Deliberately sparse Christmas trees — chic or ridiculous?

[Anonymous]

Douglas Firs! That's what my grandmother always purchased growing up. It makes me so nostalgic to see it. The ornaments dangle so nicely when the branches are more spread out compare to the bushy ones.

[Anonymous]

Love them. But I have a small colonial, so things look better not so big and overcrowded.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Nope. I like my tree so full of ornaments some are touching. I don’t care for the cold interior decorated look. I like to feel like the house looks as living as our family actually is. These sparse trees look like something your find in the corner at home goods.

The cluttered tree look are is so tacky.

[Anonymous]

The third one is kind of cute as a decoration - like on the front porch. I wouldn't want any of these as my "Christmas tree."

FWIW, when I saw the title I imagined a sparsely decorated tree, not sparse foliage. I could get behind a nice full Frasier fir with lights but no ornaments easier than the Charlie Brown tree limbs. It all comes down to preference.

[Anonymous]

What are people talking about with the tree shortage? We went to Lowe's yesterday and there were plenty of trees even though its' pretty early for them, and they were priced about the same as last year ($70-90 depending on height of tree).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Nope. I like my tree so full of ornaments some are touching. I don’t care for the cold interior decorated look. I like to feel like the house looks as living as our family actually is. These sparse trees look like something your find in the corner at home goods.

The cluttered tree look are is so tacky.

DP but this idea that a Christmas tree is tacky if it's not minimalist is just silly. Right now minimalist is on trend, but that doesn't make everything traditional "tacky." I do not like the all-one-color Christmas tree decorating that dominated the last five years or so, but that doesn't mean people who liked it have no taste, just that it wasn't for me and I never jumped on board. Try it some time: you don't have to bend people to your tastes or insult them for having different preferences; you can just do what you prefer and enjoy your own tree.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The third one is kind of cute as a decoration - like on the front porch. I wouldn't want any of these as my "Christmas tree."

FWIW, when I saw the title I imagined a sparsely decorated tree, not sparse foliage. I could get behind a nice full Frasier fir with lights but no ornaments easier than the Charlie Brown tree limbs. It all comes down to preference.

I was thinking of moving my tree to the front porch this year. I have a colonial with a big front porch the full length of the house. I was wondering if it would be tacky. I just hate rearranging the house to accommodate the tree.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Douglas Firs! That's what my grandmother always purchased growing up. It makes me so nostalgic to see it. The ornaments dangle so nicely when the branches are more spread out compare to the bushy ones.

Also Fraser firs. Surprised more people aren’t at least familiar with this choice. We would do different things different years, but the sparse trees are very nice, especially as an alternative.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Are you talking about the style of tree or the number of ornaments? I love the sparse trees but you can’t get them on this coast. On the west coast they are more normal and you can see through to the ornaments in the back of the tree.

The type of tree. People are buying artificial ones, so it isn’t just a matter of necessity due to shortages. Apparently flocked/frosted trees are also back in style.

I like that first one. Where is it from?

[Anonymous]

Not a fan of trendy trees. It’s CHRISTMAS for godsakes, does everything have to be a social media trend?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Douglas Firs! That's what my grandmother always purchased growing up. It makes me so nostalgic to see it. The ornaments dangle so nicely when the branches are more spread out compare to the bushy ones.

Also Fraser firs. Surprised more people aren’t at least familiar with this choice. We would do different things different years, but the sparse trees are very nice, especially as an alternative.

I like Fraser firs as they keep their needles much better, but usually I end up getting a balsam because the pine scent is so much stronger. Love it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Are you talking about the style of tree or the number of ornaments? I love the sparse trees but you can’t get them on this coast. On the west coast they are more normal and you can see through to the ornaments in the back of the tree.

The type of tree. People are buying artificial ones, so it isn’t just a matter of necessity due to shortages. Apparently flocked/frosted trees are also back in style.

I like that first one. Where is it from?

All from Balsam Hill. Looks like the first one is on sale for Cyber Monday but only available in pre-lit.

https://www.balsamhill.com/p/alpine-balsam-fir

[Anonymous]

I love a sparse tree, which was saw a lot growing up on the West Coast. People would prune branches to get that symmetrical spacing.

[Anonymous]

I like them but only like real trees, never fake, and it's actually kind of hard to find a sparse real tree without pruning it yourself as a PP mentioned, so usually our trees are much more full.

Also, with a sparse tree you have to be extremely meticulous about decorating it, in terms of wrapping the the trunk and branches with lights, and arranging ornaments in a balanced way. One thing I do like about a fuller tree is filling it with light so that it really glows from within, and it's easier and it's much easier to do this with a tree where you can easily hide all the cords and plugs and such. You also have a lot more leeway with ornaments, can mixing ugly but sentimental ornaments and put them in spots where they won't be obvious from the street or to a guest but you and the kids can enjoy them, that kind of thing. Fuller trees are more forgiving all around and can look really good and festive without having to carefully design the tree. Whereas a sparse tree look best when it's carefully designed, which is likely why the fake sparse trees look best, because they can come pre lit and guarantee perfectly even or artful arrangement of branches.

[Anonymous]

At one time I tried to make my tree look pretty by carefully decorating it. It was lovely. Then I had kids. Now every inch of it is covered in homemade ornaments and it's definitely in questionable taste, but oh well.