It’s cute when the Peanuts character Linus has a tiny, nearly dead branch as his wee Christmas tree. But even when you live in a small space, you can do lots better than that.
Here are six ideas that will make an apartment, bedroom or vacation Airbnb merrier. They’re small in stature but big on holiday cheer:
Tinsel tabletop tree
This 40-inch tabletop tree inspired Southern Living’s small-scale Christmas decorators. It has narrow tinsel branches that offer so much shine you may be able to do without lights. And it won’t shed tinsel all over your living space.
Southern Living used pink, matte finish ornaments to decorate, and emphasized the need for gifts wrapped in iridescent paper and a small, silver metallic star on top to pull the look together.
Lemon tree on a foam cone
Reminiscent of Colonial Williamsburg Christmas designs, a citrus cone will beautify an apartment, sunroom or patio as a focal point of your small space holiday decor.
Here are the instructions, adapted from Southern Living:
Materials: 5 2-pound bags of lemons, 24-inch plastic foam cone, florist’s picks, sprigs of seasonal greenery like holly, cypress or rosemary, reindeer moss, several yards of wide ribbon
Instructions: Attach the lemons to the cone using one florist’s pick per piece of fruit. Start at the bottom, spacing the lemons an inch apart and creating a diagonal spiral that encircles the cone to the top, leaving an inch between the diagonal rows.
Jab the sprigs of greenery into the cone to fill the spaces between the lemons.
Set the cone on a tray or inside a shallow, decorative bowl. Fill in the space at the base with more citrus fruit and reindeer moss.
Cut four or five pieces of ribbon about 2 feet long each. Use a florist pin to attach them from the top of the arrangement and let them trail down the side, like a maypole. Affix one more lemon to the top.
Accordion paper trees
For the apartment dweller who also favors minimalist decor, these paper ornaments cut and folded by hand will fit in perfectly.
A favorite of Martha Stewart, they’re natural and simple — and set up in a matter of minutes. Should you get a larger tree later, these paper versions store readily, and can be repurposed as centerpieces or mantel decorations.
Lighted birch twig tree with fairy lights
This sparce, sparkly tree from LitBloom is like Linus all over again, only cheery from the start. Just 4 feet tall and made of plastic, it has 200 warm white LED lights. It’s also super safe — waterproof, with low output voltage.
The twig tree will glow in a corner and has plenty of space for presents at the base, but no need for ornaments, unless you just want to. Best of all, after Christmas, you can transport it to the patio to liven up summer festivities.
If you enjoy the indoor/outdoor concept and the LED lights but also want some (faux) greenery, check out the 4-foot Olive Tree option.
Scandi-inspired Tannenbaum acacia wood ornament trees
The minimalist tree is made of acacia wood and iron and features a star at the top, branches you can reposition and a finish that wipes clean with a microfiber cloth. The branch ends are narrow enough to drape ornaments from, or just take it easy this year and let the beauty of the natural wood be enough.
The Tannenbaum 60″ Wood Christmas Tree is available in two sizes, 25 inches and 17 inches, and is a Crate and Barrel exclusive.
Potted frostproof gardenia
Hankering for a live tiny tree you can overwinter and then start growing outside in Georgia in the spring?
Potted gardenia shrubs are evergreens with deep green foliage and upright branches that aren’t too delicate for a few light ornaments, delicate bows, and perhaps a string or two of twinkling fairy lights.
They probably won’t bloom during the winter indoors, but you can dismantle the decorations for January-March and then take the pots out to grow starting in April.
Make the look rustic with a galvanized pail as the base, or more glamorous set in a silver or glass bucket. ‘Frostproof’ is a cold-hardy perennial gardenia available in 2.5-quart containers from Amazon.
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