Whether it is for Christmas decoration, parties, or even for year-round home/garden decoration, fairy lights are one of the easy, best, and fancy ways to light-up the mood. Fairy Lights are nothing but series or string lights that some people call the Christmas Lights or Decorative Lights. But if you are wondering how to hang fairy lights, then this guide is for you. We will see couple of easy ways to hang them from walls, ceiling, outdoors (plants, fences), and also how to secure them properly.
An Overview of Fairy Lights
An important routine for many households during the holiday season is to decorate their beautiful homes with lights. A fancy name for these decorative lights is Fairy Lights.
Fairy lights, also known as string lights, bring a warm glow to any space. These lights consist of small bulbs on a thin, flexible wire, often designed to resemble twinkling stars or glowing fireflies.
Whenever we talk about these lights, we usually picture them with a warm color tone as early generations of Christmas lights were incandescent. But with modern LED lighting picking up the pace even for decoration lights, we can now get different styles/color tones such as cool white, warm white, colored, and even RGB.
You can get them as mains powered or battery powered lights. Some fairy lights are a simple string lights while some come as curtain lights.
Irrespective of the color and type of bulb they use, the purpose of fairy lights is to create an ambience and bring out that festive mood. Some even use them as a year-long decoration lights in their rooms with their art work, Polaroids and photos for family and friends.
Where Can We Hang Fairy Lights?
Let us first see some common places/areas where you can hang fairy lights.
- Starting with indoors, you can hang them in your living room either on the wall as a complement to your artwork, photo frames etc. or from the ceiling along the corners.
- If you have a bookcase or a display shelf, then these fairy lights can highlight the items in that.
- You can get creative with fairy lights by using them with an empty glass jar, a basket, your dresser or any other place that benefits from these lights.
- Another place where we spend a significant amount of time during holiday season is kitchen and dining table. So, start decorating your jars, boards or recipe books.
- In case you have a wine collection, these fairy lights can highlight them. You can even use empty wine bottles (or any other glass bottles), fill them with fairy lights and place them in various corners of the kitchen or on the dining table.
- Bedrooms become cozy with the addition of fairy lights. You can drape lights along headboards to create a soft, ambient light for reading or relaxing. Placing fairy lights around mirrors adds a gentle glow that improves the room’s depth and ambiance. Hang them above your bed or highlight your dressing table.
- One of the best and absolutely incredible places to hang fairy lights is in your kid’s bed tents or inside a canopy.
- In bathrooms, you can place waterproof fairy lights around mirrors as an elegant lighting option, creating a more soothing environment for daily routines room’s without posing safety risks.
- You can hang the fairy lights on your house’s entrance, along the hallway or a drive path. If you have porch, you can get creative with these lights and decorate these areas to entertain your friends and family.
There are so many other places where you can hang fairy lights in and around your house. Do some creative thinking with these lights on their placement and it will be a conversation starter.
How to Hang Fairy Lights?
Now, the important question: How to Hang Fairy Lights? To be very straight forward, there is no definitive answer to this question. As they are simple decorative lights, you can hang them as you like as long as they don’t interfere/obstruct you, doesn’t fall or come-off their hanging position and continue to light up as you intended.
Gather the Tools and Materials
For sturdy surfaces like wood or plaster walls, small nails or push pins hold lights securely. These work well in long-term setups, especially when you plan to keep the lights up for months or more.
For renters or temporary setups, adhesive hooks or command strips provide strong support without leaving permanent marks. Adhesive hooks, for example, work well on painted walls or headboards, and they come in transparent designs that blend in without distracting from the lights themselves.
For delicate surfaces or lightweight objects, such as drapes or curtains, consider using lightweight clips. These clips attach easily without damaging fabric.
Clear tape also works as a lightweight option for smooth surfaces like mirrors, windows, or tiles.
How to Hang Fairy Lights Indoors?
Preparation
Begin by measuring the area where you plan to hang the lights and determine the required length of lights (if one string is enough or you need multiple strings).
Next, select the fairy lights based on length, power source, and style. If you plan to hang lights near a wall outlet, a plug-in option may work best, but for areas farther away, consider battery or USB-powered lights.
Before installation, test the lights to make sure they work and don’t have any broken bulbs.
Set up a Pattern
For a simple, elegant approach, try draping the lights in soft loops along a wall, headboard, or mirror.
A zigzag pattern adds dynamic energy and suits vibrant spaces, such as study areas or workspace. For bedroom curtains or windows, wrapping lights around a curtain rod or framing the window in straight lines provides symmetry and balances the lighting effect.
Installation
For walls or headboards, adhesive hooks are strong enough and blend into most surfaces. Space the hooks evenly along the wall or frame to keep lights from sagging.
On mirrors, windows, or tiles, apply small pieces of clear tape every few inches. Focus on the corners to keep the lights in place.
One of the easiest ways to hang fairy lights from wall or ceiling is using command hooks. They simply attach to the wall using double side tape so that you don’t have to drill holes in the wall or drive nails.
Another special thing about command hooks is that you can easily remove them and re-locate them without making any fuss on the wall (like damaging the paint or leaving residue).
Depending on the length of the fairy lights, you might need a handful of these command hooks. Make sure you place them at a uniform distance so that the lights look more appealing.
You can also drape the lights around furniture or bookshelves if you don’t want to use any hooks or nails.
In the bedroom, if you want to hang lights around windows or curtains, try using the curtain rod for support. Wrap the lights gently around the rod or attach them directly to drapes with small clips. This arrangement highlights windows beautifully while keeping cables hidden and organized.
How to Hang Fairy Lights Outdoors?
Outdoors, you can have a lot more flexibility. If you have brick wall, then you can use hanging hooks or nails to hang the lights.
You can wrap them around trees, pillars or other similar structures and need not worry about nails. If you have a garden, you can simply hang the lights on the plants or use temporary posts that hold the lights.
- Trees and Shrubs: Start from the base and work upward, winding the lights around the trunk or individual branches. Use twist ties or zip ties as needed, especially in windy areas. Avoid tying too tightly, as it can damage the branches. For shrubs, weave the lights through the foliage to create a natural, starry effect.
- Fences and Railings: Attach fairy lights along the top or weave them between the posts to create a continuous line. Outdoor adhesive clips work well on smooth surfaces and keep the lights firmly attached. For wooden fences, consider using a staple gun, but avoid stapling directly into the lights.
- Walls and Roofs: Use outdoor adhesive hooks or brick clips that attach securely without damaging the material. For brick or concrete surfaces, select clips designed for textured walls.
- Pergolas and Gazebos: For a simple, overhead glow, hang lights in straight lines across the pergola or gazebo, using hooks to secure each end. Alternatively, attach the lights along the edges to create an outline that frames the structure with soft light. If the pergola or gazebo has exposed beams, wrap the lights around each beam to create a unique, decorative effect.
Secure Fairy Lights
Whether you are using command hooks, nails, hanger hooks or simply wrapping the fairy lights around objects, make sure that they are properly secured. You don’t want them to hang loose or fall out of their position.
You can use zip ties to hold the fairy lights at place. Additionally, you can use tiny strings to tie the lights to these hooks so that they don’t accidentally come off.
If you are using command hooks with double side sticky tape, check for the status of the adhesive as they eventually lose their strength and you have to replace them.
Conclusion
Fairy Lights are festive decoration lights that brighten the mood in and around your home during holiday season. They are a set of series lights in the form of a string or multiple string to form a “curtain”. You can hang them at various places in your home and in this guide, we saw some basic steps on how to hang fairy lights.
