Christmas decorations: the tree, the lights and the bits that last
Almost everything about Christmas decorating goes better if it is decided in autumn rather than in the second week of December. Stock is complete, you can measure properly, and you are choosing rather than grabbing.
The tree: height first, then tip count
Measure your ceiling and subtract 30 cm — you need room for the topper and for the tree to not touch the plaster. In a standard UK room with a 2.4 m ceiling that means a tree of about 1.8 m. Then look at tip count, which is the number the pictures never show. Two 1.8 m trees can have 500 tips or 1,200; the one with more looks full, the one with fewer looks like a stick with branches. Tip count is the honest quality number on an artificial tree.
- PVC tips — flat cut plastic, cheapest, fine at a distance.
- PE / moulded tips — moulded from a real branch, much more realistic close up, more expensive.
- Mixed — PE on the outer branches where you see them, PVC inside. Usually the sensible buy.
Hinged branches beat hook-in branches — they drop into place instead of needing sorting by size. See artificial trees and trees.
Lights: the number people always get wrong
The rule of thumb is 100 lights per 30 cm of tree height. So a 1.8 m tree wants around 600 lights to look properly lit, not the 200 that comes in one box. Under-lighting is the most common reason a tree looks flat in photographs.
- Warm white reads as candlelight and flatters everything. Cool white reads clinical indoors.
- Wrap the branch, not the outline. Run the string in and out from trunk to tip; depth is what makes a tree glow rather than glare.
- Check the string is connectable and that a failed bulb does not kill the run.
- Outdoor strings need an IP rating; indoor ones must not go outside, whatever the weather looks like.
See seasonal lighting.
The bits that finish it
- Tree skirt or collar — hides the stand and the cable. A collar is easier to live with if you have a cat. See tree skirts.
- Topper — size it to the tree: a topper more than about a fifth of the tree height looks top-heavy. See tree toppers.
- Wreath — an artificial one with a wire frame lasts years and can be refreshed with a few real sprigs. See wreaths and wreaths, garlands and swags.
- Stockings — buy heavier than feels necessary; the light ones tear at the loop the first time they are filled. See stockings and holders.
Ornaments: shatterproof where it matters
Glass on the top third, shatterproof on the bottom third if there are children, dogs or a hallway nearby. Mixed finishes — matte, gloss and glitter in the same colour family — photograph far better than one uniform finish, which flattens under lights.
Storage is what decides whether you buy again next year
Decorations are destroyed in the loft, not on the tree. Lights wound onto a reel or a piece of card rather than balled up; ornaments in a compartment box rather than a bag; the tree back in a zip bag rather than the original cardboard, which collapses. Ten minutes in January saves an afternoon and a re-buy in November. See baskets, bins and containers and storage and organisation.
Browse everything in seasonal décor, and see our Christmas table guide for the meal itself.
