Hit The Hardware Store
Create a materials checklist and installation plan before heading to the home improvement store. Gather the necessary tools and outdoor-grade materials, including:
Be sure to purchase enough yardage with plenty of extra space for slack. Remember, string lights are normally draped the cables will not be pulled taut. Allow at least 12-inches of extra cable per strand.
How Do You Hang String Lights On An Apartment Patio
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Hanging Patio String Lights Basic Steps
Furthermore, how do you install strip lights? Follow the steps below before you cut any of the lights or attach them to any surface.
Keeping this in consideration, how do you hang patio lights without nails?
Method 1Hanging Lights with Hooks or Clips
How do you clean outdoor string lights?
1. Clean with caution. Chemical-laden cleaners can ruin special finishes on metal lamps, so stick to regular dish detergent, water, and a wascloth to get rid of grime .
String Lights On Umbrella
If you dont have a gazebo, but you have an umbrella, you can add string lights to it. Then you can keep the umbrella open at night to showcase the lighting.
If you prefer, you can also look for umbrellas that already have integrated lighting in them. We love our cantilever umbrella with integrated led lights that we got from Lowes.
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How To Hang Outdoor String Lights Without Trees
Basically, any object that can be used as a hook to hang string lights. They dont always have to be hung on trees. The only prerequisite is that they are not too oblique so that the weight of the collected lights does not cause them to fall. Some objects which do work well for the purpose are: walls, posts, canopies, pergolas and rather high fences.
Freestanding Solution For Hanging String Lights
If youre looking for a great way to illuminate your outdoor living areas, string lights are great option. String lights can enhance a patio or outdoor space by adding a warm glow and dispersed light, but they can be tricky to hang if you dont have trees or other tall objects to string them from.
We recently had a similar issue where we needed to utilize a freestanding cable solution in order to run string lights around the outer edge of our patio.
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How Do You Hang Edison Lights Under Covered Patio Deck
To hang Edison lights under a covered patio, you’ll need to have hooks or screw eyes that are drilled underneath the ceiling of the covered patio or deck. Next, use silicon to do preventative shielding for water damage. Hang the string lights without the bulbs. Once the string lights are hung up, add the bulbs on along with an extension cord and automatic timer.
How To Hang Outdoor String Lights From Diy Posts: Paint Planters
Wipe planters clean with a damp cloth. Place planters upside down on a drop cloth and cover completely with spray paint. Apply additional coats as necessary for full coverage. Turn planters over and paint the rim and inside the rim.
Sam Henderson
If desired, paint one end of the 2 x 2 x 8 posts with the same paint by masking off the last 5-6 with painters tape. Allow to dry completely before masking again at the end of the painted portion and 1 below that, leaving a 1 band to be painted.
Read Also: How To Paint Wrought Iron Patio Furniture
Wrap Lights Around The Trunk Of A Tall Tree To Light It Without A Ladder
Use an extension cord to run the lights to the tree, and then wrap the lights around the tree trunk up until you reach the first branch, leaving 6 inches of space in between the strands of lights. Then, wrap the lights back down to the bottom of the trunk, passing through the middle of the space between the strands.
How To Hang String Lights On A Deck
We’ve been using our so much more this summer now that we can spend our evenings out here, even when the sun sets and it gets dark. Thanks to this pretty string lights overhead, we’ve created a really beautiful ambience and glow on our deck that keeps up out here until late every night.
Can you see the wooden stake on the top right hand side of our deck? That’s a string light pole and it’s all you need to hang deck string lights! If like us, you don’t have a sort of overhead structure like a gazebo to hang lights from, then this easy DIY will be something you’ll love. In only 30 minutes, you’ll have those pretty string lights draped over your deck or patio and you can start to enjoy them!
- Furring strips – stained or painted to match deck
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How To Hang String Lights
However, is there any way to hang string light up without putting nails into the wall? Yes! outdoor lights can be hung in several ways without nails. In most cases, hanging lights without nails is safer, less expensive, and easier in the long run. Some of these ways include:
- Outdoor plants as hangers
- Using Hot Glue on Brick, Concrete, and Stucco
- Draping Lights for Accents
- Hanging Lights on 4×4 Posts
- Along the Fence and Poll Lighting
The first step to a flawless patio light design is making sure you know the dimensions of your space. Draw a rough sketch of the area where you plan to hang your lights and writing the measurements on your drawing for quick reference later. This sketch will come in handy when you pick your hanging pattern.
