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8 Ways to Use Holiday String Lights All Year Long
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If you're like me, your house looks its best around Christmas, decked out in glittering ornaments and twinkling lights. Once January rolls around and the festive decor starts to come down, things can look a little drab. If you have the post-holiday decorating blues, keep those string lights out of storage and tackle these projects that'll give your home a warm glow year round.
Make a Lighted Headboard
If you're handy with a drill, you can make this impressive DIY headboard complete with a lighted moon. In a kid's bedroom, the string lights serve as a built-in nightlight.
Make This: Lighted Space-Themed Headboard
Fill Blank Walls
Cozy Family Room Features Playful Lighting
Whimsical lighting steals the show in this cozy family room. Behind the sofa, string lights gracefully adorn the wall, and above the armchair, a lighted art installation adds a cool, crisp pattern to the space.
Photo by: Claire Esparros for Homepolish
Claire Esparros for Homepolish
If bare walls have your home looking a little "blah," put string lights to work. In this family room by Justin DiPiero, a zigzag of lights looks like a sculptural installation above the sofa and softly illuminates the space.
25 Ways to Fill Blank Walls
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Illuminate a Patio
String Lights and Lanterns Illuminate Garden
String up lights and lanterns around your outdoor space to give an enchanting twinkle to any garden party. The soft glow will invite everyone to linger outside in the nighttime summer air. Line lanterns and smaller string lights around your seating area, and hang a few off tree branches for a touch of ambiance.
Give your outdoor space an enchanting glow by stringing lights around your deck or patio. Complete the ambiance by placing a few lanterns around your seating areas or hanging them from trees.
11 Outdoor Lighting Ideas
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Make Out-of-This-World Art
How cool is this lighted wall art? Pick your favorite constellations, paint them onto a piece of plywood, drill holes for the stars and push twinkle lights through the holes. Hang on a wall and wow all of your guests.
Make This: Illuminated Constellation Wall Art
DIY Wall Art Projects
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Highlight Your Wine Collection
In this basement, Sawhorse Design & Build bordered a custom, built-in wine rack with string lights, but you could apply the same principle to just about any wooden rack. This simple idea transforms a storage feature into an eye-catching focal point.
Creative Wine Storage Ideas
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Make a Marquee Letter
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Trendy marquee signs can be expensive to buy (either new or vintage), so why not DIY? Use larger globe string lights to make this oversized letter featured in HGTV Magazine, or smaller lights to make a mini marquee letter.
Make This: Lighted Marquee Letter
12 DIY Lighting Ideas
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Pretty Up a Playroom
Dream Playroom Features Teepee, Rope Swings and Floor Cushions
Chango and Co. created every child's dream play space in this expansive playroom. Floor mattresses line one wall and are topped with playful throw pillows for crashing, a teepee provides a place for dreaming, and rope swings hang from the ceiling for extra fun. A bold Swiss cross pattern livens up the walls, and black trim highlights the architectural features of the room.
Photo by: Sean Litchfield Photography
Sean Litchfield Photography
A string of lights adds instant dreaminess to any child's bedroom or playroom (or, heck, even an adult's room). In this amazing kids' space designed by Chango and Co., string lights are draped over a teepee so it glows within, creating the perfect spot to nap or curl up with a book.
21 Imaginative Kids' Rooms
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Accentuate Your Fireplace
Brian Patrick Flynn
When the weather heats up and you no longer need the warmth of a fire, you don't have to completely neglect your fireplace; try wrapping logs with string lights for a glow you can enjoy year round. Here, designer Brian Patrick Flynn dressed up a fireplace with white LED lights.
8 Ways to Decorate the Inside of a Fireplace
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