Getting in the spirit
I decorated the skylight this afternoon. My son, daughter-in-law and granddaughter are visiting Friday and I wanted to get started on some holiday trimmings. They'll return on Christmas Eve for a gathering with my daughter, her husband, my grandson and my significant other. The living room's small and I'm faced with an existential dilemma: To tree or not to tree? 
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Thing a long time ago. But sort of had a tree.
I have several giant pine cones from Coulter Pine trees in southern California, they are huge, like hardwood, and lethal if one fell from the tree and hit you. The large one that I have weighs six pounds. They have globs of sticky sap so baking them for a few minutes turns the sp into a permanent hard, glossy glaze. They're pretty.
I decorate one of those and have it off in some space where it can sit a look nice with one or two pieces of tinsel wound around it and a few micro spheres and maybe micro lites. Takes in about one square foot with presents and cards. Great for a small table or end table.
(grabbed these off the interwebs)
Thanks for providing the second photo for scale.
My tree's a 1960s aluminum "pine". The photo was taken in 2018 at my old apartment, which had a larger living room than the little carriage house I've been living in for the past four years. I've set it up every year here, but it requires moving and removing furniture to make space for people.
Your tree, simple and uncluttered. But a small space requires something smaller. since you don't have these gargantuan pine cones, maybe a small pile of smaller cones, neatly stacked then add some ornaments of some sort and call it good. Improvisation can be fun!
I don't really celebrate the holiday since it isn't "my" holiday as it is from a religion I don't subscribe to but when I have guests I do.
That cone in the second picture is not as big as the two large cones I have, they're probably three or four inches longer and more like the one in the first picture. I have five or six of them, they're in storage right now, the smallest one is the size of a large grapefruit and weighs a pound. When I rinse them off, usually in springtime, they close up but reopen as they dry. Very interesting things. The forest where my cones came from burned down about twenty years ago so these are really special.
Anyway, you'll come up with something, you're resourceful.
that I'm atheist and celebrate Christmas as a secular holiday. I enjoy the pageantry and the simple joy of singing a carol. I admire your accommodating your guests' culture and beliefs. I have Christians, Jews, Muslims, Pagans and fellow atheists in my little circle. "When in Rome" seems the best approach to living with others in peace.
If you have photos of your cone arrangements, I'd love to see them.
Pageantry of the holidays, I get burned out on this next one weeks before it gets here, though.
Sadly, I don't have any pictures of the dressed up cones, I didn't even own a camera the last time I decorated them but if I do it next year, I'll take pictures.
It has a slightly formal look, but it's lovely nonetheless.
Not sure about whether or not to have a tree. Since your space is at a premium, maybe not. Unless you have a small corner that would hold something small.
Good luck! And have a great time with your family!
I have this small ceramic tree atop my refrigerator.
My primary tree is a wee bit bigger:
https://www.democraticunderground.com/1036139541#post1
When you have kids over it’s nice to have some kind of tree. My Grandma, as she got older, had a table-top tree that she’d set up for me and my sister and cousins. I have a little ceramic igloo that you can light up from inside that’s the only decoration left from that tree, AFAIK. It didn’t hang, she’d set it under the tree.
Some are from her childhood. She was born in 1914.
I'd love to see the ceramic igloo. Maybe we could start a thread featuring vintage/antique ornaments and decorations.
