Although it’s not here yet, Christmas is right around the corner.
Along with the season comes plenty of time to spend with family, delicious food and presents, there’s also plenty of decorating that comes with it. Beyond the big stuff like Christmas trees and snow globes, there’s also all the holiday lights to hang up. Still, if you have a lot of holiday lights to hang why not get to them early? As it turns out, there are plenty of beautiful ways to decorate your home with holiday lights at any time of year.
Here are 10 ideas for how to use your holiday lights.
1. Make a light canopy.
Instead of just hanging up one string of lights, why not go all out and weave them into a tapestry? If you have a few equal position points to hang many lights from, loop them back and forth in rows next to one another and turn them all on. When it’s illuminated, it’ll give you a soft glowing light that can go a long way in creating great atmosphere.
2. Use them to line your deck railings.
If you have a deck attached to your house, you know how great it can be in the summer time to host people and hang out. Still, over time our decks can fall into disrepair or just start to look a little used up. To add some spice back to them, try lining the outsides with some holiday lights. Not only will it give the entire deck more of a defined shape, it’ll liven up the entire outdoor space!
3. Hang some over a tree.
Anyone who has a prominent tree in their yard probably wants to highlight how impressive it is. For some of us, the means putting a little bench or a swing under it. Still, to add even more atmosphere, try loosely hanging some holiday lights throughout the tree. The entire effect will give an already cozy hangout space a much dreamier vibe.
4. Create a fake ceiling.
If you have an open-air patio and you want to experiment with giving it a little bit more dimension, consider using a few strings of lights to create a boundary above it. Although the patio stretched into the sky, a few lines of lights in a square configuration will make the space feel a little more locked in.
5. Hang them up on a pool shack.
Although swimming pools are great in the day time, there’s something romantic about going for a swim in the night time. Still, sometimes the way the house’s natural lighting is set up is too dark for for it to be very appealing. To fix that, string some lights up on the pool house to create a soft, ambient glow that will feel much more welcoming.
6. Hang some up under an arbor.
If you don’t want to do a full ceiling boundary or a light canopy, casually hanging some lights under an arbor or other outdoor nook can help give unused areas a little bit more presence. If you want to relax outside at night, sometimes a softer light source is better than a harsh one—and this is the perfect solution to that problem.
7. Put a few in the landscaping.
While most of these tips involve putting holiday lights up in the air, why not bring things down to ground level? If you have walking paths or gardens decorated with lots of nice shrubs, why not string some lights through them as well? While you don’t have to overdo it, having a few light accents around your garden can do wonders for your home’s ambiance.
8. Hang them up on the fence.
If you live in a country neighborhood that has high wooden fences separating houses from another, you know that these barriers can be a little bit of an eyesore. Still, they don’t have to be—consider draping some lights on your fence to give your entire yard more of a clear boundary while making the fence feel more intentional.
9. Line the roof of a building.
For anyone who doesn’t want to get too wacky or out there with their decorating, choosing a structure to outline with lights is always a classic and simple way to go. Although this definitely works for Christmas decorating as well, if done correctly they could also stay up all year round. If you have multiple structures on your property, choose one that’ll catch the eye.
10. Try doing a zig-zag pattern.
Most of the time, we use holiday lights to outline certain areas or to bring different rectangular spaces into starker contrast. Still, you can also use your lights to create new shapes all their own. Instead of trying to make a fake ceiling over a patio, you could also zig-sag some lights over it as a fun new twist. That way, your party guests will be able to appreciate them as a nice accent while looking up at the stars.
Do you have any tips on how to use patio lights? Let us know in the comments below.
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