The Christmas Tree Is Too Small (And Other Proportion Problems)
Most rooms decorated for Christmas have the same three proportion problems. The fixes are free, and they matter more than what you hang on the branches.
Christmas decorating is the one time of year when almost everyone decorates, and the one time of year when almost everyone overdoes it. The rooms that hold up in photographs after the tree comes down are the ones that were already good, dressed lightly.
What is collected here runs from the tree itself — proportion, lighting, and the case for one colour rather than five — through to the parts of the house that get forgotten: the entryway, the mantel, the table on the day itself. There is also a good deal on storage and reuse, because the difference between a house that looks considered in December and one that looks frantic is usually whether last year’s decorations survived the loft in usable condition.
Most rooms decorated for Christmas have the same three proportion problems. The fixes are free, and they matter more than what you hang on the branches.