How to find Christmas trees to fit small spaces and tiny homes
Size your tree carefully for your space. File picture
Nobody knows what the future will hold, but if I may be allowed to extrapolate from historical data for a moment, I believe I can predict with confidence that I will never get sick of those first sparkling bars of Mariah, or The Pogues, or Slade, or any other Christmas classics that define our December aural backdrop.
Christmas FM has been blaring in my car all week.
The house looks like Santa threw up.
In short, I love Christmas.
I’ve made this disclaimer before, but it’s worth reiterating — if you’re here for classy and refined Christmas decor advice, you’re in the wrong place.
Here is where you will find an abundance of tinsel, more fairy lights than you can shake a stick at, and a general “more is more” attitude to the holiday season. Fair warning.
My love of Christmas extends to Christmas trees, but alas my available floor space does not. Therefore, creativity is required to achieve the full Christmas effect without having to remove an essential item of furniture to fit in a tree.
First up will be my personal favourite, the flat Christmas tree, but there are more options for you to try. Read on to banish the Grinch and get everything you want for Christmas — no matter how small your home is.
A flat Christmas tree is exactly what it sounds like — branches or garlands in a tree shape that is flat on your wall. This is perfect because it looks fabulous (if I do say so myself) but it takes up zero floor space and the items required take up minimal storage space throughout the rest of the year. I use a long length of green pine garland that has berries and LED lights throughout the length.
You could also use tinsel or even branches of real pine if you love a real tree. First, I use Blu Tack to stick a length of twine onto the wall in the approximate outline of the tree shape. This gives me the length of branches/garlands that I will need.
Then I install damage-free Command hooks in a zig-zag pattern, and finally, I wind the garland around them to achieve a tree shape on the wall. You can decorate this just as you would a regular Christmas tree, with baubles and fairy lights.
What’s better than one six-foot tree? Six one-foot trees! OK maybe six might be overdoing it (although as I said I personally don’t feel there is such a thing as overdoing Christmas), but the theory remains — if you don’t have the floor space for one large tree then why not dot a few smaller trees around on tables or sideboards.
You will need to size your trees carefully — ideally a tall, narrow tree in a corner or along a wall will work best. For tables in the middle of the room, such as a dining table or coffee table, a short, low tree is preferable so that it doesn’t entirely take over the room and block everybody’s view. If you’re already an indoor horticulture enthusiast, you could simply adorn your existing house plants with Christmas decorations!
Wooden trees are on the rise — I have seen an abundance of them at home interiors fairs and while browsing magazines over the past year or so. Wooden Christmas trees usually comprise wooden poles or planks in a spiral pattern, or sticking out irregularly like real branches, and can be decorated just like real trees.
They don’t all take up less floor space than a regular tree (although flat ones are available, which have all the benefits of the flat wall tree above), but they do fold away much more neatly for easier storage throughout the year.
To be frank, the pared-back look of a wooden tree is not in keeping with my preferred over-the-top aesthetic, but for those of you who like a little Scandi-minimalism it could be the perfect solution.
Christmas trees don’t always have to be indoors. If your main living area has a great view to your garden or balcony then why not put your tree outside? In Ireland, we don’t get to use our outdoor spaces so much in the winter months so you won’t lose much in the way of useful floor space.
This will only work safely in sheltered areas — you don’t want to wake up to find your Christmas tree in the wrong garden some morning. You should also ensure your decorations are weatherproof and use outdoor fairy lights.
This one is a little rogue and would take some work, but I saw it in a hotel once and thought it was cool. Hanging a tree upside down from your ceiling like a giant festive chandelier allows you to have a full-sized tree without taking up floor space (although it does intrude a bit on head space!).
