6 Creative ways to repurpose Christmas lights for decoration

Love Christmas, love lights & love decoration. If you are one of those with boxes full of Christmas lights for decoration and want to repurpose bring the cosiness & the joy of this season of your home all year round – here are some easy DIY upcycling ideas!

Once Christmas is over every year, we fill boxes with decoration stuff, however, there is one item in particular that could be easily repurposed throughout the entire year: Christmas light.

These lights are useful for far more than just lighting up your tree and garland once a year. Strings of white LED Christmas lights are always great for DIY projects and home decoration, both inside and outside.

The best white Christmas lights for decorative use after December have a warmer color. Cooler white lights are more of an icier spectacle- they are fantastic for Christmas but are not as versatile as the lights with a warmer white or yellow glow for other seasons. String lights are available in various colors and designs, and the LED options are generally very energy-efficient compared to other lighting options.

String lights can give a room a comfortable and welcoming glow or can set up a pleasant atmosphere for your porch and patio. Let’s take a look at a few different uses for these lights:

Bedroom Lights

String lights can go a long way in creating a pleasant and relaxing atmosphere for any room of the house, but they can be particularly effective in the bedroom. This type of lighting is particularly perfect for kids’ and teens’ bedrooms. Additional useful features for creating ambiance may include a dimmer switch or timer.

Set up the lights behind the bed to create a reading lamp, or wrap the lights around curtain rods or door frames to illuminate other areas of the room. Beds with canopy extensions are perfect for these lights, as they can be wrapped around the posts and cross beams to elevate the light source. 

Make sure to get decoration hooks so you can avoid putting a nail through the wall whenever possible. Decorative hooks are particularly great for covering corners of the room, where there is frequently less furniture and lighting by default.

Porch and Patio Lighting

Not all white Christmas lights are usable outdoors, so make sure to check the packaging for the intended use. More often than not, the string lights are perfectly capable of working outdoors and withstanding the weather. This capability makes them perfect for lighting up your porch, patio, or other outdoor seating arrangements. 

If you have a covered porch, try setting up the lights directly beneath the overhang, so their glow affects the space without being visible from the street. This setup avoids giving off the appearance of still having your Christmas lights up. If you have battery-powered string lights, consider adding these lights to the underside of patio umbrellas or coverings. Create a comfortable ambience and help develop your outdoor space as an extension of your indoor living space. 

Make sure you have an outdoor outlet available for powering your lights. In many cases, an extension cord may be necessary, and you may need to pick one up that is waterproof or designed explicitly for outdoor use. You may also want to check out this extension cord container hack to prevent damage to extension cords when hanging lights. 

Add lights to the trunk of larger trees or to the branches of smaller trees in the backyard to create a summery setting, similar to an outdoor restaurant or beer garden. White string lights are an easy way to make the backyard a comfortable space for entertaining guests. 

Shelving and Bookcases

Many storage solutions and bookcases with minimalist or basic designs can be spruced up with string lights. Wrap the lights around the sides and top of the exterior of a bookcase to set up a cosy reading area. Alternatively, use the lights behind the items on a shelf to give a warm glow to the wall behind without having the Christmas lights directly visible.

Windows

Many windows within your house may not have nearby lighting, on account the window letting in natural light for most of the day. Try hooking string lights to the window frame for a creative and decorative look, or drape the lights around the curtain rod to prop them up around the window. Unfortunately, for some homes, it can be challenging to find a place to plug in the lights without making this setup look cluttered. Feel free to get experimental!

Jars and Lanterns

Lights for jars and lanterns are a more creative use of white string lights but frequently require battery-powered lights with shorter strings and smaller light bulbs. Add the lights to the inside of larger jars or lanterns to create a decorative display that doubles as a light source. This is great for coffee tables, counters, and sideboards, which sometimes need a decorative boost.

Dorm Rooms

Christmas string lights are trendy for decorating college dorm rooms. Most dormitories have dull or insufficient light sources that exist for practical purposes only. There are also rarely any lights for specific spaces, like a desk or reading lamps, and the color of the available lights is usually that of a cooler LED color.

Lamps and string lights effectively create a warmer atmosphere and relaxing ambience for dorms without breaking the college budget. They also help your dormitory feel more like home and less of a temporary space. After a long day of classes, it’s important to have a comfortable and relaxing space to return to and decompress.

Repurposing your Christmas Decoration Lights Wrap-up!

Before putting away the Christmas lights next time, look out for creative ways to use your white string lights. There are some spectacular DIY decoration projects out there that utilize these lights to accent rooms and illuminate interiors- you can find many of them with a quick Google search.

Before decorating with string lights, make sure you have the correct color, length, and type of light necessary for your project. Choose carefully before setting up larger lighting projects, particularly for commercial spaces, and be attentive in avoiding fire hazards. Christmas light decorations are an enjoyable way to get creative with your indoor and outdoor spaces, even when it isn’t Christmas.