DECK DECORATING WITH STRING LIGHTS
Learn how to hang string lights on your deck!! So fun and cozy! I promise you can do it and your summer nights will be more enjoyable!
Summertime!
Do you know that song? Love it! 🙂
Being outdoor is my absolute favorite thing to do during summer time! We spend a whole lot of time on our deck these days, and it will be like that for the next couple of months. Today I am sharing how the deck decorating with string lights goes. Have you seen our fun and colorful DIY pallet deck furniture that we created last year? Be sure to check it out!
(you can also find this project featured in BHG’s current issue-#pinchme :-))
String light decorating is very much in style, and when PORCH.COMÂ asked me to participate in their fun “7 WAYS TO DECORATE WITH STRING LIGHTS” round up I sure said yes right away because I knew that it would be a great addition to our already cozy outdoor space. So today I will show you my DECK DECORATING WITH STRING LIGHTS. We have a standard 10′ x 10′ square deck and adding these fun hanging string lights was a piece of cake.
MATERIALS YOU WILL NEED:
-Four pieces of 2 x 2Â stripboard – 8 feet long
– screws
– screw eyes ( 4 pieces)
– paint ( optional)
We screwed four pieces of 2 x 2 stripboards into the four corners of our deck.  The 8 feet long strip boards were just perfect tall for our deck, so we did not need to adjust or cut off anything off of our board.
We then screwed four screw eyes to hang the string lights to the top of each strip boards. We chose to paint the board to the same color as our deck to look beautiful and match our outdoor space. Once all screws were in we were ready to hang our string lights ( found these at Target).
I used four boxes of string lights for our deck, and it was just enough once I connected them together. We pulled the string lights between the poles and then we also pulled them across.
 I could just sit out here ALL night long, my friends!
Our deck is bright, inviting, and colorful and adding string lights were just a fantastic addition to our outdoor space.
What do you think? Would you like to come and sit out here with me?
String lights are so FUN, and now you can see six other fun ways to use them
Hey, awesome idea. Thinking of trying it myself but worried about the wooden beams bending over time, even if they are pressure treated for water. Any experience with this?
I know this is an older post but do you recall how you crossed the lights in the middle without overlapping strands? Each way I try I either overlap or need a second power source. Thanks!!
I like the look; however, my 2x2s warped, after only a couple weeks. I used pressure treated pine, but they all bent. Any other suggestions? Has anyone tried PVC?
PVC will prob bend/sag too. Galvanized electrical conduit tubing is inexpensive, and resistant to weather. You can also, if so inclined, and willing to try, bend the conduit to form a very stable x-frame canopy to wrap/suspend the light strings from.
Love this!! We can’t figure out how to get the cord around or into the hooks. Can you explain that a little more?
The lighting cord has little hooks at each light bulb and we used those little hooks to hung the lights into the 4 corner hooks. I hope it makes sense:-)
This is beautiful, and seems like such an efficient, simple way to hang lights- thank you! I was way overthinking it! I have these same lights from Target, and I am curious how they held up? Did rain or other weather wear them out much, or did you take them down often? Just curious! Thank you again for sharing your project!
Thank you, Sarah! Surprisingly, they are held up well. I left them out for the entire winter, so they have been out there hanging since last summer, and they are all in the same position. We had a few bigger storms and wind as well throughout the year, but they stayed in place. The other day I got into them with my umbrella and one line got down ( broke 1-2 bulbs) which I can easily replace with new bulbs! So I would hand them 100 times again in the same way:-) Those lights add such coziness to our patio. Hope this helps!!
I was totally overthinking the whole process of installing string lights on our deck. Your solution is so simple and looks great! I can’t wait to install ours this summer.
These lights are so pretty! When I have a house I definitely will be doing this. I’m sure I could even do something similar on my apartment balcony huh? I’ll have to try it out. I just think it adds a fun feeling to any area!
Looks great! Did you screw the 2x2s directly into the siding? This is what we are having an issue with. My husband doesn’t want to screw it into the siding!
Nancy- We did not screw the 2×2’s into the siding. We screwed them into the deck rail. Hope this helps! have a great week!
I love the orange rug….can you tell me where it’s from?
Thanks so much! I got it at Target last summer on sale. They have really cool ones this year as well:-) Have a fun summer!
your deck is magical!!! I love the mix of color and pattern. Big high five on the BHG feature!
First of all, congrats again on your totally deserved feature in BHG (SO exciting!). And second, I love this pretty light canopy you have created! So smart and so pretty!
So pretty, love how all the strings really brighten up the space!
Aniko, first of all your deck is AMAZING and second this is such a brilliant idea! I’ve been contemplating how we can hang up our string lights and this is the perfect solution! Pinned 🙂