How To Hang Outdoor String Lights From Diy Posts: Secure Post With Tape
Place the planter on level ground and use a level on one side to make the post plumb. Add painter’s tape across the planter on all four sides of the post to hold it in position. Allow the concrete to harden according to the manufacturers instructions before proceeding.
Arrange the planters in a rectangle no more than 10′ apart.
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Ways To Hang Outdoor Patio Lights Without Nails
Having patio lights will help you enjoy your patio. It will also make your home look better and improve your houses curb appeal. However, is there any way to hang them up without putting nails into the wall?
One of the ways to hang outdoor patio lights without nails is using adhesive hooks or gutter hooks. Alternatively, you can tape or staple them to your wall. You can also hang them on trees, bushes, posts, potted plants, and your fence. Another way to brighten up your patio is by using lanterns.
In this article, we will discuss the benefits of installing patio lights. We will also go over the best ways to install patio lights without using any nails.
Why Install Patio Lights Without Nails
However, before we get into it, we will explain the benefits of installing patio lights and why installing them is better without using any nails.
Nails Can Damage Your House
Whether you can use nails to install your patio lights depends on what kind of siding your house has. For example, if you have stucco siding, you cant use nails to hang your patio lights. You may also want to be able to move your patio lights from one place to another easily, and using nails to install them wont let you do that.
Improves Your Homes Curb Appeal
If anyone drives by your home and you have a for-sale sign on your front lawn, having a well-lit patio will make your home more attractive. More people will notice it, and they will be more interested in buying. They will also be willing to pay more.
How To Hang Outdoor String Lights On Balcony
Boring balconies are easily made much more special by a little creativity. This could take the form of string lights or a simple door curtain, but even if you hang string lights randomly, it will look good and then be conducive to spending time outside. You could also think about the aesthetics and placement of your other furniture, so that they all work together nicely on the balcony.
The balcony in the picture above is adorned with string lights. As you can see, the lights are randomly placed and still look fine.
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How To Hang String Lights When Youre Renting
Heres a slight variation on the string lights poles above. These poles use a patio umbrella stand as the base. They can be moved around easily and are perfect for wedding receptions, outdoor parties, or anywhere you dont cant dig holes in the ground. And did I mention this one only requires 3 tools and takes about 20 minutes tops?
How To Hang String Lights: 10 Different Ways
Outdoor string lights are wildly popular, and for good reason! They feel magical and bring a warm, intimate ambiance to any party or outdoor living space.
Inexpensive, simple for the average person to DIY, relatively easy to put up and take down with the seasons, and the list goes on
And if youre still not sure what kind of lighting is best for your outdoor living space, I walk through more backyard lighting options in this post.
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How To Hang String Lights If You Only Have A Patio
The same ideas will apply! Instead of attaching the wood poles to a deck, I would suggest putting them into a planter and perhaps filling it with a small amount of cement to really weigh it down. Then fill the rest of the planter with some soil and succulents to make it pretty.
You can also use command hooks to simple drape them across the side of your house, like we did!
See how easy it is to hang string lights on a deck? We really love the effect these string lights have created on our deck and we’ve been spending so much more time outside enjoying our deck while the weather is still nice!
P.S. Don’t forget to check out the full summer deck reveal!
Attach Lights To Outdoor Wireless Remote Control Weatherproof Outlet
This may be one of my favorite things about the outdoor lights!
If you are going through the trouble to hang outdoor string lights you will definitely want to add an outdoor remote control outlet so you have the convenience of turning your lights on from inside your home.
We hang our remote controls by our deck door. It makes it super easy to turn on the lights when we are looking for a little ambiance. If something is convenient, you are sure to use it more!
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Tools And Materials Needed For Hanging String Lights
- Globe Light Suspension Kit, Galvanized Steel Cable, 110 ft. $45.99
- Brightech Ambience Pro LED Outdoor Weatherproof Commercial Grade Lights with Hanging Sockets 48 Ft string w/bulbs. $54.99hooks
- Zip Ties
The Globe Light Suspension Kit, Galvanized Steel Cable I used features:
- Galvanized steel cable for hanging commercial grade string lights
- 110 feet long 1/16 inch in diameter
- Comes with one attached snap hook and one loose cable end and a Gripple Fastener clip
- Cable can be trimmed to any desired length
- Weather resistant Working load limit of 100 lbs.
The cable is 110 feet in length and 1/16 of an inch in diameter. With an attached snap hook and a loose clip that allows you to feed the cable through one side of the clip, loop it around posts and other fixed objects.
Its a perfect solution for large open areas, and to prevent sagging string lights.
