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There is a lot of advice about which Christmas tree to buy and almost none about everything that happens after it is standing in your living room. The tree that leans. The stand you can see from the doorway. The toddler who has decided the bottom branch is a handle. The twelve-foot cord running to a plug behind the sofa. These are the actual problems, and every one of them has a fix that costs less than the tree did. Here is what I use, in the order the problems tend to show up.
My Top Picks at a Glance
Best way to hide an ugly stand: a woven wicker tree collar. Shop it here
Best classic option: a thick faux fur tree skirt, 48 inches. Shop it here
Best for moving a decorated tree: a universal rolling tree stand. Shop it here
Best for a tree with a bad side: a 360 degree rotating stand. Shop it here
Best with toddlers or pets: a no-drill anti-tip anchor. Shop it here
Best for breakables: velvet and finial ornaments that do not shatter. Shop it here
Best fix for the cord problem: a wireless remote control outlet. Shop it here
Best way to make next year easier: an upright tree storage bag. Shop it here
Problem: The Stand Looks Terrible
Nothing undoes a beautifully decorated tree faster than three red metal legs poking out the bottom. You have two options and they are genuinely different, not just a style preference.
A Tree Collar
A collar is a rigid ring that sits around the base. It is the better choice if you have pets or small children, because there is no fabric to pull, crawl under or drag across the floor, and presents cannot disappear beneath it. Woven wicker is the version I keep coming back to because the texture reads warm against all that greenery.
Measure before you order. A collar that is too narrow will not close around the stand, and that is the single most common return. For a tree over seven and a half feet, or any stand with a wide footprint, size up to the 36 inch.
A Tree Skirt
A skirt still wins on two things: it covers a much wider area, so it hides the cords as well as the stand, and it protects the floor from needles and water. A thick faux fur one looks far more expensive than it is and it is the easier choice if your tree sits on a rug you care about.
Problem: You Cannot Move the Tree Once It Is Up
Anyone who has tried to shift a fully decorated nine foot tree six inches to the left knows this one. A rolling stand solves it completely, and it is the single most useful thing I have bought for a faux tree. Lock the wheels once it is in place, unlock them when you need to vacuum behind it or get to the outlet.
Problem: The Tree Has a Bad Side
Every tree has one. Usually it faces the wall, which means half your ornaments are never seen. A rotating stand turns the whole tree slowly so there is no bad side, and it is far more impressive in a room than it sounds on paper. Check the weight and height rating against your tree before you buy, because these are rated conservatively for a reason.
Problem: Toddlers, Cats and the Leaning Tree
If you have ever had a tree come down, you only need it to happen once. An anti-tip anchor kit is under twenty dollars and takes five minutes. The no-drill versions use adhesive anchors, so you are not putting holes in a wall for six weeks of the year.
Two things that help as much as the anchor itself: put the heaviest ornaments on the lower inner branches rather than the tips, which lowers the centre of gravity, and keep the bottom twelve inches either bare or stocked only with things you do not mind losing.
Problem: Ornaments Keep Breaking
The breakable ornament problem has a simple answer that nobody likes to hear: put the good glass up high and make the bottom third unbreakable. Nobody can tell from across a room, and you stop flinching every time the dog walks past.
Velvet Ornaments
My favourite solution because they do not look like a compromise. Matte velvet catches light completely differently to glass, so mixing them in actually improves the tree rather than just protecting it, and they survive being dropped on a hardwood floor.
Neutral Finial Ornaments
Finials are the long teardrop shapes that hang below the branch line. They add vertical interest that round baubles cannot, and because they hang lower they fill the gaps that always look empty on an artificial tree.
Better Ornament Hooks
Most broken ornaments are a hook failure, not an impact. The thin wire hooks that come in the box bend open under any weight. Metal S-hooks cost almost nothing and they are the single cheapest fix on this entire list.
Problem: The Cord Running Across the Room
A wireless remote outlet plugs into the wall, the tree plugs into it, and the lights go on and off from the couch. No more crawling under the branches twice a day, and no more leaving them on all night because reaching the plug is too much trouble. Get the one with multiple outlets so the tree, the garland and the window candles all run off one remote.
Problem: Fluffing a Tree Destroys Your Hands
Artificial tree branches have sharp wire ends and PVC tips that genuinely cut. Thorn-proof gardening gloves with long cuffs make fluffing a twenty minute job instead of an hour of flinching, and they protect your forearms, which is the part that actually gets scratched.
If You Have a Real Tree
The two real-tree problems are water and needles. A tree watering funnel sits hidden in the branches with a tube down to the reservoir, so you top it up without lying on the floor every morning. A real tree can drink a gallon in its first day, and a stand that runs dry seals over with sap and stops drinking altogether, which is what actually kills a tree early.
Problem: Next Year Starts Badly
Most of the fluffing misery in December is caused by how the tree was packed in January. An upright storage bag keeps an artificial tree standing and the branches down rather than crushed flat in a box, which means next year it comes out close to shaped. If your tree lives in a basement or a garage, this also keeps the dust and damp off it.
Frequently Asked Questions
Tree collar or tree skirt, which is better?
A collar is better with pets and toddlers and looks tidier, because there is no fabric to disturb. A skirt covers more floor, hides cords as well as the stand, and protects a rug from needles and water. Collars need to be measured against your stand; skirts do not.
How do I stop my Christmas tree from falling over?
Use an anti-tip anchor kit, which is under twenty dollars and takes five minutes. Then hang heavy ornaments on the lower inner branches rather than the outer tips, which lowers the centre of gravity, and keep the bottom foot of the tree lightly decorated.
How do I make an artificial tree look fuller?
Fluff it properly, which means bending each branch away from the trunk and splaying the tips in different directions rather than letting them lie flat. Wear long thorn-proof gloves and work from the inside out. Hanging ornaments deeper into the tree rather than only on the tips also adds visible depth.
What size tree collar do I need?
Measure the widest point of your tree stand and add a few inches. A 28 inch collar suits most trees up to about seven and a half feet. Go to 36 inches for a taller tree or any stand with a wide footprint. Too small is the most common ordering mistake.
How do I store an artificial Christmas tree?
Upright, in a storage bag, with the branches folded down rather than crushed. A box compresses the branches flat for eleven months and that is why the tree takes an hour to fluff the following year.
More Christmas Decorating Posts
How to Make Christmas Garland Look Full Instead of Skimpy
The 12 Best Artificial Christmas Trees on Amazon
Trim the Tree: My Favorites for Christmas Tree Decorating
The Best Affordable Christmas Decor
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