Ordered a fake Christmas tree - Mistake?

[CappuccinoChocolate]

On Jan 2nd I pre-ordered a lovely looking, but a bit expensive, artificial Christmas Tree with lights. I've just been browsing the Christmas pages on the Country Living website and now feel regret.

My thinking when I ordered was although the husband and Dd like a real tree, all the details and decorating is left to me. Plus I thought pre-lit would be a great idea.

I failed to take into account the fact that I adore a Nordman Fir.🙄It's due to be delivered end of August and I think I'm going to have massive regret.

Has anyone transitioned back to an artificial tree after literal years of buying fresh ?

Did you regret it? Did it make life easier?

I suppose it pushed me into getting my new build loft boarded for extra storage at least.

Any thoughts on artificial trees and making them look fab?

Artificial trees look a million times better imo. Especially pre lit ones !

We have only ever had real trees and our grown-up kids have had conniptions at the prospect of fake. But those Balsam Hill type ones look amazing and I’d happily have one of those. I can’t see that they look any less real than er, real ones.

Last year, for the first time ever, I bought a fake pre-lit swag for the mantelpiece and a fake pre-lit wreath for the door. From Cox & Cox. I titivated both with real foliage and baubles etc. Looked amazing and I didn’t have to re-do the swag due to shrivelling up from the wood-burner.

We have artificial, and it looks lovely.

I wouldn’t like to cut a tree down, which has been growing for 7 years, to have inside for a month and then throw out. Our neighbours put theirs outside after Christmas, before being collected, and it makes me feel sad with it just tossed away.

Bringing a potted one inside each year sounds fabulous🎄

We got a balsam hill last year as we were going abroad and I thought the real tree would die.
Looks great and so much easy.
We still have a real one potted in the garden.

@CrCrushingOnRubies she's fine now, thank you. Finally got signed off by the vet in June after the drama started on 4th January. It was horrendous, bless her.

Glad to hear doggo all OK now @spiderlight Greyhound was roaching under the tree last year, swatting baubles and making lots of mess...

@MistyGreenAndBlue thanks for feedback...feeling a bit excited to see it now.

@EricHebbornInItaly come on now ! I'm sure you can imagine worse 😉 !

Problem is Dd is grown adult. DH not much into romantic tree cutting and decorating business. All the needles, disposal and winding lights on and off is a PITA.

Re: environmental impact I'd have to make the commitment to use for at least 9 years to balance the carbon impact with a real tree. This was part of my considerations and why I was probably getting cold feet too.

Apparently you can reduce the carbon impact of your real tree further by disposing of sensibly and not just in green waste for landfil. The Alpacas love to eat them if you have a nearby farm!

I have an artificial one after we chopped up and burned our real tree 4 years ago

It burned INSANELY fast - it was genuinely like throwing a petrol bomb on our fire place. I have never seen anything like it.

Until 2 days before we took it down and burned it it was up NEXT TO THE FIREPLACE

One spark and our entire house would have burned down

I hear you...

We've always had a (big) real tree and my kids loved decorating it with me.

They're now late twenties and live with their boyfriends but have still always come home for Christmas.

We downsized a few years ago and a real tree just feels too big and dominant now in this smaller house. They're so bloody wide, aren't they. I would LOVE to get a fake tree.

When I broached the subject there were howls of protest.

I do think 'F* it' though. Might just go ahead and do it. I'm so heartily sick of schlepping it in, bloody needles, schlepping it out...

That fake tree looks fab. Keep it!

Has anyone any experience of White Co trees please? They look very beautiful in the shop but this may be because they're decorated so beautifully and in such a pretty setting.

We did this and no regret whatsoever. Ours looks totally real, no dropped needles, no tangled lights and we get to put it up any day we choose without a visit to the Christmas tree farm. Aldo over the years we've saved a fortune in trees and no guilt about the chopped down tree every year.

