Decorate Your Christmas Tree Like A Designer

How do they do it? Those people who know exactly which ornaments to handpick and exactly where to hang them so that their Christmas tree looks like it sprung out of a designer magazine. As it turns out, decorating your tree designer-style is not all that mind-boggling.

If you have always yearned for a tree that looks flawlessly decorated then your Christmas wish has just been granted. The following pointers will draw out your inner designer and leave you with a tree that will inspire both awe and envy.

#1: The Colour Scheme

Think big picture. Your tree’s overall colour palette should complement the colour scheme of the room from window trimmings and trinkets to centrepieces and fabrics.

Buck tradition. Instead of red, green, blue, silver and gold, take a bold step towards unusual colours like peacock blue, plum, sage green, and navy.

#2: The Tree

Size matters. Match your Christmas tree to the height of the ceilings and width of the room, so that it is bold and eye-catching, but not overwhelming.

Fresh vs. artificial. Either way, choose a green tree or one that is slightly flocked. Rotate a fresh tree so that its best side is in the most visible location. Adjust an artificial tree’s branches vertically to conceal the tree section joints and check each needle cluster to ensure they are straightened before decorating.

Go greener. For a lush designer look, add greenery stems of different shapes and colours like a stem resembling a flocked evergreen branch, one that looks like an evergreen branch with berries and another that is a cluster of glittered branches. Or add a few real branches to an artificial tree to fill in the holes.

We love: Balsam Hill

#3: The Lights

Lights before decorations. Use either clear or white non-blinking lights for a designer look. String them in toward the trunk then out towards the tips of each branch. You should have at least 100 mini lights per foot of tree.

Get the sparkle effect. Add one blinking set of clear or white lights around the trunk of the tree only or amp up the designer feel with one or two strands of slightly larger lights.

We love: Christmas Central

#4: The Ornaments

Razzle dazzle. Walk the line between classy and tacky by ditching the tinsel or too many lights, and hanging jewels and strings of crystal beads as fillers between branches.

Go big. Use ornaments that are slightly oversized since they look much better than standard sized ornaments. This is especially important if your tree is taller than 7 feet.

Look abroad…Have you purchased any designer holiday items or limited edition trinkets from your travels that could be fashioned into a unique, luxurious Christmas ornament?

…or in your own backyard. Local glass blowers, metal artists and even jewellery designers can help design custom ornaments, bead strands and bejewelled tree toppers.

We love: FrontGate, Waterford and hardtofind

#5: The Arrangement

Create cliques. If you already have simple ornament spheres of a standard size, then place groups of three ornaments together as one cluster and use wire to attach the clusters together.

Have focal points. Create five to seven different focal point ornaments that are extremely oversized so this is the first thing people notice when looking at your tree.

Follow a system. Start by putting your generic ornaments on the tree towards the inside middle and your unique ornaments towards the outside middle. Larger generic ornaments go towards the bottom and the smaller ones towards the top.

Main image credit: Anthropologie

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