Recommend your artificial Christmas tree or the tree company

[aspentosh]

It's time for us to upgrade ours and I am overwhelmed.

I've heard mixed reviews on National Tree Company but some of theirs are my favorites based on photos. There's always places like Balsam Hill or Frontgate. I don't mind spending more now if it means we get another 10+ years out of a tree. 

Looking for 7-7.5'
Not necessarily full because we don't have 60+" of space for the diameter where we want the tree.
Don't care if it's lit or not.

My biggest want is as lifelike as possible. This is a current favorite:

 
Does anyone have a tree that matches that long ass list of desires or feedback on something similar? Even just your experience with a company or tree type that you'd recommend or stay away from would be great. TIA!

[mpm]

Back in November we bought the one that Chris Loves Julia has (https://www.chrislovesjulia.com/artificial-christmas-trees/) and I looooove it. The shape is perfect, it’s not too big, and it’s not too fake-looking.

[RoxMonster]

We bought ours from Menard’s about 6 years ago and it still looks great. It is not pre-lit because I wanted to use the vintage looking big C9 colored lights. Is full looking without being too much in terms of diameter.

[quesyrah]

We have two King of Christmas trees and I’m very happy with them

[Roc A Bee]

I got a King of Christmas tree this year, and it is the best tree I’ve ever had. It is so beautiful, my whole family has asked that it stay up at least another week. And it was very easy to decorate. Mine is 7.5ft prelit and flocked.

[dcrunnergirl52]

We got this tree from National Tree Company this year (Black Friday deal for like 65% off), and it's very pretty but definitely doesn't look as full in person as it does in the Amazon pics.

www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00MS7V15G/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&th=1

Here's a photo of ours decorated. You can't tell in the dark that it's not as full but in regular light, you can still kind of see straight through to the pole in some spots.

[tacokick]

We got a deal on one from Balsam Hill a few years ago. It’s held up great. I don’t like the pre-lit ones at all and they had a lot of “classic” tree selections.

[eport]

I recommend the National Tree Company. They are on Amazon so prime eligible. Good quality and price. Lots of variety too.

Sent from my SM-G965U using proboards

[stemmie]

I got one from Costco.

My mom got one first. It was damaged. I texted customer service and they replaced the middle section of the tree within days. I have the 7 1/2' prelit as my main tree and 2 smaller 4' trees for my dining room and office.

[suburbanzookeeper]

I have a Twinkly which is LED programmable and does all sorts of other fun stuff that we bought in 2019. On our short list was National Tree Company & unlit Balsam Hill trees (they seem to really have issues with lighting 2-3+ years later). Honestly though, Home Depot had a ton of new trees this year that were super realistic. It may be worth waiting until next October if you don't go the BH route.

[brooklyn]

We have a pre-lit Balsam Hill one. On year 3 with it and still happy.

[redheadbaker]

Dec 27, 2022 19:12:34 GMT -5 aspentosh said:

It's time for us to upgrade ours

I'm glad you posted this. It's is only two years old, but it's very sparse. I'm checking out the recommendations you got!

[waverly]

I just got mine at Target after Christmas so it was on sale. I didn't want pre-lit and I wanted a green tree as opposed to other colors. So I just picked the tree in the size, look and price that I wanted. It is still going strong 5 years later.  At the time, they had them on display, so I could check the sparseness/ size/ look before purchasing.  

[aspentosh]

Dec 28, 2022 11:48:08 GMT -5 brooklyn said:

We have a pre-lit Balsam Hill one. On year 3 with it and still happy.

Do you remember what type of tree? Fraiser Fir? Noble Fir? Other? lol

[aspentosh]

Dec 28, 2022 11:55:13 GMT -5 redheadbaker said:

Dec 27, 2022 19:12:34 GMT -5 aspentosh said:

It's time for us to upgrade ours

I'm glad you posted this. It's is only two years old, but it's very sparse. I'm checking out the recommendations you got!

We actually have my sister's old one from Frontgate (obviously $$$) and it's probably 15-20 years old, but it's only 6' and has seen better days. I think we'll actually use it for a themed tree and then a new one for all the regular ornaments. I hope you find one you like in the recs!

[msmerymac]

I got mine from Balsam Hill with a 40% discount in august/September 2019. My mom just got one this year. TOTALLY worth it.

