Holiday Lights From a Professional Perspective

Holiday lighting season is in full swing at lighting store Perth and we couldn’t be more excited! There are many things we love about decorating homes and businesses for this special time of year and important things to remember as we do. Here are a few notes from a professional’s perspective on holiday lighting:

Holiday lighting allows you to be completely flexible because of the temporary nature of the design.  If there are not already flowerbeds to outline, we can create the outlines to emphasize an area of the landscape. You can create shapes and designs such as stars on large flat areas like chimneys or roofs, professionals from companies like https://www.diyroofs.com can help you out with this.  We can also create interesting effects by staggering light color groups to create an outline that isn’t just a hard line, but has a colorful twinkle.  For example, if you run a red and white strand with alternating red and white bulbs, the lights end up looking pink from a distance.  Instead we use groups of two white lights and two red lights to create a running red-white design.

When outlining homes in lights, it is also important to consider bulb spacing in terms of where the lights will hang and the viewing points.  Often a 2^nd story dormer or gable will be outlined with bulbs spaced  24” apart, while the lower roof lines are lined with strands set at 15” apart.  This creates the final visual effect of all the lights being of similar spacing.  If we used all strands with the exact same spacing of bulbs, areas further from the viewer or at an angle would appear as if there were more bulbs per strand.  It’s a trick of the eye and perspective that we consider throughout the holiday lighting design.

Scale is a key consideration for lighting and for all outdoor holiday decorations.  Consider the size of decorative elements such as wreaths in terms of the overall area it will highlight.  For example, to create a focal point between columns on an entry where the columns are set ten or more feet apart, you need a wreath that will span at least half or more of the distance in order for it to appear in proportion to the house.  A 72”-wide wreath may sound enormous, but hanging between those columns it will look exactly right.

Spacing, scale and staggering light color groups…sound like a lot to remember? No worries, leave the hard work to us! Head on over to our Contact Page and fill out a form. We’ll give you a call back and set up an appointment to get things moving with your 2015 holiday lighting installation!