Winter is approaching, and with each passing day, it gets darker earlier. But there’s a bright spot on the horizon: It’s time to decorate your home with festive holiday lights. Before you haul out the holly, grab your ladder, and untangle light strands of holiday seasons past, consult our guide to lock in your game plan.
Not long ago there was just one way to illuminate the outside of your home: string lights with large incandescent bulbs. Today, there is a variety of holiday lights—string, icicle, net, pathway, and spotlight—available with LED or incandescent bulbs. Incandescent lights are more affordable and emit a warmer glow, but LEDs are more energy efficient, last longer, and never get too hot to touch. You can connect together more strings of LED lights than you can incandescent lights. Plus, LEDs typically produce a brighter, more vibrant light than incandescent bulbs. Some LEDs are programmable, allowing you to change the light color and select various illumination modes, such as always-on, twinkling, and sequential blinking.
The type and style of lighting that’s right for your home depends on the look you want. We break down what you need and how to install four popular holiday lighting designs.
BEST LIGHTS TO HIGHLIGHT YOUR ROOF
C9 or Icicle
Novelty Lights C9 Clear Christmas String Light Set
Both incandescent and LED string lights are sold in C6, C7, and C9 sizes. These strawberry-shaped string lights are the most traditional style and deliver a much-loved retro vibe. To showcase your roof, use C9s, which are larger, brighter, and more visible from the street compared to C6s and C7s.
Invented in 1996, icicle lights mimic one of winter’s most iconic scenes: icicles hanging from the edge of a roof. Each string has a series of white bulbs—typically 9 to 18 inches in length—that hang vertically from a wire. Not as bright as C9s, icicle lights add whimsical charm to any home, especially a Victorian or Colonial.
How to Decorate
Run C9 string lights along the eaves—usually attached to the gutters—and then up the gable ends to the peak of the roof. You can also place C9 light strands vertically down each corner of the house to outline your home for more brightness and definition.
If you opt for icicle lights, string them from second-story balconies or perimeter joists of decks, or hang them from rain gutters. The best way to attach lights to a roof isn’t with nails or staples, but with plastic light clips. There are many sizes and styles, but all work similarly: Hook the clip onto the front edge of the gutter or directly to the roof shingles, then slide the light strand into the clip. Space clips close enough together to prevent sagging, usually every 12 to 16 inches.
BEST LIGHTS TO WRAP COLUMNS, RAILINGS, OR TREES
Mini String Lights
612 Vermont 100 Clear Mini Christmas String Lights
612 Vermont 100 Clear Mini Christmas String Lights
Mini string lights, with tiny, pointed bulbs, are versatile and affordable: a string of 150 mini lights is under $15. Not as durable or bright as C-style bulbs, mini strings have bulbs closely spaced along the strand for more lights overall. This makes them ideal for spiral-wrapping columns, posts, and porch and deck railings. If you already have small C6 lights, they are a good alternative to mini strands.
How to Decorate
To wrap the light strands around vertical columns, stick Command outdoor clear light clips to the column every 16 to 24 inches. Slide a length of wire or twist tie through the hook on the clip and around the lights. Do this around smooth-bark tree trunks and branches, too, or use floral wire or garden-plant twist ties to stop strands from shifting. Instead of a single light strand, wrap several strands to create a thick, dense mass of bright lights. Use any extra strands to decorate wreaths, garlands, or doorframes.
BEST LIGHTS TO ILLUMINATE SHRUBS, BUSHES, AND HEDGES
Net Lights
HISHINY Net Christmas Lights
To illuminate shrubs, bushes, and hedges, think net lights. Adding holiday lights to greenery can be tricky because it’s hard to get lights to stay evenly spaced across supple, contoured surfaces. With net lights, there’s a bright white (usually) LED at every netting intersection, so it’s easy to drape lights over the shrub for instant illumination. Hang net lights from fences, stonewalls, and porch railings, too.
How to Decorate
Installing net lights is easy—drape them over the shrub or hedge you want to feature, and plug in the cord. Smooth wrinkles and adjust the net to cover visible surfaces. Use floral wire to prevent the net from hanging to the ground.
BEST LIGHTS TO SET A FESTIVE MOOD THROUGHOUT YOUR PROPERTY
Pathway or Spot Light
EDISHINE LED Outdoor Spotlight
EDISHINE LED Outdoor Spotlight
Pathway lights add playful, helpful illumination. Installed along the edges of a driveway or walkway, the bright, colorful lights create a warm welcome. To add drama, try spotlights to highlight trees, stone walls, fences, hedges, and other large, broad surfaces. Both styles have stakes to secure them into the ground, but spotlights are adjustable, pivoting up and down and rotating sideways, so you can shine light exactly where you want.
How to Decorate
Install pathway lights or spotlights by pushing stakes into the ground. If the ground is too hard, stop or you might snap off the plastic stake; use a drill and 1-inch-diameter spade bit to bore a short hole into the ground, or pound in a length or rebar a few inches, wiggle it around to enlarge the hole slightly, then remove the rebar and push in the stake. Pathway lights look best when spaced 16 to 18 inches apart.
READY, SET, GLOW!
The gear you need for do-it-yourself holiday decorating done right.
Husky Black Handyman Tool Belt
Keep tools and supplies well organized and easily within reach by wearing this tool belt that features a comfortable, adjustable belt and 12 storage pouches. Wearing a tool belt is especially important when climbing ladders because it frees your hands.
Werner Aluminum Ladder Stabilizer
Add the Werner 10-inch stabilizer when using an extension ladder. It lets you directly view your work area while increasing the ladder’s stability, your safety, and your reach. Mar-resistant rubber end caps protect the ladder from damaging your house.
Push the Enbrighten Outdoor 6-Outlet WiFi Smart Yard Stake into the ground, plug the light strands into any of the six outlets, and use your smartphone or voice command via a WiFi-enabled smart speaker to control light displays.
Erboelec 50-Foot Multi-Outlet Extension Cord
Bring power to your holiday lights with this 16-gauge 50-foot extension cord that has seven evenly spaced outlets, so you can plug in multiple light strings along its length.
Eversprout 24-Foot Utility Hook with Extension Pole
Not crazy about climbing ladders? With the Eversprout extension pole, you can hang lights up to 25 feet high while standing safely on the ground. And, it’s just as handy for taking the lights down.
Joe is a former carpenter and cabinetmaker who writes extensively about remodeling, woodworking, and tool techniques. He has written eight books and is a contributing editor to Popular Mechanics. He also appears on the Today’s Homeowner TV show, and co-hosts the weekly Today’s Homeowner Radio Show. Joe writes from his home in Roxbury, Connecticut.