[expectantsteelerfan]

I bought 2 trees last year, and I hemmed and hawed over the decision a ton. I considered balsam hill for a while, but I decided I wanted to see trees in person, so I ended up going all over to any store that sold them in my area and picking them in person. I got one 7.5 tree from Michaels that is a Twinkly tree (with the lights you can control with the app) and my kids LOVE playing with the lights, pretty sure it is this one but Gen 1:https://www.michaels.com/7.5ft-pre-lit-laurel-pine-artificial-christmas-tree-multicolor-twinkly-led-lights-by-ashland/10643169.html?r=g&cm_mmc=PLASearch-_-google-_-MICH_Shopping_US_N_Seasonal+Christmas+Trees_N_PMAX_BOPIS_N-_-&Kenshoo_ida=&kpid=go_cmp-18514200134_adg-_ad-__dev-c_ext-_prd-10643169&gclid=CjwKCAiA76-dBhByEiwAA0_s9fLmspLye-ts9B0zdy9pHA_Ij0cR87oNDMp52iqllJBgj45S7Y4MqxoC2TAQAvD_BwE

We are happy with it despite the fact that it has lost some branch tips...it still looks really full.

The 2nd was a 9 ft. tree I got from At Home. I'm not as happy with that one, but it might be because I let my son put it up for me this year, and he didn't 'fluff' it much as he put it up, and I didn't have the patience to go through and fluff it entirely later (I did some as I decorated it but not like each branch as I would have if I was putting it up), so it looks more sparse than I would like so I won't rec that one.

I wish everyone would post pics of their trees in this thread! I can never tell if what I think of as 'sparse' or 'full' is the same as what other people think of as those things.

[gummy]

We bought this one and I'm very happy with it. It's only 40 inches in diameter. Assembly is easy.

www.kingofchristmas.com/products/7-5-foot-king-fraser-fir-slim-tree-led

[tiki]

We bought a 7' high, 58" diameter prelit Biltmore spruce from balsam hill in 2019. It's been great and looks very realistic, though we have 6 more years to go before we break even on cost compared with buying a live tree each holiday season.

Another thing to note is that most artificial trees (even expensive ones) are more sparse than a live tree. If you don't want to be able to see the trunk, buy the bushiest thing you can get. 


 

[aspentosh]

Dec 28, 2022 20:50:20 GMT -5 expectantsteelerfan said:

I wish everyone would post pics of their trees in this thread! I can never tell if what I think of as 'sparse' or 'full' is the same as what other people think of as those things.

This is my dream  

I know a lot of these require fluffing (some reviews I've read say 2 hours initially!) but if it means full and lush looking, I'm cool with that. 

This is our current one, and while it's full enough that I don't see the center pole, it's far from realistic. And it's photographic evidence of why we need a bigger tree 

[Velar Fricative]

Not sure if it’s a regional store or not, but we just got our new one at Fortunoff.

[icedcoffee]

Dec 29, 2022 12:05:59 GMT -5 Velar Fricative said:

Not sure if it’s a regional store or not, but we just got our new one at Fortunoff.

Fortunoff!!!  Tell me you're from the TriState area without telling me!  I haven't heard that name in years!

[Velar Fricative]

Dec 29, 2022 13:55:57 GMT -5 icedcoffee said:

Dec 29, 2022 12:05:59 GMT -5 Velar Fricative said:

Not sure if it’s a regional store or not, but we just got our new one at Fortunoff.

Fortunoff!!!  Tell me you're from the TriState area without telling me!  I haven't heard that name in years!

Guess that confirmed my hunch, lol!

[icedcoffee]

I bought one from the National Tree Company (7' North Valley Spruce Hinged Tree) for $84 from Macy's a couple years ago (post Xmas sale). It's great! I won't post a picture because we were lazy this year and it's kind of a mess, but that's just because I didn't fluff/half the lights went out/we had covid and gave up. If you put some time into fluffing it up it looks great.

We got without lights so that it lasts longer. For $84 we basically save money after using it for 2 years.

[tela]

Dec 28, 2022 14:54:48 GMT -5 aspentosh said:

Dec 28, 2022 11:48:08 GMT -5 brooklyn said:

We have a pre-lit Balsam Hill one. On year 3 with it and still happy.

Do you remember what type of tree? Fraiser Fir? Noble Fir? Other? lol

We got the BH Fraser Fir, 7.5 ft unlit earlier this month.  It was $$$ and a lot of work to fluff, but imho completely worth it.  It is the most realistic fake tree I have ever seen and got so many compliments.