I would go with the taller tree. We use a live tree, but I do like it to almost reach the ceiling. Our ceilings are only eight feet, but we get a 7.5 foot tree.

I think you should decide which look YOU prefer and go with it.

A lot depends on the size of the room too. A taller tree is usually fuller. After you put the tree topper on, it will appear taller. I'd go with a 7.5.

Can you believe it's officially the holidays? This weekend I'm going to do a lot of shopping online.

Depending on how big you want the whole affair to be, I'd think about choosing a 6' tree, building a simple 18" high box about a foot smaller than the total spread of the bottom branches, and putting it on that. With a cloth draped over it, it will let you hang ornaments on the low branches more easily, and give you a nice stepped surface for presents underneath.

Our ceilings are 11' high on the first floor, but as is typical in Victorian era town houses, the room is too narrow to accommodate a really big tree. So we bought a 7' tree, and we put it on the big round table that lives in our bay window.

I bought a couple of lengths of inexpensive deep red low-pile velvet, and whipped up a cloth that drapes to the floor to cover it...no hemming, just folding it over in modest puddles...cut a small piece to drape around the stand, and it looks great.

We close the shutters on the bottom half of the windows at night, so that it looks full height from the street. It's also about a hundred times easier to put up, and discourages the cats from making trouble!

When it comes to Christmas trees, the bigger the better! I go nutz when it comes to Christmas decorating and have at least 7 trees thruout the house, the biggest being 10'! ;o)

The "top" of an artificial Christmas tree is often one skinny branch that sticks up 9" or so above the rest of the tree, to support the topper, so the topper seldom extends very far above it. I'd go with the taller tree, but as bronwynsmom points out, check the width, too.

I would go for the taller height, but check the width. We have 10 foot ceilings, but found that most artificial trees would take over our living room. I didn't want one too short or a skinny foyer sized tree, so we found one that comes in a slimmer version. That worked for us.

I like big trees! My living room has 8 foot ceilings, and we usually get a 7.5 foot tree. The family room has 10 foot ceilings, and we usually go with one that's 9 - 9.5 feet. The family room has enough space for one that's both tall and wide, but the living room needs a narrow tree. I also put up a smaller 6-7 foot tree in the playroom, and that one needs to be narrow as well. It's not something I have to live with year round, so I want my trees to be as majestic as possible for those few short weeks!

I would suggest going with the 7.5 ft. I just bought a beautiful slim line 7.5 ft from homedepot last night and couldn't be happier with it. We have a really small living/family room right now and it fits perfectly (I'm only using it now as a model for my bows - not officially decorating my house for Christmas).

Anyway, I would tell any of my clients to go as tall as they can and to consider slim line trees if floor space is an issue.

My favorite Christmas tree was in a 3-story apartment house, where each apartment had a bay window in front.

They had a really wide, fat tree in the bottom, and less fat tree in the middle, and a nicely tapered tree at the top. Decorated identically.

From the outside, from what you could see through the windows, it looked like a 3-story Christmas tree.