Joanna Gaines Reveals Where She Stands On The Real Vs Fake Christmas Tree Debate

Real versus faux fir? No, this isn't an article examining the pros of real fur versus fake fur for the floor rug. Instead, it's a question that many of us ask each holiday season: Do we get a real, live sweet-smelling pine tree? Or do we go with imitation, lights included and already strung? The decision poses such a dilemma that even real-life designer pros, like Joanna Gaines, have pondered the question at least once in Christmases past and present. The celeb designer spilled the tea about the internal tussle that she goes through each holiday season in an exclusive with Better Homes & Gardens. 

"I'll be honest, I'm often thinking about how easy and efficient a fake one would be..." Gaines admitted per Better Homes & Gardens. It doesn't help that her husband, Chip, is a real-tree-all-the-way-kinda-guy. Fortunately, for the real-tree enthusiasts in the Gaines family, Joanna Gaines usually changes her mind. The tipper for her? "When we've hung the last ornaments and we watch the strands of twinkle lights go from dark to light," she says, and then she goes from reluctant tree-decorator to thinking that the real, live tree is the "Christmas hero" of her living room.

When you're the headliner on a show like "Fixer Upper," it's probably easy for people to think that decorating inspiration flows like gold through your veins. However, Joanna Gaines admits she faces the same kinds of issues with real Christmas trees most of us do, issues that make an artificial Christmas tree just seem better. In a 2021 blog post on Magnolia, she cited many of the pressures she experiences when dealing with real trees. Find a way to keep the real Christmas tree alive through the season. Check. Doesn't stand up straight. Check. Branches droop. Check.

However, these stresses usually get balanced out by the experiences she has with her family in the process of bringing up the tree. Joanna Gaines likes to get a jump start on decorating for the holidays. There's also a trip to the tree farm to look forward to. And possibly a Christmas tree in the master bedroom. Or even in one of the kids' rooms. 

And oh, the decorating. For Gaines, that's something especially to love. She adores the "whimsy and wonder" of the season, which tends to "bring out the kid in all of us," she admits on the Magnolia blog. And she loves keeping up with all the family holiday traditions — the unpacking of Christmas ornaments, retelling of classic stories set in winter, like "Little Women," and delicious holiday dinners with family. And the Gaines' Christmas tree traditions sit at the center of all of those memories, making the decision — forgery or factual fir –  a simple one for her to make in the end.