HOW TO DECORATE AN OMBRÉ CHRISTMAS TREE
Ombré tree styled with Hello Flora, photography David Cole
An ombré Christmas tree is a great way to make a statement. It’s unusual and stylish, and relatively simple to achieve.
Get the look
To decorate an ombré tree you need to make sure you have a selection of decorations that flow tonally into one another. These can be pastels, brights, muted or monochrome. If you don’t have enough in-between tones your tree will look blocky, and we’re after a blended effect.
It’s totally up to you how many colours you wish to blend. It can be as simple as blending just one colour into another. But if you would like to replicate our floral ombré tree, here is the palette to copy.
Our ombré tree palette.
what you’ll need
For this ombre tree we used a few baubles, but mainly focused on faux flowers and foliage.
But you could also go super simple with this tree and just focus on different coloured baubles. Or you can mix in other decorations such as ornaments, bows, stars, garlands and omit the floral element.
Preparing to decorate
For this look preparation is key. Start by laying out all your decorations on the floor or a large table in a way that flows from one colour to the next. Keep moving decorations around until you’re really happy with the flow. Don’t skip this step.
decorate
Now you can start to decorate, start at the bottom of your tree and work your way up, or vice versa.
There is a certain amount of judgment regarding the distribution of your decorations that comes with experience. Try not to worry too much - play and have fun! The more you play the better your eye will get.
Because we wanted this ombré tree to feel natural and a little wild we blended to the side and upwards, but if you’re just starting out you can just blend vertically or horizontally.
faux Floral tips
If you decide you’d like to add faux flowers to your tree, the good news is they are really simple to style.
The flower stems sit on top of the tree branches, and will usually stay in place. If you are worried they might fall out, you can either wrap the stem around the branch, or attach it with a small piece of green wire.
If the stem is too long, you can either cut it to length with wire cutters, or bend it to length so the excess is hidden inside the tree alongside the trunk.
The only thing to take into consideration is that faux flowers can be an expensive investment, especially if you buy single stems. I’d consider trying to visit a flower market like New Covent Garden and see if you can buy wholesale boxes to save some money.
love christmas trees?
Find out more about my masterclass How to Style Your Christmas Tree Like a Pro, and learn the art of joyful decorating for the festive season.
