I grew up dreaming of Hallmark-style Christmas trees, then I moved to NYC – but Shea McGee’s $268 petite potted spruce just brought the fantasy back

I, like most children, spent my holiday breaks glued to the television, consuming endless streams of corny Christmas movies. Inside those impossibly inviting homes were even more impossibly enchanting trees, which were towering, twinkling, and (one assumes) freshly chopped. But alas, I grew up in L.A., where the only things evergreen were palm trees, and as an adult, I chose to live in New York – a city where I can’t fit a full-sized sofa, let alone a full-sized spruce for my Christmas decorating ideas.

So when I attended Shea McGee’s holiday preview a couple of months ago, I spotted a solution: a faux spruce, pre-lit to perfection and planted in a characterful pot that I immediately wanted to repurpose come spring. Standing a modest four feet tall, it glows even in the tightest of corners – no needles, no watering, and, at just twelve inches wide, no sacrifice of real estate.

It’s not that a mini Christmas tree idea is inherently groundbreaking – it’s that most of them look cheap or inconsequential. Shea’s is neither. The petite spruce has the lushness and hyperrealism of those 8-foot, $2,000 giants, simply scaled down. For the first time ever, I looked at a small faux tree and didn’t cringe about lacking the ceiling height – or budget – for the full thing.

Because it’s both pre-lit and pre-potted, I love that this tree doesn’t need decorating. You can always add more sparkle – the more Christmas lights, the merrier – but minimalists could leave it bare or top it with a single star, and it would still look perfectly styled.

If you, unlike me, have more than a few square feet to work with, the possibilities multiply. These scaled-down trees fill awkward corners, entryways, sitting rooms, bedrooms – even space alongside the hearth – beautifully. Because, as anyone who’s ever watched a Hallmark movie knows, the only thing better than one Christmas tree is... more Christmas trees.

Admittedly, I’m sold. I plan to scoop one up for myself this year. But if you’re still hunting, I’ve rounded up a few more petite (and Shea-approved) trees to bring that festive, cinematic glow to even the smallest spaces.

Mini trees that look like real trees are one thing, but the ones that don’t even try are a statement all their own. Naturally, Shea McGee has mastered both. Her new rattan Christmas trees bring that California-coded coziness to countertops and mantels alike – sculptural, effortless, and just $20.