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String lights make a great addition to any home; whether they are to be used indoors or outdoors they really will turn the space that you live in from a generic cold interior (or exterior) into a place that radiates warmth and that you will want to spend time in.

The Importance of Lighting

You may have noticed from many of our other posts that we believe that interior lighting really can make a house a home. Regardless of the type or condition of the interior of your home if you get the lighting right it will hide a multitude of sins. The best way to get the right lighting is to use multiple light sources and in today world it has never been easier.

String lights used to be reserved for just Christmas and festive periods but this isn’t the case any longer. Whether they are wrapped around a bunch of willow in the corner of a room or all bundled up in a bowl, string lights look great all year round.

What sort of interior style are you trying to create?

It’s unlikely that if you are trying to create ultimate bachelor pad that string lights will feature in your lighting scheme. If you are female however and are trying to create the ultimate sanctuary string lights should be up there on your list of home accessories. Whether you own your home, rent a home or even just have your own bedroom in a place, there is no reason why you shouldn’t try to put your own stamp on it. Sting lights are the perfect way to do this, wonderfully feminine, string lights are the way to add some elegance, grace and warmth in to a room.

String lights also add a strong point of interest in a room, so if you are renting a place and can’t put things on the wall then you could try the methods that I mentioned before – let me recap on them and also add some new ideas.

How to use string lights to add interest to a room.

Many home stores now sell bunches of willow, by getting some string lights that have transparent cables you can weave them unobtrusively through the willow. When night falls and you switch on the string lights the light will bounce off the willow and will give the corner of your room a wonderful warm glow.

A plain glass vase and some battery operated string lights are all that you need to create a ‘wow’ focal point. Try and find some sting lights that are about 5 ft long and with a transparent cord. Stuff the lights in to the vase (making sure that you can get easy access to the on/off switch) and your done. The sting lights look fantastic at night particularly if you find some with a transparent cord as the light refracts through the cord creating a great spectacle.

Similar to the ‘bunches of willow’ tip is that of careful weaving some battery operated string lights through a plant. Instead of creating a warming glow you should get a slightly greenish tinge in the light from the plants foliage.

All three of these ideas are a beautiful way to use string lights to improve the appearance of your home.

String lights transform a space. They turn plain, boring and uninteresting into a magical atmosphere. They are easy to install, cheap to run and look fantastic in whatever way you chose to use them. They were once reserved for Christmas and festive use but they have proved so popular that they are now used year round. LiveIn|LiveOut have taken a look at how you can get some string lights in to your home.

Four ideas for string lights in your home

1. Think of any dark corner in any room that needs a bit of a lift and perhaps place them into a large, tall glass vase. This adds instant glamour because you will find that in a glass the light tends to reflect around the material and looks simply stunning. It is best to use battery operated string lights for this purpose, as you will not be able to see the power source quite so easily once the string is bundled into the vase. Not having a cable going to an illuminated vase only enhances its beauty.
2. Why not add them to a bunch of willow? This looks amazing propped up in a corner adding interest to a porch, bathroom or bare corner of a living room. If where you choose to use them does not have a power point near by such as in the bathroom the battery powered option would be better.
3. Another way you could display your string lights is in your houseplants. This will require some of you more hardy plants and nothing too weak. Even though LED string lights are lighter in weight you will have to concentrate the majority of the weight around the ‘trunk’ or ‘stalk’ of the plant just so it doesn’t add too much strain on them.
4. String lights are great idea to add some fun into your child’s room. Children are visual and highly sensory beings when they are young. They learn and respond to lighting, so a simple and relatively cheap way of adding some creativity into their lives is to place some string lights around the room. The lights will create shapes on the walls giving your child hours of enjoyment and a sense of wonder … LED string lights are low heat so they are safer around small people. You can get them in a myriad of colours and they also come in a colour changing option. Great to stimulate those senses and relax the baby at night so you can have a better nights sleep. Do bare in mind though that any type of cord or string is a potential hazard for young children, so do make sure that they a fixed safely and securely out of reach.
   

Four ideas for string lights in your garden

1. For outdoor use you simply cannot beat solar string lights. The fact that they do not need to be plugged in, or have batteries gives you instant flexibility on where you can place them.Like inside the home, string lights look great in a feature plant or tree out of the front of your home and will add a bit of interest not only to the front of your home but also the entire street. Solar lighting does tend to take on more of a white/blue light as opposed to a more ambient warmer white light – but these can be purchased if you specifically require them but you will find that they cost a little more than the wired versions.
2. Another great place to put some string lighting is around your patio area. It is somewhere you like to sit and enjoy your garden so why not create more of an ambiance by some beautiful lighting solutions. Patio string lights like all types of outdoor lighting would be specifically for outdoor purposes and these are a little more expensive as they need to be of a certain IP rating (an IP rating general dictates how waterproof an electrical product is). You could perhaps wrap these around your table umbrella in order to create a perfect setting for those cosy summer nights watching the sun go down – you can even get dedicated patio umbrella lights.
3. The third place that you could put outdoor string lights would be in a pergola or archway. Delicate paper lantern type string lights do not have to cost a fortune and really enhance your garden.
4. Willow and reed screens have become very popular in recent years but at night their beauty is lost. If you can get small enough string lights you can poke them in between the willow sticks from behind so that they create a beautiful starry effect at night. This is possibly may favourite use of outdoor string lights.

Ideas for different types of string lights

Now that you have some ideas of how you might use string lights in and around your home, lets take a look at the different types of string lights there are available. You may or may not be aware that there is a multitude of different shapes, sizes, lengths and looks of string lighting on today’s market that are suitable for both indoor and outdoor usage.

I know that if you were looking at creating a Japanese feel into your garden you may want to get some paper lantern string lights – obviously if they are to be used outdoors look for the plastic/ paper look material! These are great – they look colourful and stylish adding sophistication into your space. I recently went to a home show and saw a fairly new design that looked like a string of lit leaves; they were beautiful and came in a fair few colours to match any interior.

If you are looking for a softer option for your bedroom, feathered string lights are in fashion. They look feminine and pretty and simply look at home draped over your mirror. Tube rope light is another option taking on a spaceier feel. The tubing is less unobtrusive during the day as it is clear rather that having lengths of wire cluttering up your home – at night they come to life casting a rather spectacular glow around the room.