The Christmas Tree Is Too Small (And Other Proportion Problems)

Christmas is the one time of year almost everyone decorates, and the one time of year almost everyone decorates the same way: a tree in the corner, a garland on the mantel, and lights wherever there is a socket. The rooms that look good in January photographs are rarely the ones with the most decoration. They are the ones that got three proportions right.

Problem one: the tree is too short

A tree should come within about 30 centimetres of the ceiling, tip included. Most people buy one that stops a metre short, because trees are sold lying down and a two-metre tree looks enormous in a car park.

The gap above the tree is the tell. A tree with a large empty space above it reads as an object placed in the room; a tree that nearly reaches the ceiling reads as part of it. If a taller tree is out of the question, raise the one you have — a wrapped crate or a proper tree stand with height gets you 20 or 30 centimetres and costs nothing.

The second half of the same problem is width. A narrow tree in a wide corner looks thin. If floor space is genuinely tight, a slim tree is the right call, but push it into the corner properly rather than leaving a triangle of floor behind it.

Problem two: the garland is too short

A mantel garland should be visibly longer than the mantel, with real weight falling at each end — a third of the total length hanging below the shelf on both sides is the proportion that looks generous. A garland cut level with the mantel looks like a hedge trimmed by someone in a hurry.

The same rule applies on a staircase: the garland should not stop tidily at the newel post, it should fall past it. This is one place where buying two of something cheap beats buying one of something good.

Problem three: the lights are in a ring

Lights wound around the outside of a tree light the outside of a tree. Push them deep in towards the trunk on the inner third of the branches and the tree gains depth immediately — the interior glows rather than the silhouette. It takes the same string and the same twenty minutes.

Then get the count right. Roughly 100 lights per 30 centimetres of tree height is the figure that looks full. Almost everyone uses about half that, and blames the tree.

The restraint that makes it photograph well

• One or two colours of ornament, not five. Repetition reads as a scheme. Variety reads as an accumulation, which is fine and sentimental and does not photograph.
• Warm white lights only, and all the same warmth. Mixing a cool white string with a warm one is the fastest way to make a tree look cheap.
• Decorate three surfaces, not seven. Tree, mantel, table. Leave the rest of the room alone and the three you did will read as considered.
• Something living. Real greenery, even a few branches in a jug, does something artificial garland cannot — it changes the smell of the room, which is half of what people are actually decorating for.

Storage is a December decision, not a January one

The difference between a house that looks calm in December and one that looks frantic is almost always whether last year’s decorations came out of the loft in usable condition. Lights wound onto a piece of card rather than knotted, ornaments in a divided box rather than a bag, garlands stored flat. Ten minutes in January buys back an hour next year.

Common questions

When should Christmas content go up on a blog?

Far earlier than the season itself. Pinterest saves for Christmas peak in October, roughly ten weeks before the day, which is why our Christmas and holiday ideas are published from mid-September.

Real tree or artificial?

An artificial tree is better value after about five years and better for the room if it is a good one, which means expensive. A cheap artificial tree is the worst of both. If the budget is limited, a real tree every year beats a poor permanent one.

Related reading

More in Christmas and holiday, and the rest of our living room ideas for the eleven months when there is no tree in the corner. When the decorations come down, what to do with a bedroom in February deals with the emptiness that follows.