Merry and Bright - Tree Decorating

How do you dress up the White House’s Christmas tree? How do you add thousands of lights to holiday tree, and take them down later? What the best size tree to get for your space? 

Meet decorating expert and holiday tree lover, Annie Ballantine, a business partner of mine who, in this interview, tells all:

What’s the best way to determine size and scale for the room or area where your tree is going?

In general, the best way to determine the size of your tree is to use the 2/3rds rule. Your tree should be as high as at least 2/3rds of your total ceiling height.  There is certainly leeway for personal preference.  For instance, I do not put an angel or star on top of my tree.  I like the top peak of my tree almost touching my ceiling.  If you do use a tree topper, you can allow approximately 18-24” from the tip of your tree top to the ceiling.  This allows space for a tree topper as well as a visual division of space between your tree topper and the ceiling line. 

As far as proportion is concerned, if you have tall ceilings and large architectural features in your selected space, your tree will need to be taller and wider to look balanced with the surroundings.  I have 12 foot ceilings and a fireplace focal point that runs floor to ceiling. In order to balance the space, I buy a 13’ tree, have it cut down at the stump, to fit just under the ceiling, and my tree is typically 9-12’ wide at the base. (Editor’s note: whoah!)

Please note: if you do purchase a large tree, you need to invest in a quality stand.  I use The Last Stand tree stand and it weighs approximately 100 pounds and measures 8 feet across with the stump holding tank and steel legs.  The stand cost over $300 but it’s a life-long investment and an insurance policy for your prized holiday ornaments.  You do not want a massive tree tipping!

How many lights does one use for different sizes of trees and different looks? Is there a rule of thumb?

In my opinion, you can never have too many lights on a Christmas tree. I start from deep inside the tree, near the trunk, and I cluster lights near the trunk, and then work my way out to the periphery. When putting lights near the trunk, your tree will absolutely GLOW from the inside and it’s breath-taking! The very first year that I did a massive tree, it had 12,000 light bulbs on it, and it took me 5 entire days just to LIGHT the tree.  It took me two more days to actually decorate the tree with ornaments.  Now I have my system figured out.  I divide the tree into four quadrants.  I work from the tip-top of my quadrant, down to the bottom.  This limits the amount of time I spend climbing up and down my ladder (it’s a 10-foot ladder and all that climbing takes time!). This system also works well for taking the lights off the tree.  Strands of lights don’t get as tangled when they aren’t winding completely around the tree several times, but rather run up and down in one section of the tree. 

Are some lights better than others? 

Yes!  I need to change my lights as I still use the incandescent lights.  Last year we had 14,400 light bulbs on the tree and the temperature in our living went up by 15 degrees every time the tree was on.  It’s not the most efficient alternative to heating a home.  Plus, our thermostat is in the same room as the tree and since it senses that it’s warm in that space, the furnace doesn’t kick in the way it should and the rest of our house is cold. The only reason that I have not switched to LED lights at this point is cost.  I use so many lights that switching all my strands to LED lights would cost me over $1200.

I highly recommend using white lights on a tree.   If you like colored lights, stick to just one color.  You are creating a background for your ornaments to stand out so your lights shouldn’t exactly be the focus, they should simply provide a warm glow so that your ornaments can shimmer, shine, and be the focus. 

This year, on my smaller tree that will go in our den, I am experimenting with a new type of strand light by Darice.  They are called “teeny tiny” lights and they are about the size of a pea.  If you use a small tree, I highly recommend looking into these small lights as the size of the bulb works nicely with a smaller tree that may not be as full as a large tree. 

What about taking them down at the end of the season?

When I do take the lights down, I organize each strand by wrapping it around a piece of cardboard. This eliminates potential tangles for next year. If any of my strands have been damaged, they need to be repaired or thrown out, and I make a note as to how many strands need replacing. Since I use so many strands of lights, I try to buy them on sale after Christmas. The same goes with my ornaments; a large tree needs a significant number of ornaments. I have around 1,000 ornaments, of varying sizes, on my tree each year.

Do the lights go on before the ornaments or after? 

ALWAYS light the tree first and put ornaments on when your tree lights are turned on. This gives you the best idea of how the finished product will look. I also put my larger, plain ornaments deep into the tree, near the trunk. These are my anchoring pieces. I stick to golds, silvers, bronze, and clear glass for these anchoring pieces. As I come out to the periphery of the tree, I add my smaller ornaments.  My small ornaments are also silver, gold, bronze, and clear, but I also use Inge Glass or Old World Christmas ornaments that have a lot of color.  Each year, I buy about five ornaments from Inge Glass, Christopher Radko, or Old World Christmas.  These ornaments represent something that happened during the past year; it might be a place I visited, or a representation of something I did, but it always reminds of a specific fond memory.  For instance, this year, I found an Old World Christmas ornament of an artist’s paint palette because I recently started taking professional acrylic painting classes. This personalization of my ornaments makes the holidays, and the process or decorating the tree, very enjoyable and nostalgic. 

Any suggestions on clever Christmas tree skirts? What do you use?

I had a major skirt SNAFU the first year that I got a big Christmas tree; I ordered a custom-made, standard tree skirt, and it didn’t even cover the trunk holding tank on my big steel tree stand!!  I learned my lesson and now I actually order a 90” round table cloth from Ballard Designs and have it cut and sewn so that I can use it as a tree skirt.  I keep my skirt as neutral as possible so that it doesn’t detract from the beauty of my tree, or the gift underneath it!  I LOVE going all out on wrapping, so I certainly want my hard work to show, and be admired.  Last year, our tree skirt was a deep forest green velvet. 

How do you take the tree down?

When the tree needs to come down, I remove all of the ornaments, and then the lights. After that, we have the staff from the tree farm come out to the house and they dissect the tree, cutting sections of branches, and removing them one-by-one, from the house.  In the end, we are left with a huge, tall trunk in a steel stand. It’s pretty amusing. We do this because we cannot fit the tree through the door, after the netting wrap comes off of it, after delivery and set up.  We have noted that our next home needs to have double doors specifically for this purpose!

Tell us about decorating the tree at the White House…

To decorate for the holidays at The White House, there is a long application process and selection process.  A portfolio must be submitted, and of course, there are extensive background checks. I spent five days decorating with a large team and after all the work was done, I was invited to attend a full-on White House party!  It was a “pinch-me” experience.  I still cannot believe that I sat in the 18th century furniture in The Red Room of The White House!  Wow!

Well folks, there you have it. Are you going to give your tree a makeover this year?