The Best Christmas Trees, Lights, & Holiday Decorations: a house log

Over the last 17 years, we have decorated a whole bunch of houses for the holidays and it means that we have go-to methods and items when it comes to decking the halls. And why is finding the best Christmas tree lights so hard?! The point is, we have tried a ton of holiday decorations, and this post is your one-stop shop for photos, ideas, info, and links to our go-to things – from the faux Christmas trees that we like best to our go-to outdoor lights (if you ask John’s special eyes, there is certainly a correct temperature).

In this post we will cover all of our go-to:

• Artificial Christmas Trees
• Outdoor Faux Evergreen Trees
• Real Holiday Greenery
• Christmas Lights & Light Timers
• Tabletop Holiday Decorations
• Other Holiday Decor Items

Wherever possible, we have linked to the actual items we have purchased. But since holiday decorations frequently go out of stock or are seasonal, we have done our best to link similar items whenever the original one is not available.

Our Go-to Artificial Christmas Trees

In our current smaller home, we enjoy this tree because it is not too wide or tall or overwhelming – its 6.5 foot height and narrower base easily tucks into various corners and nooks. Here is a 6.5′ prelit Christmas tree that is extremely similar to ours (and quite well-rated) since ours is no longer sold. We like to put our tree into this wicker storage ottoman, which is sold out right now but this basket would give you the same look. A woven tree collar is another way to add texture.

This is our same 6.5′ Christmas tree below, in another spot in our house (here is the most similar tree that is right now sold). It truly does slip into nearly any nook or corner thanks to being narrower at the base. The spot below makes it perfectly framed by our glass front door from the street, and we can enjoy it from the downstairs hangout area, the kitchen, and even the door to our bedroom.

This is the 7.5′ artificial Christmas tree we used for MANY years in our previous larger home. Even after the pre-lit light strands burnt out after a few years, we rewrapped it with our own lights because we enjoyed how full and real it looked.

This might forever go down as the most real-looking tree we have ever owned. People would literally touch it because once it was decorated and lit it looked so convincingly real. It is a whole foot taller and a few feet wider than the narrower tree we shared first. It is strong for a more grand space where you have room for a wider, larger tree. Also, we are large fans of draping a few faux sheepskin rugs around the base for a cozy feeling.

This is the 6.5ft “Charlie Brown” tree we used in our pink beach house for a charming little tree that was pleasant and compact to store. Like the first tree we shared, it is not too wide at the base, so it can slip into most spaces, and the spaced-out branches truly showcase your ornaments or a fairly little garland.

Here is a similar tree if that is out of stock (or you are looking to save $100). And once again we brought in a faux sheepskin rug at the base to crank up the cozy-factor.

Here is a similar 3ft tabletop tree like the one we used in our bonus room with a faux sheepskin rug around the bottom. We enjoyed filling that one with sweet little felt ornaments and of course, bacon ornaments (as one does). This is a truly strong tree for a more casual family room or bonus room, or even a kids room if they’d enjoy one for their own room.

And lastly, this is the Christmas tree storage bag we used for storing our larger tree in our last home’s attic. Held up so well, and the handles are so much easier than trying to bring tree-in-a-box up and down the attic stairs.

Our Go-to Outdoor Faux Evergreen Trees

Here are a few zero-maintenance items you can enjoy year-round. We are big fans of these straightforward additions – and they can look SO FESTIVE for the holidays. This is the exact set of outdoor faux trees that we used on our front porch in big plastic pots (here are similar lightweight planters). We spray-painted them copper and I am still crazy about how strong they looked. Adding these warm white LED Christmas lights to your potted trees (and/or garland) truly makes them glow.

These are the exact smaller faux evergreen trees that we used at the duplex and the beach house year round – they are strong for the holidays and also look so real for everyday life. No need to add lights – but they are certainly cute if you add those like we did to the larger faux trees above (here are our go-to LED Chistmas lights).

Our Go-to Real Holiday Greenery

Sometimes there is simply nothing like the real thing – so here are three places that we have enjoyed adding real greenery over the holidays. In Richmond every winter I did a wreath-making event with friends & family and the giant magnolia wreaths that I made every year lasted a good month or two. Here is a similar fresh wreath that is sent right to your door.

We also enjoy the fresh garlands that Trader Joe’s sells (I think Costco has them too). Simply a few nails on the top corners of the window trim are sufficient to hold a long stretch of it over the kitchen sink or a large living room window. You can also have ones like this live garland delivered.

We have also enjoyed various real tabletop trees, both in previous houses and this one. The photo below is a little one that we picked up locally here (you can also get similar live tabletop trees delivered).

Our kids have lively covering small trees with felt/handmade ornaments like this cute set. A fairly pot for it is all you need (this one is truly cute).

Our Go-to Christmas Lights & Light Timers

When in doubt… add string lights! And when lazy, add timers for no-effort holiday glow.

