It may be a little bit late in the month to focus on decorating your Christmas tree but – if you’re like me – you’re a little behind.
And I couldn’t let our holiday decorating series go by without a couple more Christmas tree-related posts.
So Tip #13 is to give your Christmas tree a little oomph with some dominant décor.
I love the way this burlap garland gives the tree at right a strong look while making room for plenty of smaller ornaments.
I want to be clear. I’m as crazy as anyone about pulling out all my favorite ornaments – old and new – to put on the tree. I actually get emotional when I get out my old ceramic Snoopy ornaments and hand-painted glass ball that we made as favors for our wedding.
Some of our ornaments are whimsical, some are funny and others are just beautiful. They come in different colors and sizes and styles.
But if you’re not careful, your tree can take on a cluttered look that actually detracts from all those wonderful ornaments rather than framing them.
The key is to create a unified look on your tree with a few key colors and larger additions so that from a few steps back, the tree looks unified. Up close, though, all your wonderful ornaments are still there to admire.
On my tree, I do this in a few ways. First, I use a wide, gold mesh ribbon tucked in and out spiraled around the tree. Because it’s gold, the ribbon really sparkles. But because it’s mesh, you can see through it to the ornaments behind it.
Secondly, I’ve purchased a number of oversized balls in red and gold along with a few other larger ornaments, including some sparkly red snowflakes that are about eight inches across and some big gold stars and diamonds and other shapes.
I put all these ornaments on my tree first, strategically placing them so the tree appears balance. Then I take some medium sized red and gold balls – along with some of those big snowflakes – and hang them inside the branches. That way, they’re peaking out from behind ornaments.
I also drape strings of large gold beads around the tree.
Only then to do I start filling in with all my more precious ornaments.
Now, it may seem like this would actually make it harder to see my favorite ornaments. But actually, I feel like they’re now somehow showcased.
OK. I admit, I love a really full tree. My tree is packed – packed! – with ornaments.
But this idea works well with a sparser tree as well.
The beautiful tree in the room above – which was part of a 2010 holiday home tour by The Circle City Chapter of The Links, Incorporated – has far fewer ornaments on it than the tree in my living room, but it uses the dominant theme look as well.
In fact, the room and tree above – created by Jaclyn Dunn of New Leaf Interiors – inspired my own tree.
Of course, you don’t have to go the traditional route to create a tree with some oomph.
Check out this beautiful tree that’s been decorated with family silhouettes.
It’s so interesting.
And the design still leaves plenty of space for other ornaments.
So from further back, the tree appears to be all about the art. But when you get closer, you see all the details.
I’m really not suggesting that you go crazy with some theme tree.
I like theme trees. Really. But they just don’t typically make space for the ornaments that we all love.
The idea here is to give your tree a “look” – something you can still see when you squint, like the vertical lines provided by the red ribbons hung vertically in the BHG photo below.
But the “look” should still provide the flexibility to still use all the ornaments you care about.
So am I crazy? Do you like a tree to have some dominant elements? Do you like a look? Or do you just want your tree to be a lot less orchestrated!
