decorations seems to me to be the very opposite of what Christmas is all about. What do people do when styles change do they buy a whole new set of decorations every few years?? A tree that is thrown together tells a story and is in my opinion a perfect tree.

I have serious tree envy @sjxoxo

I love our decorations. They probably look naff and mismatched but we've built them up over years and some of them are quite personal to us. That said I do try and put some matchy ones on as well

My DH has an interior designer within his business(they design and style the showhomes). I've used them in the past to design several rooms in my house.
I'm Soooo tempted to ask them to style my house for Christmas. DH is not amused 🙁 he said dd(5) can do the Christmas decorations 😂😂

No.
I like the ones you see in stores but ours is and always has been a myriad of stuff the children have made over the years and random baubles that haven't broken. Some are tags from things that they liked. The angel on the top is 80s tastic, the one from my childhood.
My tree is not seem for tinsel and lights.
I love it.

*Seen

Absolutely not 😂 my 2 year old will tarnish it this year. Last year we only had middle and top of tree decorated as he was so young and caused absolute carnage. My 2 cats have a party at night and almost every morning on the run up to Christmas they had torn it down! Stupid cat climbs up and leans on the door handle and swings the door open so locking them out isn’t an option. Last Christmas I found my cat sleeping in amongst the presents. Dreading putting mine up! 😂

@longtompot lots you can do with some dried seed heads & some spray paint!! Also you can get bog impact & very cheaply. Big bows made from paper or fabric also look great. Never understand why baubles are sold in packs of 10 or 20.. I think to do a busy tree you need lots & lots of decorations especially if it’s a biggie! xo

*big not bog 🤣 well hopefully not bog haha!

I have a 'perfect tree' in my lounge in colours that match the decor in there. Navy blue, silver, iridescent and a touch of gold.
Its a mish mash of old decorations, some from my mum, some from older trees I have and then a big pack of mixed navy baubles from b&q along with a few bigger ones.
We have a teee in the family room which is navy red and turquoise so it fits with my decor but is also the fun tree. It has all the bits the kids have made as well as some random bits.
We also have a small tree on the upstairs hall, this one is traditional red, gold, silver more traditional baubles and characters, gingerbread men, baubles with kids names on. The bits on this one area mixture of mine and dh's first decorations and newer bits the kids have picked.

Decorations are mainly from the range, b&q (some v old ones are woolworths!) Local garden centre (more expensive but usually beautiful) then bits kids have made or we have picked up in random shops.
Ill attach pics. The lounge one is the blue. Kids not allowed to add to that one!

I have what we lovingly call "the tree of chaos". Lots of mad baubles that I pick up. Everybody loves it, gets lots of comments. I'm never going to have a perfect tree, mine is perfect for me!

@sjxoxo your tree is beautiful!

My tree is obviously perfect to me! But I think the key to it looking good is to make sure you have a strong colour theme. I like collecting my baubles over the years for the sentiment and so they’re all a bit different. I buy a few every year but they can only be dark red, emerald green, gold or clear. This means they always look good together but you don’t have that boring look when they’ve all come out of a multipack one year.

We have a mish mash of decorations collected over the years and I adore our tree!
My tree decorating suggestions -

• A mix of materials for the decorations - ours our wood, fabric, glass, pearls, beaded, sequins, clay etc. Some are homemade, some are gifts, some are shop bought. I try to keep them in a vague mix of red, green, white, gold, silver etc but we have other colours too!
• I prefer small warm white lights.
• I put snowy pine cones and red berries on a few of the branches.
• Candy canes and gold bows added right at the end.
• I use gold beads instead of tinsel.They still reflect the lights and bring the tree together but aren't so dominant as tinsel.

I put things on in this order -
Lights and sparkly star tree topper
Pine cones and berries
Larger decorations
Smaller decorations
Gold beads draped around
Gold bows on end of branches and candy canes hooked onto lots of branches.
Sit back and drink rest of sherry

We have a real tree, lights, tinsel and a random assortment of decorations that we've collected/made over the years.

It's not a show-home tree, but feels special to us

Oh and mustn't forget the fairy on the top, usually balances at a bit of an angle

I take decorating my tree very seriously. My colour theme is pale gold, blush pink, clear glass/crystal and pearl.

We have a fake tree as ds is allergic to real trees. I wasn't keen at first but actually is brilliant for decorating as the branches are even and symmetrical but they are flexible so you can adjust them to accommodate particular decorations. I use a lot of soft white lights, and put them on first. I put one set far back on the branches near the trunk, and another nearer the front.

I have 2 categories of decoration, really beautiful ones which I've collected over the years, and plain baubles in medium and small which I use as fillers. I put the lovely ones on first and I play around with the placement quite a lot. I also have a box of vintage chandelier drops which I got at a flea market on holiday, and I place them in front of fairy lights for extra sparkle.

Once I have all the baubles on, I have some beautiful ribbons which I've collected in my colours which I tie in a bow onto branches filling in any gaps.

I know this palaver but will sound ridiculous to many, but I absolutely adore my tree, it will go up this week and stay until mid January at least. It brings me great joy!

When the dc were little they had their own tree on the landing which they could decorate with coloured lights, decorations they made, etc, but the main tree is all mine!