The holiday season brings brightness, heat, and the feeling of joy that comes along with Christmas! So what better way to translate that to the outside of your home than to hang Christmas lights outside? Whether you wish to stick with romantic, cozy appeal or a magical winter wonderland, outdoor Christmas lights transform the atmosphere outside your home. Every type of lighting makes its own beautiful setting, from lighting your roofline to illuminating the garden. You will love the holiday spirit it represents! Here are 10 beautiful, simple ideas to decorate your outdoor Christmas lights for your home so that it becomes a festive spectacle for guests and passersby to share in the holiday cheer!
1. Classic Roofline Lighting
It is one of the most time-honored and easy methods of making your home Christmas-ready; the outline of your roofline with the friendly yellow or golden strings of light. Such conventional appearance immediately gives your house the element of grace and organization. You can trace the lines along the roof, gables and windows to emphasize the architecture of your house. The icicle lights defined with LED also do well along eaves to develop a snowy festive effect. To have a nice and clean job, the lights should be held with clips rather than nails that will leave them straight and damage free. It is a traditional method which leaves your house with a cozy holiday feel that can never be out of fashion.
2. Decade Wrap Trees and Bushes with sparklers
There is nothing more magical than trees with twinkling fairy lights on them. Smaller lights should be used in order to provide dimension to a thin branch and larger bulbs to tree trunks. To make a pure, sophisticated appearance, you may choose white lights or to create a childish, lighthearted atmosphere, you may pick multi-colored ones. When you have bushes or shrubs in front of your drive way or porch, it is now so easy to decorate with net lights, you only need to hang them around the greenery to get an even and glowing design. As the light goes on simultaneously with all the trees and bushes, your yard will turn into a winter miracle which would be featured in a Christmas film.
3. Illuminate Your Pathway
Show off your front door to the guests using a well-illuminated walkway. Light lanterns or stake lights are used along the pathway creating a gentle, friendly look. The use of solar powered lights is also a good option as it is simple to install and it consumes little energy. To add an additional festive feeling, you may wrap mini string lights around the bases of plants or low fences by the path. Should you desire a magical glow, then select warm white colors that will be in line with your overall outdoor lighting theme. A lit pathway is not only appealing to the eyes, but also it offers good footing to visitors in case they are holding an event at night.
4. Furnish the Porch or Entrance
Your front porch is where your holiday is displayed, and therefore, polish it up. Wrap door frames, railings and pillars with strings of lights to produce a light and jubilant entrance. Place a wreath on the front door that is lit up to greet the visitor. It is also possible to wrap garlands of tiny LED-lights and put them around the entrance. This can be coupled with several lanterns or candles in the steps that will bring out depth and warmth. The porch is the first thing that the guests will see and when it is lit with lights, it immediately gives the impression of a happy holiday.
5. Light Up the Garden and Yard
The variety of Christmas lights you can use in your garden offers endless creative opportunity. Place light-up figures of Santa, snowman or reindeer lawn ornaments on your yard, which is fun and whimsical. Spotlights with color changes can be used to accent trees, statues or decorations outside as well. Another pretty idea is to take some battery powered fairy lights and fill big glass jars or or lanterns and place them around the yard for a magical and inviting feel. The combination of subtle light effects with light-up accent will create a pleasing outdoor look that is striking and classy.
6. Apply Curtain Lights on Fences or Walls
Curtain lights are ideal in covering a larger and wider space such as the exterior walls, fences or garage doors. The effect of these cascading lights is the creation of a waterfall which appears spectacular at night. You may opt out to soft white to look elegant or opt to take cool white to make it look snowy and frosty. The outdoor Christmas parties or family photos also would be a nice background using curtain lights. They do not require much effort to hang and take down, and are a quick and simple but beautiful way of filling empty spaces with holiday bling.
7. Add Sparkle to Windows
Windows are also a relatively neglected element of exterior decoration, yet they can turn your show into the magical one. Decorate window frames using mini LED lights or star and snowflakes lights that are lighted up in frames to give the glowing effect both indoors and outdoors. Suction cup hooks can also be used to have light strands hanging up and down across the glass to provide a curtain appearance. Soft white or warm yellow light is used to give the display elegance whereas multi colored light gives the display a playful nature. When you turn on your lights in the windows, your house immediately appears to be welcoming and joyful.
8. Pathway Trees or Mailbox Highlighted
A little touch of elegance is decorating your mailbox, garden posts or trees at the end of the driveway. Cover them with strands of tiny lights of fairy lights or lights of red-and-white candies. You may bind a large bow or you may put up a few ornaments to finish the appearance. Such minor elements may be insignificant, yet they will provide personality and unity to the design in general. You can even light up your mail box and make your house look like a part of your holiday.
9. Hang Lanterns and Lighted Ornaments
You can also fix lighted ornaments or lanterns on branches of trees, around pergolas or ceilings of porches rather than using old string lights. Giant festooned ornamental hanging stars or baubles are able to make your yard seem joyful and special. Lanterns that run on battery or mason jars with fairy lights are also very effective in bringing the dark areas to low levels of light. Combining the variety of shapes and sizes creates a depth, and your outdoor space makes the effect of floating lights with a magical look which is amazing in the distance.
10. Make a Light Up Centerpiece or Display
Complete your outdoor lighting design with the centre of interest – something that all the eyes would look at. It may be a lit nativity scene or a burning Christmas tree in your yard or even a giant star on your roof. Another simple centerpiece to make with wooden frames covered with lights is to create a glowing gift box or snowflake pattern up. Your center piece placement can be at the front lawn or the front porch area which makes the best picture and completes the whole picture. It is the final touches that make your home look like a row house in a holiday mood which would be envied by your neighbors.
