How to Decorate Your Home with Christmas Trees
Do you have one big Christmas tree in your living room? Well, you don’t have to have just one Christmas tree. I’m here to show you what we have done in our home and how to decorate your home with Christmas trees.
Maybe your tree is in your family room. Do you place it in a big picture window facing the street so all the neighbors can see the pretty lights? Or maybe it’s in your family room. Do you place it in a big picture window facing the street so all the neighbors can see the pretty lights?
When I was growing up, the Christmas tree was in the formal living room in front of the big picture window. Its bright lights could be seen from the street when you walked up to our house. I loved seeing it when I came home from school in the late afternoon (School went to 4:00 in those days and it was starting to get dark by the time we arrived home.)
When Sweet Shark and I married, we had so many ornaments between us that for a few years, we had 2 trees ~ one in the family room that was the “grown up” tree and one in the game room that was the “kids” tree.
As they went off to college, the 2 trees became just one. Then when we downsized and moved to our present home, we discovered that we had a Christmas tree dilemma.
As we prepared for our first Christmas in the new house, we walked around to decide where to place the tree. Since our one large living area is on the back side of the house, there was no place to put a tree facing the street. Our dining room and Sweet Shark’s bar are on the front of the house.
In the living room, we have one wall with a bookcase, one wall with the TV and built~ins, and one wall is completely glass windows overlooking the backyard. We finally decided that the breakfast room was the only place for the tree. All we have to do is move the breakfast room table out to the garage.
As it has turned out, the breakfast room (which the two of us never use for meals) has been the perfect place for our Christmas tree. Since it’s the biggest tree, I’ll save it for last as I show you how to decorate your home with Christmas trees.
How to Decorate Your Home with Christmas Trees
The first thing to remember in preparing for the holidays is that a Christmas tree always provides a focal point, color and texture. And if you have a huge number of ornaments, having multiple trees is a great way to use them all. Multiple trees can be different sizes, real or faux, green or white. They could be different styles ~ minimalist, Scandinavian, metal (remember the 60’s?), or different colors.
Sweet Shark’s Bar Tree
Sweet Shark’s bar and our staircase are the first thing you see when you enter our house. His bar is decorated with garland and our Mark Roberts elves. This photo from 2 years ago shows 9 elves. This Christmas we have 12.
The banisters are always decked with garland, lights, and red, green, gold and silver balls.
I decided this year that the bar needed a Christmas tree ~ just a small one ~ by the side of the staircase. A small flea market table would hold the tree and I would use our tree skirt from our previous home. And the tree would be lit with multi~colored lights because that’s what Sweet Shark likes best. I found a 3~foot tall tree for 50% off at Hobby Lobby.
I always loved this gold and red tree shirt. It looked great in our previous home, but not in this new one. I’m so glad that I could reuse it in Sweet Shark’s bar with a new tree.
For ornaments on this tree, we decided to use most of our travel ornaments. We always search for ornaments on trips ~ they make for great souvenirs.
The tree not only provides color and a focal point, but it fills an empty space and ties the bar to the staircase.
And it brightens up the space.
Living Room Table Tree
Just as you leave our long entry hall and enter our living room on the left is a vintage ladies’ table that I decorate during the various holidays. This year I included a small Christmas tree. This little tree usually sits on our coffee table, but since I’ve been mixing decorations up this year, I thought the tree would be a nice backdrop for some little santas and a sled. I added 3 strands of lights and some batting for snow.
And some gold bells, red berries, and red and gold jingle bells.
You can see this table from the entry so it acts as a focal point to draw you in. And it’s nice to see it when we walk into the bedroom.
Christmas Tree in a Master Bedroom
I have had a small tree in our master bedroom since we moved to our new home 5 years ago. Last year we almost had a major accident. The plastic stand for the tree had been cracked for a year or 2 but was holding up ~ until it wasn’t! So after it almost toppled over last year and we had to prop it up to last through the holidays, it had to go to Christmas tree heaven.
For this year, I bought a new 4~foot tall tree ~ also at Hobby Lobby for 50% off. Hopefully, this one will last for several years.
The lights at night create a dreamy feel. The tree lights are the last thing I turn out at night.
I use simple ornaments here. A few silver bells and balls, some pale blue, silver, and gold ornaments. Last year in New Orleans, we bought some vintage ornaments at one of our favorite stores on Magazine Street ~ the three turquoise balls are an example.
Below the tree I always place our collection of crystal Santas skating, angels singing, polar bears dancing, and Christmas trees from Waterford and Baccarat. They are precious and a treasure and I love having them under our bedroom Christmas tree.
Our New Christmas Tree
Sweet Shark and I have always been real live Christmas tree people. But even before Christmas a few years ago, we started discussing the possibility of switching to an artificial tree. Why?
- for convenience (not having to haul a tree home and drag it into the house)
- for cleanliness (don’t you love finding Christmas tree needles in July?)
- watering the tree (Two years ago the stand leaked water onto our hardwood floors and we had a moment of panic, fearing that we would have to replace a large portion of flooring; fortunately drying the floors with heavy~duty fans diverted that catastrophe.)
Once we made the decision, as soon as Christmas was over, we searched online for the right tree. After comparing prices and quality, we chose a beautiful tree from Balsam Hill.
It’s a “flip tree”. It arrived in February and stayed in its box until the day after Thanksgiving. The assembly was a breeze and in minutes we had unpacked the box. Then we opened the canvas bags and had the tree up and positioned in place ~ in the breakfast room.
This is not an affiliate link, but I have to tell you how happy we are with the tree: it’s perfectly straight, the branches and needles look so real, the lights and the remote are awesome, and we will be saved the task of checking water levels constantly. It’s the biggest tree we have ever had and really fills the space
Layla even likes it.
It’s pretty during the day but at night, it just sparkles. I love that the tree lights are on a remote control.
The tree is full of our silver bells and balls, my coastal balls of pale blue and green from one of my favorite local stores, Mary Cates and other special ornaments. The white glitter~looking balls were a recent purchase from our trip to Prague. The 6 balls made it home in perfect condition.
Underneath the tree I staged our entire Dickens Village collection. I’ve been adding to this collection for about 30 years and it’s a special treasure. Setting it out each year is such a pleasure as I arrange the figures and the houses as if they were a real village. I will say that getting down on the floor to place them and then the lights was a bit of a challenge, but worth the effort.
Because of the multiple windows in our breakfast room, it looks like we have 5 trees instead of one. The reflection is so pretty from different directions.
Where else could you put a Christmas tree?
- You could place a tree in your children’s rooms.
- A tree in the dining room or a study.
- In the kitchen
- On the patio
Different colored lights can also add to the individual effect of Christmas trees. You may think that knowing how to decorate your home with Christmas trees may not be high on your Christmas decor list, but if you add just one a year in special places, I think you will love the ambiance it creates.
I hope that these ideas will help you with your Christmas tree decorating. Please PIN it to remind you of places to display your Christmas trees.
I hope that you’ve seen how wonderful having multiple Christmas trees in your home can be. Little trees and big trees, themed trees ~ whatever you decide ~ all will add to the feeling of a winter wonderland.
Enjoy your Christmas decorating and this season. It’s magical.
