How to Hang String Lights Indoors

Don't pack those holiday light strings away when you take down the tree.


Fairy lights -- the tiny, sometimes twinkly, white or clear bulbs that look like fairy dust when entwined in tulle -- cast magical spells in a romantic bedroom. Pumpkin or chili pepper lights set the stage for tricks, treats or salsa picante in a dining room or kitchen. Blue or green bulbs evoke undersea reefs or the shadows of a moonlit garden.


Turn an ordinary room into a winterscape with strings of white lights descending from the ceiling. Mix white stars, flowers or tiny twinkling bulbs at regular intervals across one end of a room by the window or over the entire ceiling. Look for light strings on white or clear wire to maintain the frosty illusion. Loop wires over the struts of an acoustical-tile ceiling or attach them to lines of clear monofilament or very thin silver wires stretched from nails or hooks in the ceiling molding. Let longer or connected strings pool over the top of a cupboard or a mirror or picture frame like drifts of snow.

Rainbow Wall

From a wrought-iron drapery rod or a full length of bamboo hung horizontally high on the wall, drape or tie different-colored light strings close together. Let them fall in an even spill down the wall to form a curtain of light. Large, round bulbs in candy colors are circus-like. Tiny blue bulbs send a glow over the room and its furnishings. Twinkly white fairy lights freeze an ordinary wall into a glacier of light. Set a low sofa in front of the shimmering wall, or let it be the backdrop to an intimate dining table and chairs. A light wall in the foyer makes a spectacular entrance for guests when they arrive for a party.

Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Tent

Bunch six to 12 strings of lights together in a ring or hook in the ceiling of a playroom and fan the strings out as they reach the floor to form a tent. Small eye-hooks at floor level hold each strand of the tent in place; carpet or paint a piece of 3/4-inch lumber for the tent "floor" if you don't want to make small holes in the real floor. Make the campsite even more festive by streaming colorful ribbons or lengths of fabric from the ceiling hook, between the light strings. Use LED lights that stay cool to the touch, and leave a wide enough opening for the tent entry so occupants aren't brushing against the light strings every time they enter or leave.

Luminous Language

Write a message on the wall with rope lights or braided fairly lights to illuminate an important idea. "Imagine" and "Invent" glow over the headboards in a shared kid's room. A staple gun or hot glue gun works to fasten light strings to a painted board that can be hung with little damage to a wall. Tack lights directly to the wall if small holes in the plaster are easy to fill in before a change of decor. Solid-color lights are simplest to read, but a confetti of colors is fun.

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