Here’s simple tips to make a fake tree look amazing – take it from average to amazing with just a few tricks!
I just shared this story on my Instagram today, but I thought I’d put my best tips here so they can “live forever” on my blog. But I shared how we bought this tree when we were younger (and really didn’t have much money for an artificial tree). I bought it on some flash sale site after Christmas and was so thankful to not have a tree that would put me in respiratory distress!
It’s now become our “secondary tree”. I worked with Balsam Hill a few years ago and got a really beautiful tree that’s much nicer than this one. But this one was still perfectly fine, and I knew I wanted to still find ways to use it and make it look beautiful.
Here’s my favorite ways to make an average fake tree look amazing and much more high-end than it actually is:
1. Vary the lights
By now, half the lights on this tree no longer work. So I was already re-stringing them, but you don’t have to wait until your lights burn out to add some extra lights!
The key here is to add lights that are a different shape than the current lights that are on your tree. I love these LED globe lights that we mixed in with the existing lights on our tree. It adds so much more dimension and visual interest to the tree.
Click here for the exact string of lights we bought to add to this tree.
2. Add some thick ribbon
Many times, even after we’ve fluffed as much as we can, there’s just gaps in the tree. It’s not a good look to be able to see through the tree, so that’s where thick ribbon comes into play. If you add thick strips of ribbon (either straight down vertically or on a diagonal) and tuck them in every few branches, it will do wonders to fill in those gaps.
3. Use large ornaments (and a lot of them)
If you use large ornaments in a cohesive color scheme, it will help detract from the actual tree itself. Make sure you get more than you think you’ll need! Filling up your tree with many large ornaments really helps it to feel more substantial and high end.
4. Build a base
Maybe my favorite part! If you build a base for your tree, you are making it a real statement in the room. Not only does it look good visually, but it’s also a great way to make the tree appear taller. Since our tree was 7 feet tall, we added this base (which is really a plastic storage bin with wood “wrapped” around it…see it in my IG stories if that doesn’t make sense!). Now our tree is over 9 feet tall (and taller with a large tree topper) and is more to scale in our vaulted ceiling sunroom.
One more idea to make your fake tree look amazing:
Add tree picks! I actually had these in our previous home and I think I lent them to my parents, so sadly I don’t have any pictures to show you in this post. But you can see how they look in these pictures if you’re curious! Tree picks also help fill in those gaps and add dimension to make your fake tree look amazing.
I hope those tips help you to take your tree look so beautiful…and you can MOST certainly do this on a budget too!
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