How to decorate your home with Christmas lights for a festive atmosphere
Lighting is an essential part of Christmas decorations, and this year is no different. And since we're spending more time at home, here are a few ideas to decorate it with Christmas lights and create a magical place to enjoy time with your family and closest friends. And we're not just talking about the living room; we've also got options for different rooms throughout your home. That way, you can fill every corner with light and joy.
Around Christmas we often see many façades and homes illuminated with eye-catching lights, which we love—but what about the interior? Although it's great to spread some cheer to those in the streets with Christmas lights on our homes, it's also nice to decorate the various spaces within the home in order to enjoy it ourselves or with family and friends who visit. That's why this year, since we're likely to spend more time at home during the holidays, we encourage the use of lighting to create a festive mood inside and out.
First of all, we want to emphasise our selection of options for every budget and that, at IKEA, we only use LED bulbs, which use less energy and are therefore more sustainable, both for the environment and for our wallets. Shall we get started?
Christmas lights in the living room
When talking about Christmas lights in the sitting room, you probably thought of the typical lit-up Christmas tree, right? Although we do love them, here we want to show some other ideas, so you can see that you don't need to use the same old things to make a statement with your Christmas decorations.
Here, we've done this by using two items: a string of LED lights and a decorative silver garland. These create a mix of two colours – gold and silver – which, although they move away from the classic reds and greens, are also very characteristic of this time of year. To fill the living room with that festive atmosphere we're looking for, we've strung the lights and garland from wall to wall over the sofas to illuminate our evenings. As a finishing touch, we've also placed some candles on both the coffee table and side table. This ensures that the whole living room will be well lit when dusk falls.
Christmas lights in the dining room
Along with the living room, the dining room is another place where we spend our time during Christmas. That's why we can't forget to add special lighting so we don't miss a thing during meals and dinners. First, we'll need a good ceiling light over the table. We've chosen a MISTERHULT pendant lamp, which illuminates the entire table thanks to its size. But that's not even the best part! This lamp is sustainable and leaves a minimal environmental footprint because it is made from bamboo that is normally discarded in other manufacturing processes, thus harnessing the plant to the greatest extent possible.
In addition, on one of the walls we've also placed a white origami lamp shade to create a warm and inviting light, as well as string lights with the same origami design, but smaller, both of which are ideal to achieve that party atmosphere we're looking for. As a finishing touch, we've placed a STRÅLA string light down the centre of the table.
"Portable" Christmas lights
Christmas lighting doesn't have to be static; you can move it from one area of your home to another with just a bit of imagination. A perfect example is to wrap string lights around a trolley that you can take from the kitchen to the dining room or living room, along with all the food and drinks you need. Even this piece will add a festive touch to your home if you wrap some lights around it. In the photo we've used string lights with origami shapes, but we have many other string lights in different designs to choose from (Christmas trees, snowflakes, flowers etc.) to add that special touch.
Christmas lights in the bedroom
Finally, the sleeping area. Or did you think we were only going to light up the rooms where the celebrating happens? Not a chance! We want to keep the festive atmosphere alive, even at bedtime. Whether it's in the living room, when you open the sofa-bed for your guests or in the master bedroom, you can still give it a special touch with string lights. Place one on the windowsill, the headboard or inside a vase—wherever you like the most! This lighting will help to keep Christmas on your mind and the minds of your guests until the very last minute of your day.
Like these ideas? Discover more ways to decorate your home this Christmas with this selection of articles.
We love it when customers use our products in a creative way. Why not try to do something new with them yourself? But do remember, any modifications or changes that you make to IKEA products will prevent them from being resold or used for their original purpose, thus invalidating IKEA product warranties and your right to return them.
