How to decorate your home with Christmas lights

It might seem obvious, but decorating with Christmas lights can be a lot more creative than you might think and you can take them way beyond the tree.

Let’s talk about the power of the fairy light. Even if you’re not that into Christmas Day itself, there’s no denying that stringing up a whole lot of fairy lights makes a home feel cosy. And while trends tend to come and go as quickly as the day itself, Christmas lights are timeless. You’ll use them year after year, even if you don’t get an actual tree. Here are some ways to see the light this year.

Whether you have a garden, patio, balcony or window box, putting up outdoor lights is undeniably festive – especially since it gets dark so early.

String subtle rows of fairy lights wherever you can. Got a tree in your garden? Add some lights. A shed? Pop some lights along the roof. A window box that’s been lacking pizzazz since summer? Wrap it in lights. No outdoor space whatsoever? Dress your windows – add hanging lights from curtain poles or hang traditional lights in window frames, both look great.

The joy that a sprinkling of light will give you on a cold night in December is unlike much else, even if it’s the only decorating you do.

Wreaths and Christmas go together like pigs in their blankets, but if you’re looking to turn things up a notch this year, why not experiment with making a wreath out of fairy lights? Obviously you could cheat and just buy a wreath made of lights, but that won’t bring the same satisfaction as making it yourself.

Simply get some chicken wire and mould it into your chosen shape and size before wrapping battery-powered lights round until you have the desired design. Feeling really fancy? Add a few different types of lights.

If you’re fed up with pine needles or can’t get on board with tinsel, adding single rows of fairy lights to any shelf or mantelpiece gives a timeless and elegant effect and creates an ambient atmosphere in any room. Try replicating this throughout your home to create symmetry and, hey, you might love it so much you ‘forget’ to take some of them down in January.

Got stairs at home? Wrap some Christmas lights around the bannister. A note: make sure you have battery-operated lights or a long set that can (safely!) reach a plug socket before you start – otherwise you’ll spend a lot of time wrapping, only to realise you can’t switch on the lights. Much like adding them to shelves, fairy lights around bannisters create an ambient effect and look glorious when the main room lights are low.

‘If you’re tight on space and don’t have room for a Christmas tree or any other kind of decorations, create a warm and cosy atmosphere by adding lights to your indoor plants,’ Ellie Allen, Home Design Stylist at John Lewis, says. ‘It adds a really festive vibe to any room, big or small.’

Holly Rains, Senior Editor and Partner, adds, ‘While the Christmas tree is often the main event in the living room, I like to show the indoor plants some love at Christmas and drape thin strips of white fairy lights over the bigger ones. Bird-of-paradise plants work well for this, along with oversized spider plants, or you could even weave lights loosely through English ivy (a very forgiving plant). That way, your Christmas lights can carry on throughout the house, and the magic isn’t confined to just one room.’

When it comes to the main event of decorating your Christmas tree, Ellie Allen says: ‘Use two sets of lights – this makes all the difference and means you can have a wonderful backdrop for all of your baubles to be the real showstoppers.

‘I like to wrap the first set of lights up the trunk of the Christmas tree for that inner glow, and then work your way out along the branches. Placing some lights at the front in a zigzag pattern creates depth and delicate warmth. Or wrap the second set of lights around the base, within the tree skirt, so it really is glowing from top to bottom.’