The living room is where an artificial tree earns its money. It's the space you and guests sit in longest, so a good faux tree here does real work: filling that dead corner beside the sofa, breaking up a blank wall, and adding the softness a room of hard furniture badly needs. But living rooms vary enormously in size and light, so the right tree for a double-height open-plan lounge is very much not the one for a snug terraced sitting room. Here's how to choose.
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In this guide
- What a tree does for a living room
- Best trees for a bright, open lounge
- Best trees for a smaller sitting room
- Where to place it for real impact
- A few of our favourites
- Frequently asked questions
What a tree does for a living room
A tree is the one plant big enough to change a room's whole feel rather than just decorate a surface. It draws the eye upward, softens the boxy lines of sofas and units, and brings a corner to life that would otherwise sit empty. Unlike a real ficus or fiddle-leaf, a faux tree doesn't drop leaves onto the carpet, doesn't need the sunny window spot your sofa wants, and looks identical in the gloom of a north-facing lounge. That freedom to place it purely where it looks best, not where a real plant would survive, is a big part of the appeal.
Best trees for a bright, open lounge
A large or open-plan living room can take a proper statement, and looks under-furnished with anything timid. Go tall, 150cm and up, and go sculptural: a broad ficus, an olive with its airy silvered canopy, or a full topiary that holds its shape from every angle in an open space. Height fills the volume that big rooms have to spare, and a wide canopy stops a lofty room feeling bare up top. Set it in a substantial planter so the base holds its own against large sofas; a spindly pot under a big tree in a big room always looks slightly wrong.
Best trees for a smaller sitting room
Snug terraced and flat living rooms need trees that add greenery without eating the floor. Look for a slim, upright silhouette, a narrow topiary, a neat cypress, a compact olive, rather than a wide spreading canopy that you'll forever brush past. Something around 90cm to 120cm sits beautifully beside an armchair or in the gap by a bookcase without dominating. A tall, slender shape actually helps a small room feel taller. Keep the planter footprint tight too, and choose a lighter, brighter green, which recedes and feels less heavy than very dark foliage in a compact space.
Where to place it for real impact
Placement makes or breaks the effect. The classic winning spots are an empty corner, which a tree fills better than any furniture; beside or behind the sofa to frame the seating; and next to a window, where the natural light makes faux read as real. Flanking a fireplace or a media unit with a tree softens the hard rectangle. Avoid marooning it mid-wall with space either side, which looks stranded. Give it a nearby lamp for evenings, as a tree lit from below at night looks wonderfully like the real thing and stops it disappearing into shadow.
Keep reading
If you found this useful, you'll enjoy The Complete Guide to Artificial Trees: Buying, Styling & Care and How Tall Should an Artificial Tree Be? A Room-by-Room Guide.
A few of our favourites
A few pieces from the Botanik range that suit this beautifully:
- 60cm Artificial Cedar Cypress Topiary UV Resistant
- 90cm Artificial Cedar Cypress Topiary UV Resistant
- 120cm Artificial Cedar Cypress Topiary UV Resistant
Frequently asked questions
What's the best artificial tree for a living room corner?
A tall, full-canopied tree like a ficus, olive or topiary works best in a corner, ideally 150cm or more so it reads from across the room. Corners are the most forgiving spot because the two walls frame the tree and hide the least attractive side, so you can turn the fullest part outward.
How big should a living room tree be?
Aim for the canopy to reach roughly two-thirds up the wall behind it. In a standard room, that's usually a 120cm to 150cm tree once the planter's height is added. Larger, open-plan lounges can take 180cm or more; smaller sitting rooms look best with a slim 90cm to 120cm shape.
Do artificial trees look good in living rooms, or obviously fake?
A good-quality tree in a proper planter, positioned near natural light, is genuinely hard to spot as faux. The tells are cheap plastic pots, foliage left in an unnatural shape, and dust. Rehome it, splay the branches naturally, keep it dusted, and most visitors won't look twice in a living room.
Where should you not put an artificial tree?
Avoid stranding one in the middle of a wall with empty space either side, which looks lost, and skip cramming a wide tree into a narrow walkway you'll constantly brush. Also keep untreated indoor trees out of a spot that gets harsh all-day sun through glass, as that can fade the foliage over time.
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