Every so often, someone comes in and tries to shake up our Christmas traditions. A few years ago, inverted trees were all the rage, and last season it seemed like everyone littered their trees with stuffed woodland creatures like foxes and bears. This year, trendy people are dressing up the old tannenbaum in a way that I did not see coming. Black Christmas trees are the new trend, and honestly, I can't hate them, even if I really wanted to.
With the rising costs of fresh Christmas trees (thanks to a shortage, as the Sun-Sentinel reported) and the general hassle of dealing with all of the watering and cleaning up associated with the tradition, more families than ever are choosing to buy artificial trees over their pricey counterparts. Since the fake tree boom, manufacturers have been responding to the demand by getting creative with cut, style, color, and design of the tree. Front and center are the shocking black Christmas trees that are now flooding your Twitter and Instagram feeds with their gothy-moody boughs and captivating golden glow (when illuminated with white LED lights, that is).
While there are plenty of detractors decrying their validity in the Christmas tradition, most of the reception has been pretty positive. In fact, my local Home Depot was completely sold out of the black beauties.
Honestly, I wanted to hate these. I wanted to be the naysayer who whines about how "flocked is fine, but black is a no." And I find that I can not do that. I actually kind of like the inky look of the trees. They're nothing like the cotton-candy colored confections popular a few years ago that I loathed so deeply. There's something beautiful about the way the black tree makes the ornaments pop. And, oddly enough, unlike the pink, or even white trees, the black trees end up looking like a bolder version of the original, which is usually pretty dark to begin with, unless you are partial to a blue spruce.
There are currently almost 10,000 posts about black Christmas trees on Instagram, and I don't see the trend slowing down any time soon. Especially not when you have popular YouTube designers like Karin Bohn showcasing their unique beauty on their channels.
That's not to say there's not decorating challenges. When you take such a leap into the avant garde, there definitely will be. You'll need to step back and take a look at your design scheme as a whole and determine what will and won't work on your new, darker model.
My family and I just bought a new Christmas tree in the beginning of November, but having seen these, I'm kind of bummed I didn't buy a stark black tree. My living room is decorated in shades of black, white, and gray, and all of my Christmas decorations follow suit, but with hints of bold red. Think Beetlejuice, but with more yuletide cheer. The black tree would've worked perfectly with that theme.
I also think this tree would be a stunner with a shiny tree collar as opposed to the traditional skirt. Because, if you're going to go all the way with a black tree, you will need to dress it differently than you ever have before.
This trend isn't for everyone. For many of us, a Christmas tree means the fresh smell of pine, the sticky drops of sap, and the thrill of picking it out each year. That's wonderful, and I imagine it's a heartwarming tradition. As for me and my aversion to needles dropping and my love of all things a little out there, the fact that black Christmas trees are the new trend is something to embrace. It changes things up a bit just as they were getting stale, and I think that can be incredibly fun. Though, it does make you wonder what they'll come up with next.
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