What’s the right way to hang your Christmas tree lights?

How you hang your Christmas tree lights has emerged as one of the most hotly debated topics this Christmas, so we’ve consulted the experts.

Sarah Fishburne is Home Depot’s director of trend and design, and she’s firmly in team top-to-bottom. "I string my lights from top to bottom because your plug is at the end of the strand and closer to the bottom of the tree and outlet," she told HouseBeautiful.com. Plus, she says, if you run out of lights, it's easier to spread them out and even add more lights to the bottom versus the top.

Meanwhile, Home Depot’s seasonal merchant, Kelie Charles disagrees because she can plug the lights in first. "It makes it easier to see what the lit tree will look like as I'm stringing the lights," she explained to HouseBeautiful.com. If you have extras, wind them back down. If you run out, start a new string and run an extension cord down the back.

Adding to the confusion is designer Francesco Bilotto, who claims that neither is correct. He argues that the best way to hang your Christmas tree lights is vertically, instead of wrapped around in circles. "This way every tip of your tree, from branch to branch, will twinkle with delight," Bilotto told Country Living. It will also prevent your lights from getting tangled.

Watch how Francesco strings his tree lights in this video.

So whose team are you on? Have your say in our poll below.