Should You Decorate The Back Of Your Christmas Tree? HGTV's Jenn Todryk Settles The Debate

Every year, we decide whether to decorate the entire tree or solely the front side that will be seen the most. It's a debate that happens in countless homes. Some folks enjoy decorating their entire tree, while others don't see a point in decorating the back, where only a wall will enjoy the view. Even though you'll decorate your Christmas tree however you want to, it's sometimes helpful to know what the professionals think. Home renovation expert and host of HGTV's "No Demo Reno" Jenn Todryk took matters into her own hands and posted a reel on Instagram, revealing her stance on the Christmas tree decorating debacle. Her caption stated, "Hello, it's me – the back of the tree," and the camera panned over a beautifully decorated tree to the back side, where it was sans decor. 

Decorating a Christmas tree takes time to accomplish. There's a lot of planning before the actual decorating because you don't want to over- or under-decorate your tree; finding a happy medium is vital. For instance, you have to decide on a color scheme and style of ornaments plus choose whether there will be ribbons with string lights. Once the planning is done, you can get into the fun part of decorating the tree, leading to those family arguments over whether the back should be adorned. While Todryk stands for no decor on the back of the tree, you can continue decorating all the way around if you wish. However, you should know a few things that might change your mind.

Most of us can agree that decorating our homes with Christmas decor instantly makes us jolly. However, getting the entire house into festive mode can take a few days. You have to pull out the boxes from the garage to hang the lights up outside; inflate character balloons in the yard; set up wreaths; add embellishments to the kitchen, dining room, and living room; and decorate the tree.

If you decorate your home similarly every year, you might have a routine that fills the entire house with everything in a couple of days. An excellent way to cut down your time is by decorating only the front part of the tree. That way, you can spend more time focusing on creating the perfect front-facing Christmas tree. Further, leaving the back side vacant allows you to spend more time decorating other areas around your home, especially if you want to try new things, like hanging wreaths on your kitchen cabinets.

The only time to decorate the entire tree is when it's visible from every side. Sometimes, folks will place their tree in connecting rooms, such as the living and dining rooms. Or, if you tend to keep the tree in front of a window that you often keep open, guests and passersby will see the fully adorned tree from the outside.

While filling half the tree gives you more time to set up your other Christmas decorations, it also allows you to fill it as much as you want with ornaments. Typically, when using the same baubles yearly, there will be moments when some break or get lost as they get put away. Each year, you're stuck with less than the last, which could leave your tree with patchy areas from missing items. However, the best part about decorating only the tree's front side is getting it fluffy with baubles. You'll be able to use twice as many ornaments on one side, giving the illusion it's filled all the way around. Of course, you can purchase more ornaments, but they won't always be available if you use the same ones yearly.

On the other hand, if you plan to buy new ornaments, you save some money since you won't have to purchase multiple boxes of baubles to cover every side of the tree. Plus, you keep yourself from getting stuck and poked by the pine needles when you're between the wall and the tree as you hang ornaments on the back side. This year, follow Jenn Todryk's lead and give yourself a little break by only decorating your Christmas tree's room-facing side.