70 days to Christmasdays

Christmas tree planner

What size Christmas tree fits your room?

An eight-foot ceiling does not take an eight-foot tree. The topper adds to it and it needs air above it. Tell us the room and we will work out the complete setup — then find trees that actually fit.

Measure your spaceTell us about the room so we can find the best fit.
ft
in

Floor to ceiling, where the tree will stand.

in wide
in deep

The clear space you are giving the tree — not the whole room. We use it as measured.

Where it goes
Choose your treeReal or artificial, the size you have in mind, and your budget.
Real or artificial
What size tree?

Leave this alone and we will work out the largest tree your room can take.

Budget
Finishing touchesThe shape you like, and what goes on top.
Fullness
Tree topper

A normal star or angel adds about 6 in above the tip — less than its own height, because the base slides over the top spire.

Plan updates as you type. The address bar keeps up, so the link is always shareable.

Your tree plan

7 ft medium

55 in across · Medium profile · 90 in installed

Comfortable fit

Worth knowing

A 7.5 ft tree does fit, with 0 in to spare

It would stand 96 in against your 96 in ceiling, so the topper would touch. The recommended 7 ft is the comfortable choice; if you would rather have the height, a smaller topper buys you the room.

7.5 ft medium · 96 in installed · 0 in headroom

Without the topper you could go up to 7.5 ft

The topper adds 6 in above the tip, which is what keeps a 7.5 ft tree out of this room. Drop it and the taller tree fits with 6 in to spare.

7.5 ft medium · 90 in installed · 6 in headroom

Drawn to scale from your measurements.
Lights
700350 min · 1,050 dense
Ornaments
8555 sparse · 140 dense
Garland
63 ft
Skirt
48 in across
How this adds up
Tree, assembled on its stand84 inArtificial tree heights are published as the assembled height with the supplied stand already under it, so no stand is added here.
Topper adds+ 6 inHow much a normal star or angel actually adds above the tree tip once it is on. This is far less than the topper's own height, because the cone or spiral base slides down over the top spire and swallows part of it. A 12-inch star typically adds about 6 inches of required space.
Installed height90 inFloor to the very top of the finished tree.
Your ceiling96 inWhat you measured.
Headroom6 inGap above the topper. We suggest at least 6 in for comfort — less than that still fits, it is just tight.

Tree heights are rounded down to sizes that are actually sold, so the recommendation is always something you can buy.

Trees that fit this plan

Best match

National Tree Company 7 ft Pre-Lit Dunhill Fir, 700 Clear Lights

  • 7 ft
  • 55 in wide
  • Full
  • 700 lights

90 in installed in your 96 in room · height already includes its stand

  • Stands 90 in installed with your topper, leaving 6 in under your 96 in ceiling
  • 55 in across, inside the 60 in you have
  • Pre-lit with 700 warm white lights — at or above the 700 this plan calls for

Price at Amazon

View at Amazon

7 ft Unlit Dunhill Fir

  • 7 ft
  • 55 in wide
  • Full
  • Unlit

90 in installed in your 96 in room · height already includes its stand

  • Stands 90 in installed with your topper, leaving 6 in under your 96 in ceiling
  • 55 in across, inside the 60 in you have

Price at Amazon

View at Amazon

Slimmer option

Goplus 7 ft Pre-Lit Spruce

  • 7 ft
  • 51.6 in wide
  • Medium
  • 300 lights

90 in installed in your 96 in room · height already includes its stand

  • Stands 90 in installed with your topper, leaving 6 in under your 96 in ceiling
  • 51.6 in across, inside the 60 in you have
  • Medium profile, which is what this space calls for
  • Pre-lit with 300 lights, below the 700 this plan calls for. Budget for another string or two.

Price at Amazon

View at Amazon

Slimmer option

National Tree Company 7 ft Unlit Kingswood Fir Slim, 892 Tips

  • 7 ft
  • 29 in wide
  • Pencil
  • Unlit

90 in installed in your 96 in room · height already includes its stand

  • Stands 90 in installed with your topper, leaving 6 in under your 96 in ceiling
  • 29 in across, inside the 60 in you have

Price at Amazon

View at Amazon

Complete your tree

Sized for your 7 ft medium tree. Each link opens an Amazon search at the right size — you choose the product.

Some links here are affiliate links and we may earn a commission on purchases. It costs you nothing and never changes which trees we recommend — matching is on dimensions only.

Prefer a real tree? Take these measurements to a Christmas tree farm near you: Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Michigan, Oregon, Washington, Wisconsin, New York, Ohio, Virginia, California, Texas, Illinois, New Jersey, Georgia, Florida.

