We style Christmas trees for busy mums as a living. Here are 6 mistakes you're making.
"Kids call us the ‘Christmas Tree Fairies’ when we arrive."
If you’ve ever stared at your Christmas tree and wondered ‘what is missing?’, but can’t put your finger on it – a colour problem, more fluffing, a missing bow?
Two Sydney mums can help you with the decision fatigue.
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Dom and Renee love Christmas decorating so much, they turned it into a job.
The best friends of 20 years, with backgrounds in design and marketing, have been helping their extended families spruce up Christmas trees for years.
In 2021, they had a lightbulb moment.
“We realised we could help people give their trees a magical 'glow up' - even if they lacked time, creativity, or confidence to do it themselves,” Renee says.
“I called up Dom and said, ‘we’re starting a business giving Christmas trees a makeover’.
Seeing their loved ones so grateful – they knew there would be more families wanting help with the Christmas morning showpiece.
“After sharing photos of a tree we styled for Renee’s mum, friends began asking us to shop and style their trees,” Dom says.
“That’s when we knew we were onto something more than making ‘Instagrammable’ trees - we were helping families create something beautiful using what they had.”
Four years ago, the friends started Blitz My Tree.
Most of their clients are time-poor mums, who use Renee and Dom to style the decorations they already own, or source new ones to makeover their tree.
“Clients usually send us a photo or video of their tree with some inspiration images. We take it from there - saving time, removing stress, and delivering the dream tree they’ve always wanted,” Dom says.
The mums install the entire tree and even do the bit we all hate - packing it away.
The positive feedback has been self-affirming.
“We often see tears - happy ones. And we cry with them. It’s like gifting them a piece of art for their home,” Renee says.
“We’ve become part of the Christmas tradition for so many Sydney families. Kids call us the ‘Christmas Tree Fairies’ when we arrive.
“One client with four kids sighs with relief when she opens the door. That consistent feedback confirmed what we suspected - the demand is there.”
Renee and Dom also assist businesses like salons and patisseries with setups and decorate the Westmead Children’s Hospital in the Starlight Room ever year.
“Seeing the joy, it brings to families going through such tough times is incredibly rewarding,” Dom says. “It’s cliché, but we honestly forget we’re working sometimes.”
Even though it’s October, if you look around the shops, Christmas is already here.
If you don’t feel ready (don’t we all), Renee and Dom have tips to help you nail your tree this year.
Their best tips for decorating are:
- Wire your decorations: Don’t use the original strings. Wire helps you control placement and adds a polished look.
- More lights = more sparkle: You can never have too many.
- Swap single-string tinsel for fuller more natural-looking garlands.
- Choose cohesive colours with a clear theme – rather than clashing colour combos.
The biggest mistakes people make:
- Wrong tree shape or size: Not all trees suit every styling. The wrong tree can make decorating harder.
- No pre-lit tree: A pre-lit tree saves so much time (and sanity).
- Avoiding ribbon and picks. These are your secret weapons for filling gaps and adding that wow factor.
- Forgetting to style the base of the tree.
- Hanging decorations on the ends of tree branches – always try and layer the decorations deeper into the tree than outwards to the ends.
- Not adding different texture, shapes and colours. Think about balance, too many of one colour or shape in one area can throw off the whole look
Some trends Renee and Dom are loving are monochrome trees with heavy texture, “think all-white or all gold bought to life with materials like, glass, velvet and feathers”.
Red and pink is another popular combination, a playful twist on the classic red and green, and a theme Kmart has leaned heavily into this year.
Other whimsical themes like Candyland or woodland are “imaginative looks for the young and young at heart”.
Their final piece of advice is to add sentiment to styling.
“Christmas is personal, shaped by your memories, culture and traditions. Trends may shift, but if something brings you joy or meaning, it’s never truly out,” Renee says.
“Let go of what no longer fits but hold onto what makes it yours.”
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Originally published as We style Christmas trees for busy mums as a living. Here are 6 mistakes you're making.
