We'd all love a 15ft Christmas tree straight from a Scandinavian forest with lush, emerald pine needles and branches as thick as a giant's arm. Festive perfection in theory, but in reality? Not practical. For one, shipping a real Christmas tree directly from a Norwegian forest is going to set you back a few quid and frankly that's money that would be better spent on food or a new Christmas jumper. Secondly, pine needles get absolutely everywhere. And thirdly, who's got a 15ft high ceiling?
For most of us, too much stuff and not enough space means that a gargantuan storybook spruce is something that we have neither the need nor desire for. Even if you do have a cavernous hallway big enough to accommodate a small forest, there must be some compact corners of your house crying out for a bit of festive cheer. To that end, we've scoured the net to bring together the ten best DIY space-saving solutions for fitting alternative Christmas trees into small spaces.
1. The Logs and Fairy Lights Christmas Tree
For a real rustic-themed Christmas, you can't go far wrong with some natural lengths of wood and a string of Christmas tree lights. Tack the slim logs to the wall using small pins or picture hooks, then add a few springs of foliage and a string of Christmas lights to complete the look. Make sure you're using LED fairy lights rather than traditional filament bulbs - this will eliminate any fire risks and will make sure your wall doesn't end up with any scorch marks.
2. The Logs and Baubles Christmas Tree
As above, but perfectly suited to areas where there's no power socket. Whether you layer your logs parallel to one another as in the first image or angle them to create a tree outline as in image #2, this rustic space-saving DIY Christmas decor idea will suit almost any design scheme. If you did want to add some sparkle to a socketless corner of the room, you could always use a length of battery operated Christmas lights.
3. The Fairy Light Outline Tree
No logs this time - just a simple string of warm white Christmas lights and a few picture hooks. You can really get creative with the shape of this alternative Christmas tree too - you could even use a few strings of lights and create a little family of trees side-by-side. For a more modern effect, just switch the warm white lights for some bright white LEDs, and consider a green or black cable if you plan to display your fairy light tree on a dark wall.