The working

How the planner works it out

Every number the planner uses, what it means and where it comes from. Where a figure is our own judgement rather than a published rule, it says so.

Will it clear the ceiling?

The planner adds up the finished tree from the floor — tree, stand, topper — and compares the total with your ceiling.

What a topper adds
6 in above the tip
How much a normal star or angel actually adds above the tree tip once it is on. This is far less than the topper's own height, because the cone or spiral base slides down over the top spire and swallows part of it. A 12-inch star typically adds about 6 inches of required space.
EstablishedDerived from Balsam Hill's own sizing rule: subtract 6 in from the ceiling with no topper, or 12 in with one. The 6 in difference is the effective addition, and their worked example uses a 12 in star.
Room above the topper
6 in suggested
Gap we recommend between the very top of the finished tree — topper and all — and the ceiling. This is a comfort threshold, never a fit rule. A setup with less than this still fits; we just call it tight and say so.
EstablishedBalsam Hill advise subtracting 6 in from ceiling height when no topper is used. King of Christmas recommend a 6–12 in gap, inclusive of the topper.
A real tree’s stand
7 in
Height a water-holding stand adds under a real tree. Real trees are sold by cut height, which excludes the stand, so this genuinely has to be added.
Our estimateNo reliable published figure. The only one found (6–12 in) came from a retailer blog that contradicted the same retailer's buyer's guide, so 7 in is our working estimate until a better source turns up.
Sizes we recommend
3, 4, 4.5, 5, 5.5, 6, 6.5, 7, 7.5, 8, 9, 10, 12 ft
Retail heights: 3, 4, 4.5, 5, 5.5, 6, 6.5, 7, 7.5, 8, 9, 10 and 12 feet. 8 ft is included because 8 ft trees are widely sold — without it a 9 ft ceiling would be under-served at 7.5 ft. 8.5 and 11 ft are deliberately absent — they exist but are rare, and inventing evenly spaced sizes would let the planner recommend heights nobody stocks.
EstablishedStandard sizes across the artificial tree market.
Smallest floor-standing tree
3 ft
Smallest tree we treat as floor-standing. Under 3 ft, a tree is a tabletop piece and needs different advice, not a smaller version of the same plan.
EstablishedSmallest widely sold floor-standing size.

Will it fit the floor?

A tree’s shape is its base width divided by its height. The planner measures the shape from the dimensions, never from the word on the box.

Tree shapes
Pencil ≤ 0.35 · Slim ≤ 0.50 · Medium ≤ 0.65 · Full ≤ 0.80 of the height
A 7.5 ft (90 in) tree at a 0.5 ratio is 45 inches across — a slim tree. The same height at 0.65 is nearly 60 inches, which is a full tree and will not fit the same space.
Retailer consensusMeasured across published dimensions of major artificial tree ranges.
A netted real tree
45% of its width
A real tree is netted for transport and squeezes to roughly this fraction of its natural width. Artificial trees ship flat in a box, so this never applies to them.
Our estimateApproximate — varies widely by species and how tightly it is baled.

How much to decorate it with

Quantities scale with the tree’s height, and with its shape — a full tree has more surface than a pencil tree of the same height.

Lights
100 per foot · 50 minimum · 150 dense
The count people usually regret going below is 50 per foot. 100 per foot is the standard "properly lit" look. 150 is magazine density.
Retailer consensusWidely published retailer and lighting-manufacturer guidance.
Ornaments
12 per foot · 8 sparse · 20 dense
Assumes a mix of sizes. Fuller profiles carry more at the same height, which the planner adjusts for.
Retailer consensusRetailer decorating guides, which cluster around 10–12 per foot.
Fuller trees need more
Pencil ×0.6 · Slim ×0.8 · Medium ×1 · Full ×1.2
A pencil tree has far less surface than a full tree of the same height, so it needs proportionally fewer lights and ornaments.
Our estimateScaled from the profile width ratios.
Garland
9 ft per foot of tree
Ribbon or garland wound in a spiral. Wider spirals use less; this assumes a conventional wrap with the loops roughly a hand apart.
Our estimateCommon retailer estimate for spiral-wrapped garland.
Skirt size
90% of the tree’s width
A skirt slightly narrower than the base sits under the lowest branches without sticking out past them. Rounded to whole sizes, which is how skirts are sold.
Our estimateDerived from common skirt sizes against the trees they sell beside.
Smallest skirt
36 in
Smallest skirt worth buying — below this it does not cover a stand.
EstablishedSmallest widely sold skirt size.
Largest skirt
72 in
Largest commonly sold skirt. Beyond this people use a collar.
EstablishedLargest widely sold skirt size.