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Outdoor Christmas Lights – 3 Helpful Tips

outdoor christmas lights

Happy Black Friday! We hope that you had a good Thanksgiving yesterday. Now that Thanksgiving is over, it’s time to start thinking about Christmas. If you like decorating with outdoor Christmas lights, we have prepared a short guide to help you with putting up outdoor Christmas lights and making your house look great.

Plan the Design of Outdoor Christmas Lights

Sometimes you get the itch to decorate without warning. Before starting, it’s a good idea to develop a game plan. Don’t just wing it. Below are some steps to take.

  • Choose Your Focal Point – If there are columns framing your home’s entryway, you might want to begin there. Without choosing your focal point, your home is going to look as if you shot some lights from a cannon over the lawn.
  • Think About the Surface – Check the thickness of your gutters and the flexibility of your roof shingles to figure out what’s the best way that you can hang your lights along your roofline.

A few of the popular spots that you can hang your Christmas lights are:

  • Along your eaves or roofline
  • Around posts, deck railings, or posts
  • Around door frames, windows, or other features of your home
  • Atop hedges, bushes, and trees
  • Inside planters and window boxes
  • Near pathways and driveways

Measure – Make sure that you are measuring straight lines that you’re going to adorn using lights. This is going to help you with deciding on the number of strands that are going to be needed. You also want to measure how far it is to the power source. The last thing that you want is to have a gorgeous light display without a way to turn it on.

Know What You’ll Need – How many lights you’re going to need for decorating your shrubs and trees will depend on your preferences. But it’s generally 100 lights per 1.5 feet of shrub or tree that you’re covering. For example, if you have an evergreen that’s 6 feet tall and you want to cover it, you’ll need at least 400 lights.

If you really want to make your lights bright, stagger two light sets side-by-side. Or you can look for the lights that are closer to each other. Lights that are denser will give you brighter lights.

Of course, if your goal is for your house to be seen from space, stagger two sets of lights side-by-side, or look for lights that are spaced closer together. Denser lights equal brighter lights.

Prepare Your Outdoor Christmas Lights

Now that you have some general tips for outdoor Christmas lights, here are some more things you should remmeber.

  • Make Sure You’re Safe -Use extension cords that are UL-approved that have been specifically designed for use outside and look for those lights that are rated for outdoor/indoor use. check the package of the lights about this along with the information on the lengths and how many strands you should connect.
  • Check The Lights – Damaged or frayed cords are a huge safety hazard.
  • Check the Light Color – You may not know this, but there are different varieties of white lights. The LED lights usually are bluish in tint and the incandescent lights are somewhat orange. If you hang them next to each other, they aren’t going to look great. The light can also vary based on their age and their manufacturer. Buying new lights is a good idea.
  • Use Light Clips – Don’t use clothespins, staples, or other kinds of contraptions. Light clips will be the best choice. There are clips that you can choose for any type of surface, including your shingles and gutters. Just read the packages to help you with finding the right one.
  • Choose the Right Light Types – You are going to find a lot of colors and types of lights, so you want to have some fun. Make sure that you are grouping them together based on the type of light. roofline. LED outdoor Christmas lights help with saving money and won’t overhea. Icicle outdoor Christmas lights are reat for roof eaves. Simply make sure that you are clustering them together. If you stretch them out too far, you are going to lose their look. Net lights are great for bushes.

A timer is also a good idea to help you with taking the guesswork from turning your lights on.

Steps for Putting Your Outdoor Christmas Lights Up

Now that you know some general tips for putting up your outdoor Christmas lights, below are some steps that you can use to get started.

  • Test The lights – Simply because you have new lights, you want to make sure that they are working. So you want to test them before going up on the ladder. Attach light clips after you’re tested them and be sure that they’re all facing the same way.
  • Attach Your Lights to Shingles or Shutters – To attach your lights to gutters, use all-purpose clips. It’s going to work with any kind of light. Hang your lights pointing down or up. Simply make sure that they are facing the same way. These kinds of clips can also be used for attaching lights to shingles as well.
  • Attach Your Lights to Your Trees – If you are hanging lights from a tree, try to use a pole specifically for hanging lights. They’re also great if you’re happy with going up on your ladder.
  • Attach Your Lights to Your Railings – If you have a deck or railing, there are deck clips that you can use for this.
  • Set Up a Timer – The last thing that you want is to forget to turn on your lights or forget to turn them off. To avoid this problem, set up a timer with your lights. Some of them even come with light sensors which automatically will turn the lights on when dusk falls.

There you are. Now you have some helpful tips for putting up outdoor Christmas lights. But if you aren’t comfortable doing it yourself, send us a message. We are happy to help you with decorating for the holidays.

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