Modern Christmas Tree

So one of these days I’ll actually take photos of all the rooms of the house now that it’s mostly done (I still need to do some interior design stuff in the basement, etc.). That takes a lot more time than you’d think, tho, and means a major disruption in the room I’m shooting, so that may have to wait.

In the meantime, behold our Modern Christmas Tree (click on it for a full-screen image).

: I love the ceiling pattern. We had seen photos on the company’s website of the shadows it would cast, but in person it looks way cooler.

I’ve been eyeing one of these for a couple years, but had a hard time visualizing it in a house that wasn’t built yet. Then last year I was thinking of getting a 7 1/2-foot pink aluminum tree, because pink aluminum Christmas trees! But I have a commanding and orange chair right next to where it would be, and that would be too much even for me. Besides, I think I was looking for something that was more of a representational design, rather than a bright pink tree trying to be all nonchalant and whatnot.

I had forgotten where I’d seen that awesome tree beforehand, so I googled “modern Christmas tree” and that’s just what I got. It helps that the name of the company is Modern Christmas Tree. The backstory is pretty cool, and seeing it in the Stahl House kind of sealed the deal. We pre-ordered it last summer because it was cheaper than waiting until November when everyone else was thinking about Christmas trees. In October it came in all its flat-packed glory.

: Everything’s so shiny!

We bought it without any ornaments because the colors they offer weren’t quite what we needed. I spent over an hour in Walmart one fine October day trying to decide what color, size, and shape to get. It holds 162. I felt a little sheepish shopping for Christmas decorations before Halloween, but figured I was there, the ornaments were there, and I hate shopping last-minute for Christmas stuff. I found the color I was looking for, and almost the number. I got some fillers in white and silver just in case Walmart never restocked them. Well, they never did, so I’m glad I picked them up early. I even looked for ornaments at Hobby Lobby, who has a million or so, and didn’t find anything in aqua, but I did find those little orange gems.

We splurged and bought the Sputnik tree topper from Modern Christmas Tree, and I’m glad we did. It’s the perfect star for this tree.

We were a little afraid that installation would be difficult, but it took about as much time as it took to put up our traditional artificial tree, and we didn’t know what we were doing beforehand. The instructions were clear and easy to understand, and they sent us everything we needed, including plenty of extra chain length. Next year it will be a snap to put up because we don’t have to take off the protective film on the rings like this year, and the inconspicuous ceiling hook will already be there.

After we got the tree up, we kind of held our breath because it is so very different from a traditional tree, but it took us about two seconds to decide that it looks even better than we had hoped it would. We especially like the shadow pattern on the ceiling, and that it extends outside to the overhang in such a dramatic way.