Simple Outdoor Christmas Lights

If you want to get a jump on your neighbors, whether its just a simple, modest front entry dress-up, or even if it is full-scale, all out war, we have great design lighting tips that will give you a satisfying edge.

Which Lights to Use

There are lights everywhere and with Black Friday just about to start, there are sure to be plenty of tempting offers for a litany of lights.

While any box store retailer will have lights that will get you through the 

season, their lights typically are disposable, which tends to be a problem for me because these disposable lights are generally LED, which are more expensive than the old incandescent lights most of us grew up with. 

It’s hardly more green for the environment or the wallet to be throwing these things away every year or two and buying new lights.

That being said, I do highly recommend using an LED for several reasons.

• It uses far less energy to run
• Produces little or no heat – fire safety
• Don’t have to replace bulbs
• Can attach far more strands of lights for large lighting projects
• Use smaller (cheaper) extension cords 

The biggest limitation to box store LED lights is wire quality. Sometimes you can get good quality lights, but beware some offers that look “commercial” as in they come on a large spool, and instead of 100 lights there may be anywhere from 2-500 lights on a strand.

The best place to get lights is from a landscaping supply store light Ewing. This is the place professional light installers go to get their lighting supplies for high-end residential and commercial jobs.

There are three clear benefits to working with suppliers like these:

• Wire quality
• Color quality & options
• Light size profiles

But get in early to pickup your lights. If you wait until the middle of December, they are likely going to be sold out since their goal is not to sell to the public (although they will), but to professional installers. Therefore, they don’t keep a lot in stock. Plus, if you need something custom or want to order anything, you can usually get it shipped to the store from a regional warehouse in a couple days, also best in the end of November to do this.

If simplicity is what you are after, you can get pre-lit and decorated garlands and wreaths. The advantage of getting these pre-lit garlands is they can usually be purchased or ordered in different lengths. This will cut your decorating time down to a few minutes. 

Let’s admit it, not everyone wants to pull up Google Earth and see their house from space. That’s a lot of time and money that could be used to buy some heart-touching gifts for the loved ones in your life.

If that’s the case, you can get pre-lit and decorated garlands and wreaths. The advantage of getting these pre-lit garlands is they can usually be purchased or ordered in different lengths. This will cut your decorating time down to a few minutes.

Measure the linear length of the span your garland will run, for an 18-24 inch hang, add about 50% of the run of the span. So for a 5 foot span, plan on 8 feet of garland to produce a good amount of hang from point to point.

Hang a wreath in the center of your entryway, drape the garland to the edge, and wrap or hang the garland evenly down to the midpoint or all the way down to the ground.

Be very careful when using colors (from a design perspective). For most home types, unless there is a clear theme you want to promote, warm white is typically the best option for an entryway.

My recommendation is to primarily use warm white, limiting color to a little pop here and there to help it stand out as a distinguished feature of the yard, not an overwhelming sensation to the eye.