Bulb Size Shape And Color
When choosing what bulb style to use for patio string lights, consider choosing a standard bulb style and size will allow you to purchase replacement bulbs easily. Bulbs come in a range of sizes. Generally, the higher you intend to hang your lights, the larger the bulb you select should be.
String light bulbs also come in a variety of shapes. We love the simplicity of these solar fairy string lights. To add a whimsical touch to your patio lighting, consider shapes like flowers, mini lanterns, pineapples and hearts. White bulbs create an elegant, understated look.
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Diy String Light Poles: The In
Our patio dining space is right next to the house, with no convenient trees nearby. So while we could hang them from hooks on the house side, we really needed some poles on the other side of the patio.
We came up with this ultra-simple and inexpensive method for installing string light poles. The PVC stays in the ground year-round, but the poles themselves can be pulled out at the end of the season and stored in the garage. You can watch our quick video tutorial here:
Tips For Hanging Outdoor Lights
The light sets from AQ lighting came with this adapter so that I could plug in two strands to our electric source.
Then I used Velcro to secure it to the metal support beam .
Unfortunately, we dont have a power source out on our patio but thats okay we can fix that!
My husband laid an outdoor extension cord from the outlet under our deck and along the outside of our patio. Then he thread it through the fence at the far corner of the patio.
I plugged the extension cord into that power pack at the top of the back corner post of the pergola.
If you scroll up to the photo of me cleaning youll see that ugly orange extension cord hanging loosely from the pergola post.
Dont worry we found a trick to hid that too!
A zip tie!
How easy is that?
Instead of just letting it hang down lose and blowing in the windif theres wind strong enough to blow an extension cord. LOLI secured it to the post with a cable tie.
It looks so much better since you cant see the extension cord at all unless you go behind the outdoor sofa sectional.
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How To Safely Use Outdoor String Lights
Always carefully inspect the specifications of any lighting to ensure its safe for your intended use. Only use lights rated for outdoor use on your patio. These lights are approved for use outdoors because they can withstand exposure to elements like snow and rain without compromising their electrical connections or creating a safety hazard.
Use Planters To String Backyard Lights
We really debated on using our planters on the deck to string lights. We decided against it just because we like the lights to be much higher.
We also didnt want to put that much weight on the planters. But usually you put concrete in the bottom of the planters and then add the soil and the plants on top of that so it would probably be sturdy enough for you.
We hope this article helped you with how to string lights in your backyard. If youre looking for lighting ideas, take a look at our rope lighting ideas for your backyard.
If you liked this article, then please subscribe to our YouTube Channel for Backyard video tutorials. You can also find us on .
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How To Hang Outdoor String Lights From Diy Posts: Fill Planter With Concrete
Place the unpainted end of a 2 x 2 x 8 post in each of the planters. Divide the dry concrete mix evenly over the planters. Add water to the concrete mix according to the manufacturers instructions and stir with a stick until well combined.
Sam Henderson
Place the planter on level ground and use a level on one side to make the post plumb. Add painter’s tape across the planter on all four sides of the post to hold it in position. Allow the concrete to harden according to the manufacturers instructions before proceeding.
Whats The Best Way To Hang Outdoor String Lights
The answer, of course, is It depends. But never fear! Were about to go through 10 different ways to hang outdoor string lights.
The best option for you will come down to whats around your outdoor space to secure the lights to, whether you need to install your own posts, and whether you plan to leave the lights up year-round or take them down for the colder months.
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How We Hung Our Deck String Lights Privacy Screen And Artwork Outside
Sharing how we hung our String Lights or rather our Deck Lights today. I am a accent lighting fanatic! We live in a 1950s home that really hasnt had any major updates to the exterior besides the small ascetic things we have done. So you arent going to find an outlet outside. If you are building a new home- this is where you make a mental note to add a plug in several spots outside. The plug issue wasnt going to stop me from having a glowing strand of String Lights off our back deck. Also added a privacy screen that I will share the details on this post too!
Disclaimer- this is what WE did. It has worked really well for us but might not for you. Below is what we did and hopefully it will give you an idea that would work for you!
- Large Hooks
- Long Screws
**We went to Home Depot . We found some wood trim that we cut in half right there. Got home, spray painted them all. Installed them. Then realized they were too thin and not supportive enough. So we started over. That is when we used the 60 Wooden Garden Stake because they are thicker and taller. You could also use a plumbing pipe or a metal fence pole. We found that these worked just fine for our lights.
In the above image you can see the Garden Stakes we used. How we spray painted them FIRST. Then attached mini hooks to the garden stake so we could loop the string lights around them.