Residential Landscape Lighting & Design

Tuesday, August 30, 2005

Christmas light, santa claus, christmas decorations, outdoor christmas lighting & outdoor christmas decorations

I moved to a new home the middle of last year. Before I knew it, it was Christmas! I had no idea that the entire neighborhood went crazy with Christmas lighting. It looked like a winter wonderland. Needless to say, my house was the laughing stock of the neighborhood. I am determined not to let that happen again. What advice can you give a guy who is training for a big Christmas lighting display?

Congratulations on your new home. Sorry to hear your first Christmas was a little rough. I know from experience that CHRISTMAS LIGHTING is big business and many people live for the experience. I know in my neighborhood it is fierce competition.

Since you are starting from scratch on your house you might stick with the basics this year and add on more items over time or as your budget allows. Here are some tips and suggestions for a successful Christmas lighting program:

CHECK YOUR CIRCUITS
Do a physical count of the receptacles around your house and identify the breaker size. Nothing is worse than installing a new Christmas lighting system only to have the breaker trip on Christmas Day! Depending on the size of your lighting display you might need up to (4-8) 20 amp dedicated circuits. Contact a local electrician to help you with this process before you complete your design. This is the heart of a good Christmas lighting job.

TAKE A PICTURE OF YOUR HOUSE
Take a digital picture of your house and print several copies on plain white paper. This will now be your blueprint or roadmap for your design that will show run lengths and plug locations. Now you can start developing a design.

MEASURE THE HOUSE
Measure the width of the house and particularly the entire roof line for some basic light strings. The C7 & C9 BULK LIGHT STRINGS are a perfect way to fabricate a continuous run of lights without unsightly splices that could be dangerous. It also allows you to run the fixture wire directly to you first dedicated receptacle on the house. We have SHINGLE CLIPS FOR CHRISTMAS LIGHTS to make your job easy and fun. In addition to outlining the roof with Christmas lights, you can also illuminate vertical elements of the house such as outside corners, doorways, chimneys and other architectural features of your home. Be sure and buy extra C7 & C9 LAMPS so that you have plenty of replacement lamps. Personally, I like the transparent lamps the best. They look bright, rich and full of Christmas cheer! Remember, only buy Christmas lighting products that carry a UL Rating from a reputable manufacturer.

LIGHT THE SHRUBS AND TREES
Now that you are down off the ladder, it's time to get the kid's help installing CHRISTMAS TWINKLE LIGHTS & NET LIGHTS on the ornamental trees and shrubs across the front of the house. Don't go crazy trying to get the MINI LIGHTS perfectly positioned on each shrub. It is more important that you don't run the lights in a straight line, but rather using an alternating approach to spread the lights around for balance and symmetry. Nobody likes seeing the wires during the day, so concentrate on the lights and how effectively they will look at night. You will need to make any final adjustments to your CHRISTMAS LIGHTS after dark.

INSTALL SOME SCULPTURES
The final element of your Christmas lighting display is LIGHTED YARD SCULPTURES and other Christmas decorations such as ANGELS, BOWS, CANDY CANES, GIFT BOXES, LIGHTED WREATHS, LIGHTED GARLAND and HANGING LIGHTED ORNAMENTS. If you have a large patio or terrace you might even consider a LIGHTED CHRISTMAS TREE or several ARTIFICIAL TREES.

HELPFUL HINTS

Buy early and save big money! Buy after Christmas and save big money! If you wait until November or even December you will pay more and feel rushed. Have some fun and do it right!

Have your electrician install TIMER CONTROLS. That way you don't have to worry about going outside in the middle of the night to unplug your Christmas lights.

Contact Residential Landscape Lighting & Design at 800-239-2939 for all your HOLIDAY LIGHTING and CHRISTMAS DECORATING needs.

Labels: Christmas Decoration Extravagance, Christmas Lighting Tips, Holiday Lighting and Decoration, Timer Control