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Dazzle your neighbours this Christmas with these tried and tested displays
It won’t be long before the nights draw in, Strictly returns to our screens, and Mariah declares, “it’s tiiime!”, which is why we’ve gone all a-twinkle for this year’s selection of the best outdoor Christmas lights.
While there’s undeniably a scale of tasteful to tacky, one thing we can all agree on this festive season is that we want the sparkle without the extra burden on our electricity bill. Luckily for us, most of the modern LED lights we tested were surprisingly low voltage for their brightness, meaning lower running costs: a win for our wallets, and the environment.
If you don’t want to worry about running a cable into your home you can choose battery-operated lights, of course. However we found, with clever design, most of our mains-operated Christmas lights gave us a generous length in order to discreetly run the illuminations from indoors, with enough flex to position the lights exactly where we wanted them.
Increasingly high tech, today’s outdoor Christmas lights often come with a timer and remote control, enabling us to choose the perfect moment to switch on – and, of course, to conserve energy during daytime and in the middle of the night. Some come with multiple lighting modes and special effects, too, meaning we can go from twinkly to flashy, or even change colours and tones, with a push of a button.
From subtle ditsy fairy lights up to sculptural pieces made for winter wonderland scenes, we tested a wide range of outdoor Christmas lights. We looked for quality of make, affordability, durability, how the lights stood up to the elements, and, most importantly, whether they brought the magic.
Depending on the atmosphere that you want your Christmas lights to create, you can choose between different colours, whether it’s a vivid electric blue LED or a multi-coloured set, while the simple white lights can either be a warm white light or a cool one.
If you want your outdoor space to have a homely and traditional feel, the yellow hues of warm LEDs may be best suited to your tastes, while cool white LEDs with a blue hue to them may be more appealing if you prefer a brighter appearance and contemporary feel.
You can, of course, put your Christmas lights up whenever you would like, but you may see Christmas lights starting to go up in the weeks after Halloween. You may decide to wait until the first day of Advent if you are following tradition, which will be the 3rd December.
Again, there’s no right or wrong answer when it comes to when you should take your Christmas decorations down, but many people who adhere to Christian tradition may wait until the twelfth night of Twelvetide, the Christian celebration of the 12 days of Christmas. Depending on when you start counting the 12 Days of Christmas, the twelfth night will be on either 5 January or 6 January.
We loved Atkin & Thyme’s outdoor snowing cascade lights for their magical feel. The lights looked enchanting when hung from a tree, and while they do bring all the seasonal sparkle, they are not overtly Christmassy, meaning our winter wonderland can continue well into the new year.
Twinkly’s multicolour strings proved a hit with our house guests for its colour and pattern combinations that are seriously impressive. While, on the more affordable side, we loved The Seasonal Aisle’s outdoor string lights, as well as Dunelm’s characterful snowman, as both offered great bang for our buck.
Looking for something the woman in your life will love? Read our round-up of the best Christmas gifts for her