It’s your first holiday season in your new, custom-built Turnkey Home, and you are eager to make it festive. Decorative lights on the outside of the home help bring in the holiday spirit and show off your new homeownership pride. Putting in a little planning before you start hanging the lights will ensure your display looks its best and complements your home. Here are a few suggestions to help you when decorating your new Turnkey Home for the holidays.
Make a Plan
The best way to start any project is to first design a plan. Start with your end vision. What is your dream for how you want your house to look lit up at night? Is your decorating preference minimalistic, or do you love grand scenes? The finished design can be contemporary and trendy, traditional, or nostalgic. Answering these questions will enable you to determine which style of lights to choose, the colors, the quantity to purchase, and any additional displays needed to complete the look.
Next, pick a focal point for the design. Stand at the end of your driveway and consider how the house would look from the street if certain features were accented. The house’s structural features are often the perfect place to hang lights that will accent the lines and elevations. What feature of the home would you most want to accent to be the viewer’s focal point? Home features to decorate can include the framing around the front door and garage, columns, peaks and eaves of the roof, driveways, paths, decks, railings, and landscaping such as trees and shrubs. The project’s dreaming and planning stage should be fun and creative, so involve the family to come up with decorating ideas. Write down all the ideas in order of preference and priority and take into consideration your budget.
Measure Everything
For each section where you wish to hang lights, measure the distance and write each down on your list. Measuring will help you determine the total feet and number of light strands you will need to purchase, either for each separate area or collectively for one continuous line of lights. Also, measure the distance to your power source from the end of the lights so that you can purchase the correct length extension cord.
A little detailed planning will help you avoid the embarrassment and frustration of being short in one section of the design, having to take it down and start over, and prevent a second trip to the store. A rope or string marked with increments in feet makes measuring easy. If you wish to wrap lights around a tree, wrap the rope or string around the tree in the way you will hang the lights to determine the exact length of lights you will need. Take your detailed list with you to the store when you purchase the lights.
Choose Your Lights
With the advent of LEDs and advanced electrical designs, there are now dozens of options available. LED lights use less energy, won’t overheat, and come in a variety of colors, making them a smart and easy choice. Lights styles include classic white, single color, multi-color, icicle, round shapes, trendy shapes, and even old-fashioned, multi-colored, strawberry-shaped that give a nostalgic feel. Netted blanket lights are designed for bushes and shrubs and simply lay on top of the plants. Whatever style you prefer, have fun choosing among a variety of light shapes and colors. But when you hang them, group the same type and color together.
After you have decorated for the holidays if you find something with the house that needs more help than what the lights can provide, give Turnkey Homes a call. Turnkey Homes LLC offers many professional services in addition to home building and remodeling. Contact us today to find out how we can help you. Call us today at (920) 470-4315, or contact us at turnkeyhomesllc.com/contact-us.
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