If you're anything like me — chronically on Pinterest and someone who starts planning how you're going to decorate your tree in July — you might have noticed something about some of the Christmas trees in the White House this year.
Yes, every year the White House unveils its Christmas trees at the start of December, traditionally orchestrated by the First Lady. In Donald Trump's time in office, it's fair to say Melania has come under scrutiny for her choices — does anyone remember the blood red Christmas tree forest that looked like something out of a horror movie?
But among the somewhat dubious Christmas decorating ideas on display across the many rooms of the White House this year (the blue butterflies exploding out of the tree in the Red Room is a particularly jarring color palette), I spotted something a little familiar in another space.
The trees in the Cross Hall, pictured, are reminiscent of a now iconic Christmas tree, that's been pinned to my decorating board for a good few years now. Having been pinned over 45,000 times (and that's just one version of it), it's one of those designs that's been often replicated on social media, but never quite as brilliantly as the original.
The original tree, with its clusters of red decorations and branch candles, was actually in the lobby of the NoMad Hotel in London back in 2022, but quickly became a bit of an online phenomenon for its clustered approach to decorations and romantic Christmas lighting hack of placing bunches of tree candles together.
Melania's trees for the Cross Hall, though not executed exactly the same, do show some signs that this may have been the inspiration, with deep red decorations clustered on the tree, and candles placed a little more sporadically around. Listen, I'm not saying it's a good recreation, and it's definitely not a carbon copy, but it was the first thing I thought of when I first saw this particular White House Christmas tree idea for this year.
The NoMad tree is still, in my mind, a thing of beauty, but there are perhaps a few lessons in the Trumps' take on it to learn from if you want to do something similar, without completely recreating it.
I like, for example, on Melania's Christmas trees that there's more variety of texture and shape than the original one, introducing bows and florals into the clusters. However, the way they're applied to the tree feels too random, and not clustered enough. Looking at the two trees flanking the doors of the Cross Hall, I can't quite figure out the rhyme or reason to it. While the original tree wasn't symmetrical, it felt like it had purpose in the positions of the ornaments in a way that these trees don't.
The same is true of the application of the branch candles. For a different take, I like that they're less clustered than the original, but I'm also slightly dubious about the haphazard placement.
If you want to still give it a go this year, here's what you'll likely need:
A few boxes of these flocked burgundy baubles, that helpfully come in different sizes, will help you build up a clustered look.
Clip on candles used to be quite pricey, but this set lets you buy bulk to get that more dramatic look.
Bundles of pinecones add more volume to the NoMad tree, without distracting from the color scheme.
There's something we're noticing a lot in how people are decorating their trees this year — decorations are feeling a little more sparse, a little more relaxed in how they're applied. Just take a look at Victoria Beckham's Christmas tree if you don't believe me.
