Tips on Decorating your Christmas Tree

Have you ever looked at Christmas trees in store windows or on TV and wondered how those people got their trees to look so put-together and elegant? You know you’ve tried in the past to achieve a look like this, but your trees always look more homey than they do sophisticated. There are, however, a number of tips you can use to improve the look of your tree and achieve a style that you’ll be proud to display.

Always start with plenty of lights. A good rule of thumb is to use at least 100 twinkle lights for every foot of the height of your tree. Of course, you don’t have to use just twinkle lights. You can mix strings of different kinds of lighting to create interesting effects. You might want to try lights of all one color, or maybe white lights near the trunk of your tree and colored ones on the outside branches. It’s a good idea to try out different light designs in order to find an effect you like the best. The arrangement of lights is what is going to either make or break your tree design, so get that right before moving on to any ornaments.

When it comes to ornaments, you want to sort out the ones you’re planning to use by size. Then you’ll use the smallest ones closest to the top of the tree where the tree is very narrow and gradually work down to the largest ones near the bottom. It’s a good idea to hang some of your ornaments inside near the trunk of the tree. That adds depth to your design. You’ll probably want to use glass balls near the center and save your specialty ornaments for the outer edges where they can be seen more easily. Once you have all the inner layer of ornaments hung, stand back and carefully look at your tree from all angles. Now’s the time to get everything in balance and make sure you like the way it looks.

Finish decorating your tree by adding the special ornaments, once again with the smaller ones at the top and the large ones at the bottom. Take your time and make sure to space your ornaments so that the entire tree looks visually attractive. If you don’t like the way something looks, chances are no one else will like it either.