I was a bit concerned when I placed the bottom section in the stand, and the pine branches only went halfway in toward the trunk - I thought there would be huge gaps. But as I fluffed each of the sprigs, the areas filled in surprisingly well! This also makes the tree a fraction of the weight of our old tree, and I think will be easier to store. There will always be see-through 'holes' thru any tree, real or artificial, and I like some spaces for the million ornaments we have :)I also like the mixed pine sprigs. The pine cones & berries are OK - clustered in one area, then none in another. But not a big deal to move. Also, not many 'needles' on the floor after I finished.Set up advice: place the bottom section in the stand, then fluff it. Find the light plug, and move it to the back. Set the middle section in, and fluff. Again, move the light plug to the back. I then fluffed the top section before placing it on the tree. I spent about 1hr, 45 min doing this, so while set up was easy, this initial fluff party took some time.