Ambient Lighting

Since the Christmas season is over, The King decided (wisely) to unplug the outdoor Christmas lights at our house. I'm a little sad to see them go, because I love Christmas lights, but I was thinking about other ways I could put them to use.

In one of our previous homes, we used Christmas lights in the empty space between the top of our kitchen cabinets and the ceiling. It created a pretty, soft glow when the rest of the lights were out in the kitchen, but provided just enough light to insure we weren't going to trip over anything. We could recreate this look using LED lights, which would help with keeping our energy costs down, and, since LED lights last for a really long time, there wouldn't be the hassle of worrying about having to replace burned out bulbs every few months.

In the summer months, it might be fun to take a small string of LED lights and attach them to the inside of our deck umbrella. Since LED lights stay cool to the touch, they wouldn't be a big fire hazard, and it would provide our family with some much needed light during those warm summer nights.

With a little bit of creativity, maybe I can enjoy my Christmas lights all year round.