The only kind of string lights we use both indoors and outdoors are WARM WHITE. Any other white will not give you that cozy glow. LEDs have been slow to catch up to traditional bulbs, but we have at last been making the transition to these warm white LED Christmas lights and they are STRONG. In fact, when some of the string lights in our tree were out this year, we cut them off and brought in these lights instead. They’ll last a lot longer, have some excellent twinkle settings, and also come in a multicolor version if you prefer that for your tree. And they are indoor/outdoor, so they truly do it all.

We have also used battery-operated LED fairy lights as a especially affordable way to add holiday glow to mantles, garlands, and even vases (like the fairly glowing one you see below – it takes simply a second and looks so festive!). They also make solar-powered fairy lights for outdoor use that come on automatically at sundown.

These battery-operated LED faux candles are a strong flameless candle option and are remote-controlled! We have used them in our DIYed fireplace for a cozy holiday glow.

For inside lights, we use these compact smart plugs to turn our trees on & off without having to bend over and squeeze behind the tree to find the plug. They respond to voice controls (“Alexa, turn off the Christmas tree”) and we can also add them to our existing Alexa routines so they go off with the rest of our lights each night.

Also, in case the idea of installing a smart plug sounds intimidating, we made a video of the whole process! It is straightforward and you can do it right from your phone:

Note: You can also watch this video on YouTube

We also use this plain outdoor timer for straightforward set-and-forget control of our holiday lights. It has two outlets, multiple settings, and even comes with a remote if you want to override their programmed on and off times. We also own this smart outdoor timer for our year-round patio lights, so it is a strong option if you want even more on-demand control of them.

Our Go-to Tabletop Holiday Decorations

Some of my go-to things to come out of our holiday storage closet every year are the tabletop touches. I do not think I have ever met a feather tree (or a bottle brush tree, or a mercury glass tree) that I did not instantly enjoy.

We own a PLETHORA of feather trees like the one on the top level of the photo above. And I enjoy mixing those with bottlebrush trees and light-up mercury glass trees. More lately we have brought in small wooden pink trees like these to the mix too.

I also enjoy a dough bowl full of shiny ornaments – you can make it straightforward with inexpensive shatterproof ornaments or get fancy with striking glass ornaments like these. It is so plain (we literally store it this way, with these ornaments in it) to pull out and place on a console table, media cabinet, or in the middle of the kitchen table.

We purchased this striking Menorah to celebrate my dad’s side of the family each holiday season. I grew up in a house with a tree and a Menorah for my whole childhood and enjoy the tradition of lighting the candles with the kids.

These red reindeer still make me smile. We simply took low-cost cardboard deer from the craft store (these are similar)and spray painted them glossy bright red.

Another sweet and straightforward way to add some holiday charm to any kitchen is a cute little decorative plate with something that feels holiday-themed simply leaning against the wall, on a shelf, or above the stove. Car with a tree on it? Sign me up. Here are some similar vintage plates and these gingerbread plates would be adorable too!

Never underestimate the power of a bowl of ornaments and clippings from an evergreen tree outside (free decor, baby). I also enjoy to use things you have year-round, like adding a holiday message to a letterboard like this.

The most recent addition to our tabletop brigade of things that make me so glad are these iridescent trees from the dollar spot at Target (not available online or I’d link them). I own 14 of them, and… no regrets! Here are some similar iridescent trees from Amazon or you can find the actual Target ones on eBay!

Other Go-to Holiday Decor Items

Sometimes things defy categories, so here are a few miscellaneous holiday items we enjoy that did not fit into the sections above. This wreath that we got many years ago at Target is truly realistic looking! It still lives on at the beach house (looks strong and did not fade!). They do not sell the exact one anymore, but this faux spruce wreath looks especially realistic and this holiday wreath with oranges is quite cute.

I am certainly a fan of stockings that look cozy sufficient to take a nap in (if you were in a Honey-I-Shrunk-The-Kids situation). So here are two options that have a similar look: 1) these adorable knitted stockings with tassels & bits of metallic gleam, 2) these white cable knit stockings. Oh and I brought in those elephant chains to each of them myself (mine are about 10 years old but these elephants are so similar!).

I briefly mentioned that we slip our tree into an ottoman for a charming textured look, but since that ottoman is not right now available, this woven tree collar will give you a similar woven look.

And last but certainly not least, perhaps my go-to mom-pun of all time: BOOTS WITH THE FIR! All it takes is some rubber rain boots + some faux branches (or real branches from a nearby pine tree!). Such a charming porch addition to literally any front stoop or porch.

Now if you will excuse me, I have to go put on my apple-bottom jeans and laugh for the next 10-12 minutes at my own joke.

Wait but before I go, we continue to receive questions about when our gift guides will be out, but they are already out! Here is our 2023 gift guide post with nearly 70 ideas for you, some as low as $3!

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