There’s nothing more fun during the holidays than decorating the tree with the whole family, but you may want to make this year’s tree a bit more stylish. Instead of haphazardly placing ornaments all over its branches, check out these tips for decorating a truly chic and elegant holiday tree.

1. Real or artificial? First, you must decide if you want to invest in a real tree or stick with an artificial option. While a real tree is a bit more rustic and will make your house smell divine, an artificial tree is much easier to manage.
2. Choose a color scheme. One of the easiest ways to make your tree look more professional is by setting a color scheme. Reds and greens are always a great choice, but all-over gold or sparkling silver are also beautiful when accented by the twinkling lights.
3. Hang small lights first. To create a base for your tree’s decorations, first hang small, white lights evenly all over.
4. Add solid colored ball ornaments. Next, invest in multipacks of ball ornaments in your chosen color. Hang them all over the tree, leaving even amounts of space in between each one.
5. Add personal ornaments last. To display more personal or keepsake ornaments without them looking too cluttered, add them in the empty spaces once all of the other ornaments are already in place. Voila—the perfect holiday tree.

How to Decorate a Christmas Tree Elegantly [WikiHow]
15 Christmas Tree Decorating Ideas [HGTV]
How to Decorate a Christmas Tree [Better Homes & Gardens]

CC-BY-2.0/Flickr frankieleon