Outdoor Christmas Lights: Festive Ideas for Your Garden

Making your home’s facade fun and festive can be a bit of a challenge. How much is too much? Does subtle just mean sparse and dull? Will the neighbours like what you’ve done?

Then there’s the question of cost. Do cheap Christmas decorations have to be tacky and low quality?

Luckily, thanks to this handy guide from B&M; you’ll often find that putting up outdoor Christmas lights is much easier than you thought. We’ll help you choose the right cheap but classy decorations to jazz up your house perfectly.

Considerations

There’s more to outdoor Christmas lights than meets the eye. Logistics should always come first. You’ll need to ask yourself the following questions:

• What are you going to hang them from?
• Is there space?
• Is the place you have chosen sensible?
• If your lights form a string, how long will it need to be?
• How are you going to get them where they need to be?
• How long is the power cable?
• Where is the power source and is it in a safe place (away from children and pets)?

Of course, once you’ve come up with a practical plan, it’s time for something a little more fun: how will your outdoor Christmas decorations look?

You can choose from a warm glow or a magical icy white - or why not deck your home with full colour? Will the look be wintry and abstract or chock-a-block with your favourite seasonal characters?

Icicle lights

Add a touch of class to your outside Christmas lights by hanging icicle lights over your windows or from your eaves. It’s a lovely touch that will work on its own or alongside other designs, with a number of colour options: cool white, warm white or blue and white. 

They’re available in various lengths and some allow you to choose from a number of settings - subtle and still, romantic and snowy or festive and flashing. Plus, you can hang them either outdoors or indoors.

You’ll need to make sure you can access a mains power source for these lovely string lights, as they have to be plugged in.

Acrylic Lights

Make a statement with individual acrylic lights, or arrange a few into a beautiful pattern.

These gorgeous outdoor Christmas lights are particularly popular not just because of their striking appearance, but also because they’re so easy to set up. They use batteries and hang independently of each other, so there’s no need to worry about power sources or cable lengths.

They’re also super affordable to run, as they don’t rely on mains power.

These decorations work beautifully as part of a festive light show outside your home, producing a warm white glow.

Choose from a snowflake or star light for a little Christmas magic.

Hanging Silhouette Lights

Looking for something super cute to give you that warm, fuzzy feeling when you look up at your Christmas display? Why not choose from an array of cuddly characters, including Santa, a penguin, a bear and a reindeer - all available as colourful silhouette decorations?

Display them outside to give passers-by a smile, or place them indoors as warm and welcoming Christmas window lights.

These are some of the most cost efficient options you’ll find, as they’re battery operated - so you won’t need to use mains power - and they’re highly affordable to purchase.

Projectors 

One of the easiest decorating options available are Christmas laser lights. These projectors are bang on trend, usable both indoors and outdoors and available with an array of remote-controlled settings in numerous different patterns and colours.

There’s no need to struggle with strings of lights or make compromises based on power sources - just set up your projector closer or further away to adjust the size and strength of the display and easily bathe your whole house in light.

Chaser Lights 

These types of LED Christmas lights are another major seasonal trend. With a variety of functions available, they’re classy and beautiful to look at as they twinkle and glow in strings.

Drape them across the front of your house, wind them around trees and shrubs or hang them throughout your home - they’re highly versatile and come in a great many colours:

• Ultra bright pastel
• Ultra bright cool white
• Ultra bright ice blue
• Ultra bright warm white
• Ultra bright multi colour

LEDs are a great choice when opting for an energy efficient Christmas, as a huge 95% of the energy they use is converted into light. They glow brightly too, so why not choose a big LED feature as the centre of your display?

Choose between elegant icicles, beautiful and practical acrylics, sweet and affordable silhouettes, super cool laser projectors, instagrammable chaser lights or an amazing combination of all of the above to create the perfect Christmas light display.

Whether you’re planning on subtle Christmas window lights or a hugle colour bonanza that involves the entire front of your house, plan carefully and you’ll find yourself with a glorious and affordable festive house that will impress everyone who passes by.

B&M Top Tip: For everything from xmas lights to tree decorations, gift ideas and more, take a peek at our awesome Christmas Shop!

Have you achieved something wonderful with your xmas lights? Share your pictures and ideas with the B&M Community today via Twitter, Facebook or Instagram!