How to Decorate Columns with Christmas Tree Lights
Your house or building has beautiful columns which majestically show their presence except during the holidays. They seem to get lost in the background behind the traditional hanging of wreaths or garland. Why not include these features in your holiday display as a base to your decorations? Just think of this action similar to putting lights next to the trunk deep in the middle of your Christmas tree. These lights fill in the empty space enhancing the look and impact of your ornaments. Decorating the columns on your house or building has the same effect. These lights enhance the structure and impactfully enhance your holiday decorations.
Additionally, you want to ensure you don’t damage the structure with staples or hooks. You want to ensure the strands look neat and tidy day or night. Organized, consistent spacing of the outdoor lights is possible when using TREE-Z® Wrap.
Now that we’ve got your attention, how do you begin?
The first step is considering what you want your home or building to look like when decorated both day and night.
Here are some questions you should think about beforehand:
Are there any focal points of my property that I want to highlight?
While the Christmas tree peeking through your window will certainly be the main attraction of your display, there may be other external features you wish to decorate (outdoor trees, columns, railings, pillars, etc.). Large outdoor trees are perfect for elegant decoration (with the right equipment).
Here are some examples of decorating the columns on a home. During the day, the columns remain neat and organized.
At night when the columns are lit is when the magic happens. A cheerful, fully decorated home is so impressive. One would probably win a yard décor of the month award for these exceptional decorations. TreE-Z Wrap allows you to accomplish this task with ease.
What is my budget?
If you’re planning an extravagant display, it is worth considering how much you are willing to spend on additional strings of lights. You should also factor in additional items like timers and installation tools. You might want to consider a professional Christmas light installer. You should be able to find one in your area. If not, please reach out to us and we’ll offer some recommendations for your area.
How much free time do I have to install these lights?
Installing Christmas lights can be a time-consuming task! If you’re planning to tackle this by yourself, work out a day and time when you plan to complete the installation. It will be soul-destroying to get halfway through the job on a Sunday night, only to be faced with a full work week and the knowledge you’ll have to complete the work in your evenings after work.
With this knowledge in hand, it can be valuable to measure the surface area you want to cover with Christmas lights. Again, you may choose to have a professional installer take care of this chore for you.
Choosing the lights
Not all Christmas lights are created equal. Your choice will really depend on the vibe you are aiming for with your display.
If you want to go for a more colorful style, there are color-changing LEDs that can be programmed with a mobile app. These can be particularly striking on the outside of your home. In fact, when it comes to the outdoor setup, there is a wide array of options. Icicle lights can provide a classy touch, while net lights, rope lights and even projection displays can be utilized to cover larger areas. Solar-powered lights are eco-friendly and do not require a trailing cord to a power supply, but they typically do not shine as brightly.
Equipment and safety considerations
You might think we are repeating ourselves from earlier blogs. We are and is a redundant step - until you come to hang those lights from your home’s rooftop and find that the ladder doesn’t quite reach. Check in advance that you have the necessary equipment to install your Christmas lights, including power strips, ladders and step stools.
There are a couple of safety considerations to bear in mind - particularly when hanging lights outside. As with any electrical installation, beware of overloading outlets, and don’t install your lights in severe wind or rain. You will also need to ensure that the lights are UL-rated and approved for outdoor use. Try to minimize trailing electrical cords in high-traffic areas.
How to install outdoor Christmas lights
The easiest way to wrap an outdoor Christmas tree is to start at the base and wrap your way around and up the tree. Take regular breaks to make sure that your lights are evenly spaced and look good from all angles. Hide the plugs for connecting lights deep inside the branches. Using string lights with a green wire will minimize the exposure of the wire. All of our packs of TREE-Z® Wrap include starter cord which acts as a second helping hand to hold the stick in place while you thread your outdoor string lights.
With TREE-Z® Wrap, your lights are securely fastened and stay in place in the harshest conditions. g lights on tall objects (such as trees, or on rooftops), it can be useful to have a ‘spotter’ on the ground who can advise of any alterations that need to be made. For both aesthetic and safety reasons, wires and cords should be anchored in place.
Following adding Christmas lights on the outside of your home, it can be worth periodically taking a stroll up and down your street to see how it looks from various angles. While it may look excellent from your driveway, passers by may view your display from a different viewpoint.
Troubleshooting tips and advice
As previously said, these often overlooked tips can improve the chances of a stress-free installation.
- Check your lights before installation. If your lights have been sitting in the garage for most of the year, check them before you spend precious minutes or hours wrapping them around your home - only to find that they no longer work. Also, take this time to untangle them.
- For outdoor installations, check the weather forecast a few days beforehand. Nobody wants to be (or frankly, should be!) putting up lights in the driving rain, thunderstorms, or snow and ice.
- Don’t leave it to the last minute. The longer you put the job off, the more likely it is that you will rush the actual work, which will have an impact on the final installation. Starting a little earlier also reduces the chance of the weather affecting your plans.
How TREE-Z® Wrap simplifies hanging string lights outside
Simple, straightforward solution for hanging Christmas lights (or indeed, string lights for any occasion or holiday) outside your home, TREE-Z® Wrap is an excellent solution that doesn’t require any nails, screws, staples or other hardware. It is also a reusable solution that saves you time putting up and taking down outdoor lights, while also reducing the time taking down lights after the festivities are over.
Designed to be affixed securely to outdoor trees, columns, posts, or railings, TREE-Z® Wrap provides strong support for string lights without causing any damage to your property. The product features integrated hooks that hold lights in place evenly—no drilling, hammering, or sticky residue required. Because it’s adjustable and flexible, TREE-Z® Wrap works on a variety of surfaces and shapes, making it perfect for holiday lighting.
TREE-Z® Wrap provides strong support for string lights without causing any damage to your property. The wrap features integrated hooks that hold lights in place evenly—no drilling, hammering, or sticky residue required. Because it’s adjustable and flexible, TREE-Z® Wrap works on a variety of surfaces and shapes, making it perfect for holiday lighting. Whether you're decorating a tree trunk or wrapping lights around a porch post, using TREE-Z® Wrap makes it fast, clean and damage-free with a professional finish.
So, the answer to the question of whether or not to decorate columns with Christmas Tree Lights is absolutely yes!