We bought a Balsam Hill last year and it was amazing, I've got so many lovely photos. Worth every penny. We've always had real but with two spaniels in the house brushing their tails past it 1000 times a day, they never lasted long and I spent most of my time off work running the Shark round. Never again.

My DD has a pre lit White Company one and I have to be honest, for the price (although no where near Balsam prices!) it’s a little underwhelming.

Wow that’s gorgeous! I’ve always had real trees but then last year I got an artificial pre lit Christmas tree for my dining room. It was sooo easy to set up and there was no mess so it’s convinced me to make my main tree artificial this year. I’m honestly tempted to buy the same one as you

I have that tree, unlit, and it's really nice. My one regret is getting the 6ft not 7ft, but i think 7ft would actually have been too wide. I also grew up with real trees and had real trees for years with my own children, but now they're older I just can't be bothered with the faff any more, plus I suspect two of us are mildly allergic.

Of course you need to decide if it's right for you, but we went fake about 6 or 7 years ago and it was the right choice. I still miss real trees, but the fantasy, not the reality. We have to walk it home, then walk it to the recycling point at the end. Inevitably it rains in the days we're free to do this. It's impossible to get rid of all the dropped needles. The tree dries out and look sad by half way in - DH wants it up for the 12 days of Christmas, and I want it up on December 1st, so that's a big ask of a real tree also it's the same height and size each year - our room is small, and trees are sold by height, and some are surprisingly round once unwrapped! I don't see this fake tree needing to be replaced for ages. It's one of those balsam hill ones bought in a sale.

I honestly could not be bothered with the hassle of a real tree dropping needles everywhere and needing to be disposed of.

I also despise having the decomposing corpse of a living thing in my house (same with flowers etc...). If I had a garden I would consider having a planted one outside as an outside decoration but no chopping it down and killing it.

I will only have real trees, but I have to admit that, as fake ones go, yours looks really nice, OP!

We have 2 fake BH pre lit trees and one non BH , real trees set off my asthma and our daughter is bug phobic , I love the convenience of artificial , plus we put ours up the first weekend of December as we make a month of it .

I do love a real tree but the tree farm near me charges £80 now and they’re all trimmed so the branches are even which I don’t like. I got one on sale from white stores and it looks really good. It’s tall but not too wide and I can put it next to the radiator.

We have a faux tree which we use sometimes but haven't since we moved into this house 4 years ago. I'm a Dane and a real tree absolutely makes Christmas for me (it's a big thing back home although that is changing a bit these days apparently) but I'm also happy to use a plastic one some years. Whatever makes it easier.

I think your tree will look gorgeous.

We've had kittens and then babies/toddlers in the last 10 years so have switched to an artificial tree for practical reasons of not having needles around the place. It looks fine (DC like to 'help' decorate it now so generally it looks like Christmas has thrown up on it).

OP the trick is to stay off the Country Living website, you'll be much happier for it!

We have the same tree and it's lovely. Enjoy x

cant stand real trees ….all that shedding of needles and and vacuuming…..nothing magical about it 🙄

I think staying away from Country Living and Homes and Antiques is key.
I live in a bog standard 3 bed semi new build ffs🤣 (I am grateful to have that opportunity).

Tree hasn't arrived yet but I will put it up to check and post a photo as soon as possible thereafter.

Greyhound now has a v. Large comfy doughnut bed where the real tree used to be. Typical of his lazy oaf breed he spends most of the day on there... no chance of going back now!

One year I was unwell on Christmas Eve , I could smell something ( that no-one else could) and I was convinced it was the tree (real tree) . I think it was my sinuses , but I didn;t like having the tree near me after that .

We bought a good quality fake tree , pre-lit , quite ££ and gorgeous
Great for a few years , then we got The Cats .

On the first year the female climbed into the tree after a week. Next year it was three days ,
So we don;t have one up now .
We had no baubles and lights on static but the little monsters still targeted it !