Adding a string of lights to your outdoor living space will bring an element of warmth and comfort while also instilling a feeling of relaxation. Anyone, on any budget, can add a simple string of white lights to their patio or umbrella and instantly change the entire look and feel of their back yard. You can place outdoor string lights just about anywhere, and it will look nice, but following these tips will ensure you hang up the lights right the first time, achieving a great look.
Choose Appropriate Outdoor String Lights
The first step in decorating with outdoor string lights is to choose the lights. While it might seem obvious, there are a wide variety of options available so it is a good idea to have a style in mind before you get to the store. Are you looking for something contemporary, basic, or themed? Are you looking for small white lights most popular during the holidays, or do you prefer lights that have some sort of shade or cover, perhaps something like a lantern or maybe a globe? There are also outdoor string lights that come in fun shapes, like chili peppers, stars, flip flops, and martini glasses.
Create Your Outdoor Lighting Design
Think about how you want to use the outdoor string lights to decorate your space. The things you can do with string lights are only limited by your imagination. Everyone has different style preferences, so there is no one true way to use decorative lighting in your yard.
Start by standing in the space you want to decorate and use your imagination to picture what different areas of your patio, deck, or yard will look with lights. You may want to highlight one specific area, or illuminate the entire patio.
Once you know the area that you’d like to light up, you need to choose the specific place. Lights need to be attached to something, so that needs to be kept in mind as you make your final outdoor lighting design. You can do something simple, like add a set of lights to the edge of your patio table umbrella. Or you can run a string of lights along the top of a fence or around the top edge of the deck.
For a more dramatic look, consider wrapping string lights around several trees and bushes. Brighten pathways and walk ways with lights, which not only look nice, but will make walking in your yard or garden safer at night.
To get more design ideas, flip through magazines and search online for pictures to give you inspiration. With a little planning, you can really improve the ambiance and elegance of your yard without spending a lot of money.
Don’t forget to measure the area that you want to illuminate so that you purchase enough string lights to provide enough length to cover the space. It is also a good idea to grab an extra set of string lights, in case there are broken blubs or wires.
Hang Up Your Outdoor String Lights
How you hang outdoor string lights depends largely on where you are placing the lights. The lights should be hung just like you are decorating your house with holiday lights. It is best to have outdoor electrical outlets for your lights. If you want lights to be a permanent part of your outside décor, consider running electrical wire underground to keep all wires out of site.
If you are attaching lights to wood, add screw hooks in even increments along the section that will be lit. Hang one string at a time, attaching the next set only after the previous set is in place. This will prevent tangles and knots in the string lights, and will keep the levels of frustration down as you are decorating. When it’s time to take the lights down at the end of the season, simply lift them off the hooks. The hooks can stay in place so next year there will be one less step for you to do to put the lights back up.
If you are attaching the lights to plastic or vinyl, plastic hooks with sticky backs work great. Then, simply hang the lights in the same method as described above. At the end of the season, you can remove the hooks or keep them in place for next year.
If you would like to attach outdoor string lights to cloth, like around a patio umbrella, safety pins are perfect. Just pin the lights to each point of the umbrella, and an additional one in the middle if the lights are too droopy for your taste. At the end of the season the lights can be easily taken down by removing the safety pins and the umbrella can be folded up for storage.
If you decide to wrap some lights around trees, bushes, or shrubs, there is no need for hooks, pins, or other types of fasteners. Start at the top of the tree and wrap the lights around the outside edge of the foliage, spiraling downwards. Again, using one set of lights at a time to prevent tangles.
Don’t stop when the leaves do. Continue wrapping the lights down the tree trunk. When you reach the bottom, either use an extension cord to plug the lights into the nearest outlet, run electrical wires underground, or use solar lights for trees so you don’t have to worry about electricity at all.
Practice Energy Efficiency With Outdoor String Lights
For those concerned with energy usage, most outdoor string lights require very little power. Turning on the outdoor lights for a few hours every evening will not significantly increase your electricity bill.
LED lights are available that require even less power to light than traditional string lights. These lights typically have a blue hue, and some people do not like them. But for those concerned with energy, and those that don’t mind the difference in color, this is a great option.
For completely green lighting options, solar powered outdoor string lights are available, though they are a little harder to find. These run completely on solar power, where the sun charges internal batteries. When the sun goes down, the lights will automatically come on. No electricity is required for solar powered string lights.