How to Hang Outdoor Lighting
Neha NagpalHow to Hang Outdoor String Lights
At Color Cord Company, we have a unique selection of outdoor pendant lights and string lights that can be the perfect way to enhance your patio, gazebo, or BBQ pit in preparation for those warm summer months. Hanging out in your backyard with friends and family is a great way to spend the summer — but not if you don’t have lighting in place for the evenings!
If you’re not sure how to hang outdoor lighting, or you need a guide exploring our outdoor pendant light cord kit, our team is here to help with this blog. Follow along as we give you some pointers for how to hang outdoor lighting here!
String Lights
String lights can be fun, whimsical, elegant, or a combination of all three, depending on the light bulbs and shades you choose for your fixture. But, no matter what style of string light you choose, how you hang outdoor string lights always follows the same process. These steps can guide you in the right direction to ensure stunning illumination for summer!
1. Prep For Your Lights
Decide on the right location for your string lights and make sure your configuration is long enough to accommodate all the areas you want to illuminate. You may have to buy multiple strings to ensure the space has even lighting and link them together using the female end of one string and the male end of the other.
2. Assemble Your Lights
Once you have your string lights, remove all the bulbs if you have shades you need to attach. Then, attach the shade, socket ring, and spacer in that order. Reinsert your light bulb after the shade is in place. If you’re using a Color Cord Company string light, this product is not rated to support any shade that weighs over three lbs.
3. Install Wires or Hooks
This optional step provides additional support for string lights. You can hang up a wire or swag hooks to support and shape your fixtures. These tools are incredibly helpful for creating unique designs, depending on how you hang outdoor lighting.
4. Plug Them In
When you’ve put up your wires, hooks, and string lights, it’s time to test them out! The final step for how you hang outdoor string lights is plugging your string lights in and enjoying the warm glow of their illumination.
Outdoor Pendant Light Cord Kit
Now that you know how to hang outdoor string lights, we can talk about how to hang outdoor pendant lighting. Follow these steps to ensure a safe, successful experience. And if you have any concerns, call a local professional for assistance.
1. Choose Your Spot
Just like with your string lights, you need to choose the ideal placement for your pendant lights. There are several factors to consider here, including the size of your space. Depending on how high your roofing is, you may need to customize your cord length as well. However, our outdoor pendant light cord kit comes with 25’ of cord to accommodate nearly any type of space!
2. Installing Your Light
We recommend installing your pendant light without the light bulb or shade first. If you’re using swag hooks or cord stays, make sure they’re appropriately rated for the weight of your light fixture. You should also confirm at this point that your cord is long enough to plug into the nearest outlet without forming a tripping hazard.
3. Adding Bulbs & Shades
Some of our outdoor pendant light cord kits come with shades, while others provide you with just the fixture so you can customize your bulb choice for a minimalist style. How you hang outdoor lighting for products with shades is only slightly different than products that only have bulbs.
You’ll need to start by removing any light bulbs, socket rings, or spacers that are currently attached to the fixture. Once removed, you can slide the shade over the socket threads before reapplying the socket ring and spacer. Your final step is to insert the light bulb into place. At this point, you can plug your light fixture into the socket to see how it looks in your space. Please note that you should not pair this product with any shade that weighs over 8 lbs.
For assistance choosing outdoor light fixtures, you can reach out to our team for personalized guidance. If you’re looking for more installation tips and tricks for how to hang outdoor lighting, turn to our blog for detailed explanations or check the installation instructions that came with your product.
Other Tips
With this guidance for how to hang outdoor lighting, you should be ready to go! However, we do have a few more recommendations for those exploring exterior lighting options, including:
- Match your interior and exterior lighting with similar bulb styles and shades
- Choose plastic, outdoor-rated light bulbs for exterior spaces
- Explore all-weather shades, including acrylic and woven
- Measure your space before purchase and installation
At Color Cord Company, our entire outdoor collection is waterproofed and designed to withstand the weather that may assail your front or back yard.
Find More to Love Here
Hopefully, this guide on how to hang outdoor lighting answered all your questions and resulted in a beautiful outdoor space that’s a pleasure for you to host friends and family. While there are many types of outdoor fixtures available out there, we currently only offer pendant and string lights that are rated for outdoor spaces. Hopefully, you can pair these designs with our stunning interior best sellers to craft personalized lighting for your home.
At Color Cord Company, we’re here to support interior designers, DIYers, and tradespeople in their lighting endeavors — whether you’re just trying to figure out how to hang outdoor lighting or redesigning an entire space. Our collections include classic styles, like metallic fixtures with retro globe shades and all-in-one kits that come with everything you need to put together your new lighting design. We also offer more unique options through our Artist Collaborations, as well as the Customizer Tool, where you can customize any of our fixtures to create a one-of-a-kind design.
Explore our collections to find unique lighting for every type of space today.
