Alternative Christmas Decor | An Alternative Christmas Tree

I shared this idea for an alternative Christmas tree a few years ago but —with Christmas looming on the horizon — I thought I’d resurrect it!

Folk are always looking for creative new ways to decorate their homes (Pinterest is full of alternative Christmas decor) and this alternative Christmas tree is too good not to share.

Once Upon a Time

I had been chatting to a friend about Christmas and getting a bit over-excited about our annual tree buying day.

The fact we always have a fairly large, real tree; the tradition of decorating it. The scent of the pine needles.

And she said, much as she’d love to have a tree in their sitting room at Christmas — real or otherwise — they simply didn’t have the space for one.

Instead, they had a tiny fake tree that sat upon the window ledge.

She said they always made an effort to decorate the rest of the room but were sadly lacking in the tree department, due to floorspace being in short supply.

Which got me thinking about how we could create an alternative Christmas tree to fit her space.

What Is An Alternative Christmas Tree?

Now I’ve seen a fair few non traditional Christmas trees on Pinterest; there are fab ladder versions but they’d potentially take up as much (if not more) room as a regular tree.

I’ve seen lots of lovely wall-hanging trees too, made of twigs and twine.

But they’re a bit rustic for my friend’s taste. I really wanted to create something that would work in her contemporary styled home.

So my idea for an alternative Christmas tree is a little different.

It’s a wall mounted ‘tree’ made from ledges, that you can display your decorations on.

Really easy to make; just saw lengths of 4 x 2 timber (I used 4 although you could use more to create a huge ‘tree’ with loads of tiers).

To give you an idea, my top tier was 15cm long. The second was 30cm, the third 50cm and the fourth was 70cm.

I spaced each baton 15cm apart, horizontally, making sure they were nicely centred and level. Use a spirit level for this (there’s nothing worse than wonky shelves)!

Then I used contact strips to stick them to the wall.

Finally, I piled each ledge with as many spangly, pretty things that would fit.

Switch It Up

You could switch it up and paint the ledges a foresty green colour to look a little more like a real tree.

Or paint each ledge a different colour and have corresponding baubles; red baubles on a red ledge, blue on a blue ledge etc…

The possibilities are endless.

My friend’s house is fairly minimal and I thought a classic combination of white gold and silver would work really well in her home.

I quite like the ‘white on white’ shelf and wall combo; I love how the colour comes from the decorations themselves.

So that’s it.

My alternative Christmas tree.

A fabulous, space saving alternative to a traditional tree.

It’s a little unorthodox but perfect for small rooms or for people that want something a little different from the norm.

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