Light up the back of my house

last year

How would you light up the back of my house for the holidays next year? I installed exterior electrical receptacles. I was originally thinking of a lighted garland on the balcony, but it might be lonely. Should I repeat it with horizontal lighting under the eaves, or outline the roof? I love the look of icicle lights but don't know how that would look. I could wrap string lights around the columns or use column wraps. Would column wraps on multiple columns be too much light in my backyard? I have neighbors behind me who light up their yard with string lights and I love it. I tell them every year and feel bad I am not reciprocating. Should I use warm white light or cool with my cocoa siding and dark brown windows and doors? Should I mix in a little red? It goes great with the siding color. Should I throw light nets over the shrubbery? The front of our house is very simple with a single candle in every window, an unlit wreath at the door and a pair of small lit Christmas trees flanking the entry. How it looks from inside also is important. The room with the balcony is the primary bedroom. The family room is below. On the right is the kitchen. There is a hall from the front of the house straight back to the breakfast area where the sliders are in the middle of the house. There is a railing just outside the breakfast nook that keeps kids from falling off the right side of the patio onto the lower level patio. Attached are photos from outside and inside.

This is the back of the house showing the cocoa colors. · More Info

Featured Answer

chicagoans

last year

Good time to buy lights for next year!

I'm a sucker for garlands and wreaths (in addition to lights) and I'd love to see something that takes advantage of the blank space between your upper and lower porches on the left. Mockup below. You could hang the wreaths using thick ribbon tied around the columns above. (On the right side you'd need hooks or nails into the siding, which might be a no go for you. But maybe you could figure something out, rust proof, painted to match / blend with your siding.)

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Comments (14)

chispa
last year
So many ways that you could do garlands and lighting, but you don't want to go overboard.

I would do lighted garlands on the columns on the right and swagged lighted garlands on the railing (all the way around).
kl23
Original Author
last year
Interesting! Really didn't think of doing different things on columns, some but not all.
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kl23
Original Author
last year
I also didn't imagine using garlands in low-hanging swags like in this picture from Pinterest. That wouldn't look off on just the left like you squiggled it, @chispa. I like it! I like that it repeats the evergreen shrubs on the ground too. Thanks for expanding my imagination!
kl23
Original Author
last year
I was only imagining something like this and thought it would look weird on just the one side.
kl23
Original Author
last year
Then there's this concept with ceiling garlands. I just never thought about garlands. I just thought about lights. But I love the garland idea @chispa
chispa
last year
The garland idea with lights adds interest both during the day and night. Glad it gave you more ideas to think about. I did nothing this year, so can probably use some inspiration myself! lol
kl23
Original Author
last year
@chispa post your house and maybe we will co-inspire.
kl23
Original Author
last year
Or start your own post and copy the link into this one so I can find it. 😁
kl23
Original Author
last year
@chispa great minds and all... That's why I started this post now, to take advantage of sales. 😁 Those garlands aren't cheap.

I do SO agree that I should have a filler in that large space between the patio and balcony! Wreathes are perfect! I honestly didn't think of them. You are the perfect foil for me on this project. All I ever think of are the lights. And I love your idea of hanging the wreathes from the column bases. I'm a bit worried I won't be able to find a red ribbon that won't stain them though. Still, I can use fishing line to do the hanging.

You also managed to create continuity across the two sides of the house with a single line that is just wider on one side. That's really next-level!

Hooks... Don't worry. Command makes outdoor hooks. 😁 Did you know? I love Command hooks! Hang them once and use them for years. Mostly I have used them in my shower. 🥴 They can really take water. I also used them at work on my concrete block wall.

To do this, I think I'll need ten garlands and five wreathes, right? While I do have outdoor ceiling outlets, I am leaning towards the remote-control battery operated on a timer. I have my window candles set to come on at 4:00 pm and turn off at 10:00 pm. It's nice to have the house all lit up when I come home at night. I need to think about this part.
chicagoans
last year
last modified: last year
"I'm a bit worried I won't be able to find a red ribbon that won't stain them though." I have hung wreaths outdoors for years without staining - either the white brick on my last house, the white painted columns (I wrapped them like candy canes with red ribbon), or the window trim on my last or current house. I've used the waterproof, velvety ribbon, as well as regular wide wired ribbon and it's all worked fine. Tip for the long ends of wired ribbon (whether on gifts or used outside): wrap it around something round, like a paper towel tube or the handle of a whisk, and gently pull off to create perfect curls.

FWIW, in my last house I used ribbons looped around the top of the wreaths, then closed into the upper part of my double hung windows. (Hopefully that makes sense - I'd lower the upper part of the window, stick the wreath and ribbon out, then close the window with the end of the ribbon wedged in place above the window.) I've done that at my current house with casement windows.
kl23
Original Author
last year
Do you have a link to the ribbon you use? 😁
chicagoans
last year
I got the red ribbon ages ago, probably at Hobby Lobby. Here’s a link to something similar on Amazon.

https://a.co/d/4hwIPnr
chicagoans
last year
Here’s what I have now: just regular wired ribbon from Hobby Lobby. This now looks a bit bedraggled but the ribbon is 14+ years old and has been outside every winter in the Chicago area (and made it through two moves and being stuffed in a storage bin.) Never made a mark on my former white brick house.