How a Professional Decorates a Christmas Tree

The gap between a home tree and a hotel-lobby tree is not money. It is order of work, light density and ruthless colour discipline.

The order of work

1. 1Shape the tree. Fluff and separate every branch, working from the trunk out.
2. 2Lights — deep first, surface second.
3. 3Ribbon — the vertical rhythm.
4. 4Ornaments — largest to smallest, inside to outside.
5. 5Filler — picks, sprays, berries.
6. 6Topper and skirt last.

Do not deviate. Every step after lights is harder to fix if the lights are wrong.

Lights: twice what you think

Wrap in vertical sections rather than horizontal rings: start at the trunk near the base, run the string up the inside of a branch, out to the tip, and back in again — then move round.

One colour temperature. Warm white unless the entire scheme is silver and ice.

Ribbon, before ornaments

Wired ribbon, 6–10cm wide, in a colour from your palette. Two methods:

• Cascade — lengths falling vertically from just under the topper to the lower branches, tucked in at intervals so they twist naturally. This is what makes tall trees look expensive.
• Loop and tuck — short concertina loops wired in among the branches, for a fuller, traditional look.

Ornaments

Largest

Deep, close to the trunk, low and middle — they create depth

Medium

Mid-branch, staggered so no two sit level on the same face

Smallest

On the tips, where the light catches them

Finish mix

Roughly equal thirds matte, gloss and glitter

Turn the tree — or walk round it — every few minutes. Hang your best ten ornaments last, into the gaps your eye keeps returning to. All-gloss reads cheap under lights.

Topper and proportion

A topper should be about one tenth of the tree's height — eight to nine inches on a 7ft tree. Most shop toppers are undersized for a tall tree, which is why the top looks unfinished. It must sit on the leader, upright and vertical from every angle, not leaning back into the wall.

Filler and skirt

Picks, berry sprays and dried orange slices fill the gaps left after ornaments — never before, or they take space the good pieces need. A skirt or collar hides the stand and grounds the tree: a collar suits a modern room, a fabric skirt a traditional one.

The two-metre test

Stand back two metres, half-close your eyes, and look for holes and clumps. At that distance you stop seeing individual ornaments and start seeing the tree as a shape — which is exactly how everyone else will see it.

Having it done

We dress trees up to twenty feet, supply them if you would like, and undress and store everything in January. A dressed tree usually forms part of an interior scheme rather than a standalone visit, and the ornaments are yours to keep.