Posted 9:29 pm Friday, November 30, 2012
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Slimmed & Trimmed: The skinny on svelte Christmas trees
Thin has never been more in. The moniker, “skinny,” is used to describe ties, belts, lattes, cocktails — and now, Christmas trees.
In the past, a skinny tree would be the one left on the lot, but retailers say that Christmas trees, both real and fake, are trending toward leaner sizes for this holiday season.
Slim trees, as tall as regular trees, are going to be only about half as wide and can be as narrow as 18 inches across.
A Christmas tree diameter is measured by “taper.” The 10-foot traditional tree might have a taper of 80 percent, meaning its lowest branches have a diameter of 8 feet. A slim tree’s taper might be 40 to 50 percent.
The slim tree profile blends with sleek, modern design schemes. It is budget-friendly, with the cost running below that of a traditional triangle-shaped tree and it requires fewer ornaments.
By using a skinny, you won’t have to move the furniture to insert one into a dining room or alongside a staircase or fireplace. And in gaining floor space, more than one tree in a room or trees in multiple rooms would be possible.
In the past, a skinny tree would be the one left on the lot, but retailers say that Christmas trees, both real and fake, are trending toward leaner sizes for this holiday season.
Slim trees, as tall as regular trees, are going to be only about half as wide and can be as narrow as 18 inches across.
A Christmas tree diameter is measured by “taper.” The 10-foot traditional tree might have a taper of 80 percent, meaning its lowest branches have a diameter of 8 feet. A slim tree’s taper might be 40 to 50 percent.
The slim tree profile blends with sleek, modern design schemes. It is budget-friendly, with the cost running below that of a traditional triangle-shaped tree and it requires fewer ornaments.
By using a skinny, you won’t have to move the furniture to insert one into a dining room or alongside a staircase or fireplace. And in gaining floor space, more than one tree in a room or trees in multiple rooms would be possible.
In the House Beautiful book, “Decorate for the Christmas Season,” decorative painter and interior designer Richard Lowell Neas used slim, beautifully bare trees leaning against a dining room wall for a fireside supper. Neas creates a romantic scene here, a lush still life that gives no hint of 21st-century living.
For most of us, Christmas means a more-is-more approach to decorating the tree, with ornaments of varying sizes equally distributed, followed by swags of ribbon, beads or tinsel. Decorating a skinny tree takes planning. Start at the top with small ornaments and work down using medium-size ornaments, reserving large ornaments for the trunk area and near the bottom.
An overall simple presentation works the best. Anchor your tree visually with presents that spill out from beneath the lower branches.
Although you might want to out-skinny the svelte trend, once you get as thin as a pencil tree, it’s no longer festive. The maxim, “You can never be too rich or too thin,” doesn’t apply to Christmas trees.
For most of us, Christmas means a more-is-more approach to decorating the tree, with ornaments of varying sizes equally distributed, followed by swags of ribbon, beads or tinsel. Decorating a skinny tree takes planning. Start at the top with small ornaments and work down using medium-size ornaments, reserving large ornaments for the trunk area and near the bottom.
An overall simple presentation works the best. Anchor your tree visually with presents that spill out from beneath the lower branches.
Although you might want to out-skinny the svelte trend, once you get as thin as a pencil tree, it’s no longer festive. The maxim, “You can never be too rich or too thin,” doesn’t apply to Christmas trees.
