Like a lot of people I used this weekend to take down the Christmas decorations, take the Christmas tree out to the curb and generally put the house back into “post-holiday” status. This year, like most years, I’m struck with two observations:

Christmas lights can add ambiance and cheer to lots of different areas and situations.

1. Wow! The living room seems a lot bigger now that the tree is gone!
2. I have about 30 different strands of Christmas lights (and I inevitably buy another one or two each year) so I wish I could use some of these during the rest of the year. Christmas lights aren’t just cheaply made strands of lights. You can find a huge variety of professional lighting decorations and lights at an online specialty store like Christmas Lights Etc.

I started thinking about it and realized that there are lots of places and uses for old Christmas lights whether they’re regular bulbs or LEDs. Christmas lights are good for situations where you want low light, non-directional light, or simply a pleasant ambient lighting scheme that isn’t what you might normally see in most situations. Here are a few uses I came up with and will probably implement in the upcoming months:

Deck and Patio: Instead of using the often more expensive rope lighting around your deck or patio, consider trimming the edges of your seating and relaxation area with Christmas lights made for outdoor use. You’ll probably want to avoid using them around a pool, but any other outside area, deck, patio or even porch can be made a little more fun and festive with Christmas lights put up all year around. I once ate a wonderful outdoor restaurant in Pennsylvania that used mini white Christmas lights to line the arbor that was over their patio. It was a perfect way to give the area low indirect lighting that actually gave the open deck a cozy feel.

Above and Below Kitchen Cabinets: A lot of people have a foot or so of space between the top of their cabinets and their kitchen ceiling. Sure, you could put plastic plants and baskets and all sorts of decorative items up there, but how about a strand or two of Christmas lights to give off a soft glow that bounces off the ceiling and bathes the kitchen in a warm glow? And have you ever wanted some soft counter lighting that won’t blind you when you walk in the kitchen for a late night snack? How about stringing some Christmas lights under the cabinets for a warming effect? A lot of cabinets even have electrical outlets in them now, so you might even be able to run the cord into the cabinet and either use a switch or plug that’s hidden.

Christmas Lights, Etc. has a wider variety of decorative holiday lights than you’ll find in any single store.

Ambient Dining Room Lighting: A lot of bars and restaurants use lower lighting partially to “set the mood” but also because lower lighting is generally more relaxing than bright directional lighting. You could use a strand or two of Christmas lights in your basement bar, in your dining room, or even around your eat in kitchen. Sure, you might not always want to eat in a dim setting, but when you need to relax or just want to have a quiet romantic dinner with that special person you might consider some well-placed Christmas lights.

Dorm Room, Rec Room or Basement: More for the teens and young adults, I’ve seen Christmas lights used in numerous dorm rooms, “rec” rooms and basement hangouts because they provide plenty of low light to see and move about, but they generally don’t take away from television watching, video game playing or whatever else it is that kids are doing while they’re hanging out and talking about how uncool their parents are.

Garage, Attic or Under Stairs: Do you have a dim or dark storage area that has a single socket for a lonely 60 watt bulb? I have this in my attic and I find that no matter where I stand, I’m always blocking the light from this single bulb. I’m considering getting one of those socket converters so I can plug a long strand of Christmas lights into the light socket and then string the lights around my attic where I store some of my seasonal items. Christmas lights give off a surprising amount of light in a small dark area and can definitely be used to find things in storage. You might not want to read by Christmas lights, but you can definitely sort through junk with them.

Other Holidays: Why should Christmas lights only be used for Christmas? You can use them for other holidays as well. In fact, lots of companies now sell lights for Valentine’s Day, Easter, the 4th of July, Halloween and just about every other holiday you can think of. I have a neighbor who simply strings lights up on the side of his house in the shape of a hear for Valentine’s Day, a rabbit for Easter and so forth. You can almost always buy strands of lights in a single color and it wouldn’t be too difficult to make a red, white and blue flag with a couple strands of lights. For Halloween you can even try putting a small strand of white lights into that Jack-O-Lantern you carved! Even though they are Christmas lights, you’ll still want to be careful and make sure there is a vent in the pumpkin for the heat of the bulbs to escape.

Behind Your Television: This sounds strange at first, but a lot of video experts are recommending that television watching is best in a room with dim lighting and some low light coming from behind the TV. You could put a small lamp behind your television or you could just try using a ball of Christmas lights back there. Phillips even makes an entire line of Ambilight Televisions that give off their own light behind the screen to improve the viewing experience. I’ve watched television with some dim light behind the screen and I have to admit, it did seem to make the picture “stand out” more.

Strands of Christmas lights are versatile because they can obviously be used in a number of different places and configuration, they’re easily hung or attached to almost anything and many are made for indoor or outdoor use. A lot of stores in my area still have a small collection of lights on clearance, so you if you need some extra strands (or even bulbs) now is the time to pick them up. A strand of Christmas lights (especially the mini lights and LED lights) generally uses less electricity than a few standard bulbs that might be used in the same place.

Most Christmas lights don’t have switches, but there are numerous ways you can control the lights without having to deal with plugging and unplugging them, including switched outlets, timers and even small remote controls you can use to switch lights on and off.

You’ll also want to consider safety and inspect your strands of lights every couple of months for any sort of wear and tear, especially if they’re used outside. Christmas lights are pretty and very versatile, but not all are designed to be used 12 months a year.

Have any other ideas? Let me know!

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