11 December 17: Beauty in imperfection

One Christmas about six years ago, I bucked my own trend and bought a fake tree. I was in the midst of a personal maelstrom and I think I viewed the symmetrical orderliness of it as a symbolic antidote to the chaos. I know they do the trick for many (and I really do adore my baby pink kitschmas tree, which I’ll unveil shortly) but I have to confess that its goody-two-shoes perfection actually did my head in. I love the randomness of real trees: the bald bits and branches that stick out too far are what it’s all about. The way I see it is that, like us humans, these trees are meant to be delightfully imperfect. You can search for your ultimate tree but in truth you get what you get and you just work with it to create a thing of great joy. This year’s tree at The Colour File HQ is one such tree – I swear the guys who sold it to me said to each other ‘She bought it!’ as I lugged it away. They were happy, but I reckon I was actually happiest.
Martha, The Colour File x