A GUIDE TO CHOOSING THE RIGHT ORNAMENT FOR YOUR CHRISTMAS TREE
It's that time of year again! Whether you're spending it with the whole family, that special someone, or digging in on your own, setting the scene for Christmas is essential to the entire celebration. However, you choose to decorate your home, there's no question that Christmas isn't the same without a Christmas tree. Providing a landmark for Santa to leave presents and providing that ambient twinkle of an evening, it's an integral part of the festive season. Leaving aside the artificial versus real Christmas trees argument, how you decorate yours can considerably impact just how festive your home is. One of the most overlooked aspects of decoration is the ornaments. The choice is almost endless, from baubles and bells to teardrops and diamonds. If you're stuck for ideas, here's our guide to choosing the right ornaments for your Christmas tree.
Make the best of your backdrop
Whether you're pulling a faux fur from the attic or waiting for a pristine pine to be delivered, the first thing to do is look at your home décor. If you've been following the fashion trends to evoke that wintry cosiness, the chances are that you'll have added some texture to your living room in the form of throws and cushions. You might even have chosen to pepper your rooms with candles and use richer, deeper colours to suggest that cosiness that only comes with Christmas Day on the horizon. However, even if you haven't, taking stock of the colours and styles you've surrounded yourself with will help you decide what will be part of your party palette and what isn't.
How sharp is your edge?
Similarly, it's worth considering where your aesthetics lie. If your home has a modern and contemporary edge, Christmas ornaments with a more rustic feel will stick out like a sore thumb. Conversely, if your home is packed with comfortable, cottage-style furnishings, minimalist and sleek ornaments will look distinctly out of place. On top of that, you'll need to think about who will see your festive fir. If there are kids in the home, then you're likely to want to evoke something magical, traditional, and with all the appeal of Santa's grotto. However, if your tree is going to act as the centrepiece for grownup get-togethers and dinner parties, you should present something more sophisticated and modern.
Scheming with theming
With those thoughts rolling around, the next thing to consider is how you want to theme your tree. Christmas ornaments can significantly affect how yours looks and, consequently, set the tone for the entire home. A well-decorated tree not only acts as the focal point for your decorations, but its appearance can create a sense of unity for all the garlands, tinsel, glitter, and lighting you've put in every room. In essence, the tree itself is the blank canvas on which you'll paint. Well-chosen Christmas ornaments can enhance its silhouette profoundly, adding interest to its shape. And if you choose Christmas ornaments with reflective surfaces, you can even create a range of lighting effects.
Deciding on a theme can be tricky, but it can boil down to a few simple questions: who's going to see the tree, what atmosphere are you setting, what's your style and which colours do you have to play with? With these in mind, choosing Christmas ornaments becomes that much easier. If you're really stuck, take inspiration from the ubiquitous Christmas adverts, your favourite festive films, and even Christmas cards. If something appeals, use that as a springboard to choose those all-important dangling baubles.
Pick your palette
Colour-wise, certain ornaments conjure up certain feelings. If you want your decorations to give off that opulent, indulgent feeling that comes with Christmas, check out Christmas ornaments that use richer materials, such as those finished in gold and silver. Not only will these give your fairy lights something to bounce off, but there are a variety of shapes that can be explored. For a more luxurious look, diamond and teardrop-shaped ornaments suggest the feeling of icicles dripping down from the branches of your tree. However, with the stronger colours and the shimmer of silver and gold, there's also that intangible magic behind them.
Even if the temperature outside is climbing, you can still create the icy ambience associated with this time of year. Baubles and ornaments made from glass perfectly capture the crystalline beauty of frost and snow. Paired with colder-coloured tinsel, such as green and silver, you've got the chance to transport your friends and family to the sparkle and glitter of the North Pole.
Thinking outside the box
While modernism and traditionalism are the two primary options for Christmas ornaments, we also offer those that allow you to put your stamp on your Christmas tree. From checkerboard effects to stars and ornaments with elegant hourglass shapes, you can make your Christmas tree ornaments as eye-catching as you want. While these appeal to those who want to make the Big Day as bespoke as possible, it's still worth considering your domestic backdrop to ensure that, while the way you've chosen to decorate your tree reflects your personality and life choices, it's never gaudy or overbearing.
Playing with the light
The colours you choose will undoubtedly affect the way your tree comes across. However, the materials that ornaments will also have their say-so. Metallic ornaments add to the vivacity and magic of your festive focal point, helping to add a bright and colourful edge to the lights on your tree and in your room. For something softer, check out the CB2 range of glass ornaments. These not only reflect light from their surfaces but also gently diffuse light that shines through them, creating a soft and stylish atmosphere for those late-night chats and quiet Christmas evenings. Using glass offers a slightly Nordic edge to your surroundings, which is more suited to adults than those waiting for a visit from the Man in Red.
Whatever you're looking for and however you want to style your celebrations, check out our range of Christmas ornaments. With everything from the elegant and the outrageous to the cosy and the contemporary, we've got you – and your tree- covered.
