(photos: Country Living and House Beautiful)
Ever since I was little, I was in awe of homes that had more than one Christmas tree. I especially loved the idea small themed trees in entries, dining rooms, kitchens and bedrooms! In the house we live in now, we have a great big living room and each year we have bought a bigger and more grand tree. And every year we struggle to get it set up, standing straight and fully decorated.
(photo: Country Living)
While I love the majestic trees we have had, this year I have been seeing some lovely small trees in magazine photos and it has me thinking again about the little tree idea. This Christmas I am thinking might be the year of the small tree for our family. And instead of our living room I might put it in the kitchen where I can see it more often! Our living room is a long ways away from where we spend most of our days.
I love some of the charming small trees in pretty pots or urns. And I think if we put the tree in our kitchen, it would be fun to see it while we do our holiday baking!
Here are some fresh ideas for unique & small trees:
- Create a theme tree for your kitchen…tie on cookie cutters or silverware just for fun
- Make an advent tree for your family
- Use an unusual object to stand in for a traditional tree, like a wooden drying rack
- Add glue and glitter to branches to make your own unique trees
- Let the kids decorate a tree for their room with their favorite small toys like matchbox cars
- Decorate a tree with your small collectibles…espresso cups, starfish, vintage jewelry, bells
- Embellish a plastic tree with natural elements like feathers, pinecones, nests and cranberries
(photos: Country Living, Better Homes & Gardens)
So, I am curious…
Do you all have more than one tree?
Do you go for the large & grand or the small trees?
Do you have special themed trees or do you like the traditional assortment of decorations gathered through the years?
And where do you put your tree? In the main living room or do you opt for a different room?
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1. My parents have the main tree in thefamily room and a smaller tree in the living room. The living room tree is a 3 foot tree with a huge train village around it, including a motorized skating rink and ski slope. All of the ornaments are train-themed.
My sister also does a big family tree and then she has a grouping of vintage ceramic trees that light up in various sizes in the living room.
I do a big tree in the living room and a vintage miniature tree in the dining room. I used to have a ceramic tree in the bedroom, but I gave it to my sister for her collection!
by Elizabeth — 11/19/08 at 7:55 am #
2. Great post, Melissa. We used to put our “main” tree in the living room, but a few years ago I moved it to our family room. We are able to enjoy it so much more there. That tree is decorated with all Santas - each on different. We also have a small tree in our kitchen which is decorated with fun kitchen ornaments - like cupcakes, kitchen tools, cookies, etc.
by Beverly — 11/19/08 at 8:17 am #
3. Well, look at me, I’m first. This subject is RIGHT up my alley this year. I’ve decided I want the whole house decked out for Christmas. Now, it may not happen all at once, but YES, I want MORE than one tree. My two youngest children have their own small trees for their rooms. I want a tree in the great room, one in the family room, one in the master bedroom, etc. But I want them done in themes. I would really like to find a tall, super skinny tree for the foyer that I would like to start a tradition of having everyone who comes to visit during the holidays bring an ornament to hang on it (bought, second hand, or home-made).
by Suzann — 11/19/08 at 9:20 am #
4. We have several trees, of various sizes & themes. From the wee tiny one that graces the foyer decorated simply with some baby’s breath & red berries, to the 2 foot tree in our “lounge” with our mini memory ornaments, to our GRAND big tree that graces the great room.
I love the espresso cup idea though….I may need a new tree for the kitchen this year!
by Jinx — 11/19/08 at 9:21 am #
5. I am really liking the idea of the small tree (or trees!)
We have one son, a two-year-old, so the last couple Christmases have been incresingly about childproofing and less about costly and breakable decorations. What’s also happened is that we’ve turned our living room into a play room! I’ve been thinking and thinking about where in the world we could put our big 7-foot artificial tree this year. We don’t have a big house. There’s just no place it would fit!
But I have a little table in the kitchen that would be just right. And I have a little space in the entryway. And a small spot in the family room. So maybe…maybe I could get into this idea! It might be hard to convince my husband, though. He is a total traditionalist when it comes to these things, and he actually has and voices OPINIONS about household things! That can be both a blessing and a curse. Ha ha.
by Helloheather — 11/19/08 at 9:33 am #
6. I love putting small trees in each bedroom.
These are absolutely stunning!
by Natalie at FL Home Blog — 11/19/08 at 9:41 am #
7. Good morning Melissa, beautiful trees, we are just decorating ours this week, can’t wait.
I do a small gingerbread tree in the kitchen with tiny little kitchen wisks, spatulas, spoons, small cookie sheets with little gingerbread cookies on them, tiny cookbooks, decorated gingerbread men that look like cookies hung from red checked bows….I just love it. But the sweetest now is our traditional tree with things our kids made (now grown), little frames with their baby pictures on it, and traditional decorations…it moves me.
Have a blessed day!
