Christmas Festival of Trees

Hello Friends,

Today is all about Christmas trees. We are “thinking-outside-the-box” and sharing a variety of shapes, sizes and decor styles. Hope you will join me and 11 other bloggers for this year’s Christmas Festival of Trees.

Christmas Festival of Trees

I’m not exactly sure what inspired this year’s approach to Christmas decor, but I was thinking uncluttered, bright and airy.

Maybe it was seeing so many farmhouse posts using multiple flocked trees without ornaments.

Or maybe it was the bottlebrush tree frenzy. None of these trees use ornaments, either.

All I know is that when I looked into the bay window, in my mind’s eye, I saw a collection of trees standing at different levels giving off a warm glow around the room.

And now, here we are.

Tips for Using Multiple Christmas Trees

Tip #1 ~~ Keep each tree visible

The bay started off with five trees. One 5-footer on a 12-inch riser, flanked by four-footers sitting on the floor, and two trees that are 3-feet tall in the front. And while the group of five looks really good in real life, they do not photograph well.

Regardless of the angle, photographs of the two trees in the front tend to melt into the trees in the back row. So while the five tree set-up is really awesome for real life, suggest to use only three trees across the window for photographs.

Tip #2 ~~ Can different greens mix?

For me, the answer is yes. Although I used all dark trees and no flocked trees, there is a variety of tree species. 

 

The four trees along the back wall are four identical pine trees (each 4-feet tall). Two are sitting on the floor and two are on different-sized risers. I prefer a smaller tree on a riser because I find them more versatile. In some circumstances, these 4-foot trees could also go on a table top or even a mantel.

They came with a few pine cones and berries attached which seem to work fine, so I didn’t remove them.

From this angle, the three trees look like one large tree. I like this a lot. Remember, I was going for uncluttered and felt too many things…even trees…could make the space look over done.

Tip #3 ~~ Can different colored lights mix together?

For me, the answer is no.

Maybe white lights with colored lights work ok, but different colors of white lights bother my eyes.

So I tried to get all warm lights, but…hello… I quickly learned that there are different colors of warm, too. To work around this, I ended up keeping like units together and spreading other colors of warm to different rooms.

And another thing I realized is that some lights shine more brightly than others. This is another coordination consideration. I didn’t want bright (like the noon day sun) in some parts of the house and dim (like a dying battery in a cave) in other parts of the house.

Look at the difference in the light brightness on the 4-foot trees (left) and the 8-foot tree (right & back). Amazing, isn’t it? But it seems to work ok given the distance between the trees.

The photo above is taken looking into a room that faces due North. And regardless of the time of day, there is a pretty good glow.

In contrast, the living room faces due South. In here, the lights are really only visible at night.

 

But the little trees in the foyer look great day or night.

Tip #4 ~~ Use interesting containers

Funny story.

I ordered these containers for the front outdoor entry and when they arrived, I was like….huuum no…these can go outdoors after Christmas.

Tip #5 ~~ Tie rooms together with greenery and lights

To tie the diva and other pieces of furniture with the rest of the spaces, a bit of greenery and additional lights are added.

And since the lights up top don’t light the lower shelves, I added battery-operated puc lights behind the pottery on the bottom shelf. Then battery-operated tea lights were dropped into champagne and wine glasses on the second shelf.

And the little touches seem to successfully float the “green-with-lights” theme without smothering the overall space.

And that’s all there is to it.

Eighteen trees with extra greenery and lights, but not a single solitary ornament.

Who knew?

So whatta ya think?

Can I call this minimalist?

Semi-minimalist?

Do I hear semi-semi-minimalist?

LOL.

Merry Christmas Friends and thanks for visiting.

To save these ideas for later, please PIN the images below.

And for more Christmas tree inspiration, please visit these fabulous bloggers. Simply click the blog name below each picture to access the link.

Chelsea Project ||| Atta Girl Says ||| 2 Bees In A Pod ||| JenRon Designs

The Crowned Goat ||| Hearth and Vine ||| Postcards from the Ridge ||| Savvy Apron

Adams and Elm Home ||| Nourish and Nestle ||| Sweet Parrish Place ||| Remodelandolacasa