Christmas Lighting for Smaller Homes and Bungalows

A small house does not need less care with Christmas lights. It needs more. On a bungalow with a short, low roofline, every sag, every gap and every dark bulb sits close to eye level from the sidewalk. There is nowhere for a mistake to hide.

This post covers how to light a smaller home well, where the money is worth spending, and where it is not.

Why short runs show every mistake

On a large two story house, the roofline sits high and well back from the street. A strand that droops a little between clips, or a run that stops a few inches short of a corner, gets lost in the size of the building. A one story cottage is different. The eave is often low enough to reach from a short ladder. People walk past it close up. The whole front of the house fits in one glance.

That changes what matters:

• Length. A strand that is a foot too long has to be bunched or doubled back somewhere. On a short run that bundle is obvious. A strand that is too short leaves a dark gap at the end of the line.
• Spacing. Bulbs need to sit evenly along the edge. Uneven spacing reads as sloppy from close range.
• Straight lines. Low eaves are seen almost level with the eye, so any wander in the line shows.
• Corners and peaks. A small gable has one peak and two short sloped edges. If the lights do not meet cleanly at the top, that peak becomes the thing people notice.

Red Nose Lites uses custom cut commercial grade LED strands, so each run is made to fit the edge it goes on rather than being forced to fit a boxed length. On a small house, that is most of the difference between a display that looks planned and one that looks improvised.

Where to spend the budget on a small home

With less house to cover, the budget goes further. It is still easy to spend it in the wrong places. Here is a sensible order.

1. The front roofline first

The eave line facing the street does most of the work. If you only light one thing, light that, and light it cleanly. A tidy single line on a bungalow looks better than a crowded front yard with a crooked roofline above it.

2. The feature that gives the house its shape

Many bungalows and cottages have a front facing gable, a dormer or a deep front porch. That feature is what makes the house recognizable at night. Outlining it helps a small home read clearly from the street. Lighting side eaves that nobody sees from the road usually does not.

3. One focal point in the yard, not five

Small lots get cluttered fast. One well lit tree or a pair of shrubs by the front steps is usually enough. Once the yard fills up with separate pieces, the house itself stops being the display.

What is usually not worth it

• Lighting the back and side rooflines of a one story house on a narrow street. You pay for footage that is barely seen.
• Stacking several colors and effects on a short front. On a small house, one color scheme done evenly looks more deliberate.
• Oversized yard pieces that are out of scale with the house and crowd the walkway.

Materials and the roof edge

Smaller older homes often have original wood fascia, trim that has been painted many times, and gutters that are not perfectly straight. On these houses the install method matters as much as the lights.

Red Nose Lites uses clips sized to the roof edge or gutter lip. No staples, nails or screws go into fascia, trim or shingles. On an older house with soft or freshly painted wood, that is important. Holes in trim let water in, and they are still there in July.

If you are doing it yourself, follow the same rule. Buy clips that fit your gutter or shingle edge. Do not reach for a staple gun because it is quicker.

Weather in Middle Tennessee

Nashville winters are usually less about deep snow and more about rain, wind, and the odd freeze that leaves a coat of ice on everything. That is hard on lights in a few specific ways:

• Wind works loose clips that do not fit the edge properly. A strand that pulls free on a short run leaves a gap everyone can see.
• Water gets into cheap plug connections. One bad connection can take out a whole run.
• Cold makes cheap wire stiff, which makes it harder to lay a straight line.

Every Red Nose Lites install includes in season maintenance and a 24 hour service guarantee during the season. If a run goes dark after a storm, that is covered, and you are not the one up a ladder in the rain.

When DIY is fine

It is worth being straight about this. A small single story home is the easiest kind of house to light yourself. If your eaves are low, your ladder is steady, your roof is not steep, and you are happy to spend an afternoon measuring and clipping, you can get a good result without hiring anyone.

A few things make DIY go better on a small house:

• Measure every edge before you buy anything, and write the numbers down.
• Buy strands that suit those lengths, or decide in advance where any extra will be tucked out of sight.
• Start at the outlet and work away from it, so the plug does not end up in the middle of the roofline.
• Walk across the street and look before you finish. Crooked lines show from there, not from the ladder.
• Test every strand on the ground before it goes up.

DIY makes less sense when the house has a second story section, a steep roof, or a porch roof you would have to walk on. It also makes less sense if you do not want to take everything down in January and find somewhere to keep it until next year.

What hiring it out actually covers

For a small home, the value of a professional install is less about the amount of work and more about the parts people forget. Every Red Nose Lites install includes:

• Design for your specific house
• Custom cut commercial grade LED strands
• Installation by insured crews
• In season maintenance and a 24 hour service guarantee
• Takedown after the holidays
• Off season storage, so the lights are not in your garage or attic

On a bungalow with a small attic and no spare closet, that last point matters more than people expect. There are no contracts and no long term commitments, so you can try it for one season and decide from there.

The full process is laid out on the how it works page, and there is more detail on residential installation.

Getting a quote for a small home

You do not need to book an appointment to get a price. Call (615) 595-9686, describe the house and what you want lit, and you can get a quote on that call. It helps to have a few details ready: how many stories, which edges you want outlined, and anything in the yard you want included. A site visit is available if you would rather someone come out and look, but it is an option, not a requirement.

If you would rather not call, the quote form works too.

Red Nose Lites is a family owned company that has been installing Christmas lights in and around Nashville since 2006. We work on homes of every size, from Sylvan Park and 12 South to Franklin and Hendersonville.