Every element of Christmas is fun and full of joy, but decorating one’s home for the holiday is consistently among the most exciting. Hanging wreaths and stockings, placing garlands and lanterns, turning on your twinkly lights and wrapping up your family’s gifts are all great ways to get in the holiday spirit — but all of them pale in comparison to the most thrilling event of all: decorating the Christmas tree.
Every Christmas tree should be unique, based on an individual family’s tastes. However, if you want to make your tree extra special this year, you might try to stick to a sophisticated décor style. Here are some ideas to make your Christmas tree chic.
Simplify Your Tree Décor
Crowded and chaotic trees are not chic. The easiest way to amplify the sophistication of your Christmas tree is to simplify, simplify. Christmas trees are magnificent in and of themselves; the texture, the color and the fresh aroma evoke the effortless beauty of nature. By reigning in your decorations to the bare minimum, you celebrate the vigor of nature even in the heart of winter with a stark and stunning tree as the centerpiece of your home.
If you are interested in a simplified and sophisticated Christmas tree, you might choose from one of the following three design styles:
Rustic. Rustic design tends to incorporate more rugged and natural elements. You might use burlap as a garland and decorate with old, weathered ornaments.
Natural. Natural design relies on natural materials, which help highlight the natural beauty of the tree. You can use pinecones, popcorn and cranberry garlands and other real materials to ornament your tree.
Minimalist. Some minimalist designers will adorn a Christmas tree with a few ornaments, but others will let the glory of the tree speak for itself.
Photo by Ralph (Ravi) Kayden on Unsplash
Stick to Monochrome Ornaments
Monochrome is big in Christmas décor this year, and it makes for an exceedingly easy way to give your Christmas tree an elegant look. This design style involves decorating with only one color, which creates a cohesiveness that is difficult to achieve when you use the entire rainbow. Christmas is a colorful holiday, so you have plenty of tones to choose from: green, red, white, gold, silver, blue and even black are festive tones.
The key with making monochrome design work is to ensure that there is enough variation in the texture and size of your ornaments to build and maintain visual interest. When there aren’t many colors to seek out, the eye pays closer attention to the details of the tree; viewers will be bored and disinterested in a tree adorned with the same color globe ornament over and over again. You need to seek out different ornaments that fit your color palette — and you can’t forget to match your wrapping paper to your monochrome tree, as well.
Supersize Your Christmas tree Decorations
Bigger isn’t always better in Christmas decorations — just think of those enormous inflatables in your neighbor’s front yard. Yet, supersized decorations on your Christmas tree can look refined and stylish if you have enough space in your home to make the extra-large ornaments and ribbons look right. You don’t need a tree as large as the one in Rockefeller Center, but you should have a larger-than-average Christmas tree so the tree doesn’t seem eaten up by the ornaments.
Additionally, you should be able to afford enough space around your tree so visitors aren’t constantly bumping into your big ornaments. Trying to cram a supersized tree into a smaller space won’t help the tree look sophisticated; it will only make your home feel cluttered.
Sample the Mod Look
If you are willing to kick tradition to the curb and want an unusual Christmas tree this year, you might go mod. You can find artificial trees in every color of the rainbow, including shiny tinsel. Non-natural trees of vibrant colors lend a retro look to your Christmas decorations, and they can be incredibly fun to put together and celebrate around.
It should go without saying, you should try to avoid color clashing between your tree and the ornaments, and you might opt for equally retro-looking decorations around the tree, so it doesn’t seem out of place.
If you dream of sophisticated Christmas decor, you should start with your tree. By choosing a design style and sticking to it, you should be able to create a beautiful and meaningful centerpiece to your holiday décor.
Cover photo by Cameron Stewart on Unsplash