Debbie
by Debbie — 11/19/08 at 10:10 am #
8. These small tree ideas are so fabulous. I love them! Hubby and I are living in a little apartment with no room for a big tree. I was a little disappointed that our tree wouldn’t be big and beautiful. But now I know it doesn’t have to be big to be beautiful! Thanks for the fantastic ideas!
by Imperfect — 11/19/08 at 10:38 am #
9. I usually have three trees- One in the library, one in the guest bedroom and one very tiny one in the Kitchen- The Library one is where the gifts go- and it is usually all white and silver- the Kitchen one is traditional Christmas color- and more playful. I really like the idea of several small trees- they are not as stressful to decorate, money and time wise. :}
Because I Followed you over here from the Inspired Room site , I have been introduced to a new Store- I have one about an hour from me and didn’t even know it- Heading there today to look around- and hopefully come home with some goodies :}
by Teresa — 11/19/08 at 11:21 am #
10. Good morning…wow, some great ideas here today in all the comments. It is funny, our first tree when we got married was tiny and sat up on a table top. I thought it was cute, but not “real”…not like a “grown up tree!” I thought I had to have a big main tree and the tiny ones could be extras. But now I am thinking tiny trees are pretty chic even for your only tree!
by Melissa — 11/19/08 at 12:04 pm #
11. I feel so much better now - my tree for the last 4 years has been a tiny table-top tree (to complement my tiny, tiny apartment). Glad to know that it’s chic now!
I love Christmas trees…. and my little one gets decorated so beautifully to go with my decor. I never thought about adding a second one, but I might change that…. a small tree in the bedroom sounds so romantic!!
Heather
TheStrivingWife.com
by Heather @ The Striving Wife — 11/19/08 at 4:25 pm #
12. My favorite expression of the winter holidays is a Christmas tree. My boys - who are teenagers - also love having a Christmas tree, as does my husband, but they never want to help decorate. So, I am stuck with that chore. But oh, its gorgeous when finished. We only have one tree, and we put it in the living room. It is always a tall slender tree which fits perfectly in our small home. Two years ago I knocked through the kitchen wall to create a passage into the living room and now I can cook and bake in the kitchen and still see the tree. I am not a collector by nature, but I do have boxes and boxes of Christmas ornaments. As a tradition, I buy several new ornaments each year. One of the most magical moments for me during the holiday season, is relaxing by the tree, with all the house lights off and enjoying the glow and sparkle of the tree lights.
Thanks Melissa for the lovely blog about Christmas trees. I never knew about Home Goods, but I just used the store finder to locate a shop in my area and I am already planning to visit before the holidays.
Cheers,
Genevieve
by Genevieve — 11/19/08 at 7:18 pm #
13. Love the idea of having smaller trees in different rooms around the house! Wouldn’t it be great to have one in every room? And you know I adore the glue and glitter idea!
xo
by {this is glamorous} — 11/21/08 at 6:01 pm #
14. I love having more than one tree! Each of my children have a small tree in thoer rooms with thing sthat they’ve made or collected. I have a snowman tree, a nutcracker tree, a beach themed tree (we love the beach!) My 2 favorite trees, I have to say, are my travel tree and my cross tree. Our travel tree is made up of things, ornaments, that we have collected on all of our family trips over the past 12 years. My children always remind us when we go somewhere that we have to find an ornament. It brings up lots of great memories as we are putting it up. The other is a tree of crosses. I call this my true Christmas tree. We put it up in the dining room since that is where we are gathered alot for the holidays. It has all crosses and 3 white doves on it. It is a great reminder to my children, family and friends what Christmas is truly about!
by Tami — 11/23/08 at 12:25 pm #
15. We have the big 12 foot tree for the family room along with another 6 trees in that room, 4 more in the entry way and now I am inspired to add one or two more into the master bedroom and guest room. Each tree has it’s own decor from musical instruments, all Harley (my hubby), ornaments made by the kids (now grown), all Santa’s, ornaments collected on travel around the world, and so on.
My mother instilled the love of “decking the halls”, and ALL of our decorating back then was strictly handmade from the door cover she did in vinyl and glitter to the stockings she sewed together and we decorated as our own masterpieces. Decorating the tree was (and is) the highlight of our holiday experience, so as an adult I have replicated the thrill many, many times over as I add new trees. Fortunately we have a large house with big rooms that were made to be filled with Christmas trees! (Or at least that’s my reasoning….)
by Lana — 11/23/08 at 11:13 pm #
16. We’ve had an artificial tree for years but after setting it up there wasn’t really room for friends and family to hang out in our family room. I ended up taking the large and putting two layers at the very top of the trunk and bending the limbs down. These we covered with green lights. Then we took long strips of burlap about 8″ wide and wraped the trunk of the tree and covered it with yellow lights. We now have a terrific Christmas Palm to go with our tropical them and plenty of room for guests. The only ornaments I put on the tree are three large gold orbs that end up looking like coconuts.
by Cheryl — 12/13/08 at 2:49 am #