What Size Christmas Tree Do You Need? Ceiling Height, Width and Floor Space

You need three numbers. First, the ceiling height at the exact spot where the tree will stand, not the highest point of the room. A beam, a sloped ceiling, a ceiling fan or a hanging light can take inches away right where the top of the tree goes.

Second, the floor circle the tree can fill without blocking a walkway, a door swing, a heating vent or the front of a cabinet. Measure it as a diameter: the distance across the circle the bottom branches will cover.

Third, the distance to the nearest outlet. On the trees in the table below, cords run from 70.9 in to 9.8 ft, so a tree that fits the corner can still come up short of the plug.

Start with the ceiling height in inches, take away the height of your topper, then leave a few inches of air so you can set the topper on without pressing it against the ceiling. What is left is the tallest tree that fits.

Check the height in inches, not just the name. On our trees the nominal size and the height in inches line up: the 7 ft trees are 84 in, the 7.5 ft trees 90 in and the 6 ft white tree 72 in.

At an 8 ft ceiling (96 in), a 7 ft tree leaves 12 in above its tip and a 7.5 ft tree leaves 6 in, enough for a low topper or none at all. An 8 ft tree under an 8 ft ceiling leaves no room for a topper. At a 9 ft ceiling (108 in), a 7.5 ft tree leaves 18 in and an 8 ft tree 12 in. At a 7 ft ceiling (84 in), a 6 ft tree leaves 12 in.

If the tree will stand on a riser, a low table or a thick rug, add that height to the tree before you do the math.

Height gets the attention, but width decides whether the tree fits the room. A tree's diameter is the distance across its widest, lowest branches once they are spread out. Among the trees in our table it runs from 20.5 in on the 7 ft pencil tree to 52.8 in on the 90 in flocked tree.

A tree 52.8 in across fills a circle about 4.4 ft wide. In a corner it covers that much of both walls; beside a sofa it reaches that far into the room. Mark the circle on the floor with painter's tape or a loop of string before you order: it shows the real footprint better than a number on a screen.

Leave room to walk around the tree, and keep the branches clear of heaters and fireplaces.

Pencil trees are the narrowest. Our 7 ft pencil tree is 20.5 in across, so it fits beside a TV stand, in an entryway or in an apartment corner where a full tree would take over the floor. A narrow tree has room for fewer ornaments, so it suits lights and a few favorite pieces.

Slim trees sit in between. Our 7 ft slim tree is 33.9 in across with 1,245 branch tips: fuller than a pencil tree and still more than a foot narrower than our full 7.5 ft trees.

Full trees are the classic cone. Our full 7.5 ft trees are 47.25 in across (warm white LEDs) and 52.8 in across (snow flocking with 500 clear lights). They make the tree the center of the room and give the most branches for ornaments, but they need the floor space to match.

A pre-lit tree saves winding a string around every branch, and the light count is worth comparing. On our trees: 150 multicolor LEDs on the 6 ft pencil tree and 250 on the 8 ft one, 350 LEDs on the 7 ft slim tree, 250 warm white LEDs on the 6 ft white tree and 500 on the 7.5 ft pink and black trees, and 500 warm white clear lights on the 90 in flocked tree.

Pick the light color with your ornaments in mind: warm white sits quietly behind gold, glass and white decorations, while multicolor carries the look on its own. The 7 ft slim tree comes with a remote that changes colors, brightness and speed and sets a daily timer, which helps when the outlet ends up behind the tree.

Every tree in our table goes together in sections with hinged branches, and then the tips need to be spread and shaped by hand. Shaping the flocked 90 in tree takes 45 to 60 minutes, so plan on some time for any full tree.

Each of these trees comes with its stand: folding on the slim, warm white and flocked trees, detachable on the pencil tree. All four are for indoor use only, and none of them include ornaments.

Sizes are for the assembled tree; width is the diameter across the widest branches.