Where in the home to position your Christmas tree

The origins of bringing a tree inside the home for Christmas

The Christmas tree has been a symbolic focal point for many years. It's thought the Germans were the first to bring it into the home. Other Northern European territories would hang them upside down from the rafters.

Think about what you want from your tree

If you simply want your Christmas tree to be for decoration purposes only, ensure it’s in a room you spend a lot of time in, so that you get a lot of opportunities to look at it.

However, if you actually use your Christmas tree to place presents under and sit around opening them on the big day, then you should think about positioning it in a room with plenty of space, as opposed to squeezing it into a corner.

Practical factors

There are also a few practical factors to think about when choosing where to position your Christmas tree. If you want to put lights on the tree, you’ll need to make sure there is a plug socket near-by, or you will need to purchase an extension cable. You need to ensure you don’t create any trip hazards and don’t plug extension cables into other extensions as you may overload the electric supply, resulting in loss of electric in the home or worse, a potential fire.

If you place the tree near a door-way, be sure to test you can still open the door and you don’t have to squeeze through. This wouldn’t be too fun after eating too many mince pies!

Try to avoid placing your Christmas tree in front of a radiator or fireplace. Not only will this block out some heat from your home, but if you have a real tree, it will actually dry it out quicker. A cooler area, such as by a window, is most suitable for a real tree, and this will also show it off to your neighbours, for some friendly festive competition.

If you decide to opt for a real tree, then it’s worth thinking about the flooring in the room you wish to place it. Needles from the tree will drop, and this might turn your focal point into an ongoing needle drop battle.

Protecting your Christmas tree from pets and toddlers

If you’ve put lots of time and effort into making your Christmas tree look as nice as possible, the worry of it being pulled down by pets or toddlers is the last thing you want.

To avoid this issue, you could place the tree in a room where pets aren’t allowed. If this isn’t feasible, then be sure to place it away from furniture, so your furry friends aren’t able to climb up and jump on to the tree.

You could position your tree by a wall and secure it in position with string or ribbon and a nail. This will make it both pet and toddler proof!

Test it out first

If you are still feeling particularly indecisive about where to place your Christmas tree, then why not test it out? IKEA’s augmented reality app allows you to choose from a selection of trees and see what they would look like in different areas of your home.