How I Hang Outdoor Lights With Zero Holes in the House

The first Christmas in our house I stood in the driveway holding a strand of lights, a staple gun, and absolutely no plan. My husband asked me where I wanted them and I said “up there” and pointed at the roof, which is not a plan. We ended up doing something with nails that I’m still a little embarrassed about, and the following spring I found the holes again, because holes don’t go anywhere!

So I went down a very long rabbit hole. It took me three seasons to figure out that the reason none of the clips I bought ever worked is that I kept buying the wrong kind for my house! That’s really the whole secret. Vinyl siding, brick, wood trim, and a shingled roofline all need different things, and if you buy the wrong one you end up frustrated in the yard at dusk, which I have been, multiple times!

Here’s exactly what I use now, sorted by what part of the house you’re actually trying to stick lights to. Zero holes, all of it comes down in January, and none of it requires a ladder trip you weren’t already making.

1. All-purpose gutter and shingle hooks

If you have gutters or a shingled roofline, start here. These little hooks slide over the lip of the gutter or under a shingle edge, and then the light strand snaps into the hook. No adhesive, no fasteners, nothing that has to grab onto anything — you’re using an edge that already exists.

The reason I like the all-purpose ones specifically is that they hold mini lights, C7s, C9s, and rope light in the same clip, which matters because I never use the same lights two years in a row. (I am incapable of leaving well enough alone.) They also flip, so the same hook can point your bulbs up along the roof or straight down like icicles depending on which way you clip it in.

Buy way more than you think you need! One clip per foot is the rule I use, and then I add fifty, because I have run out at 4pm on a Saturday with half a roofline done and I don’t recommend it!

2. Shingle and gutter clips, the 200-pack version

Same idea, different shape, and this is the set I reach for when the run is long. These mount to shingles and gutters, work with mini, C6, C7, C9, rope, and icicle lights, and require no tools at all.

Honestly, having two styles on hand is not overkill. Some spots on my roofline have a gutter and some don’t, and the hook that grips a gutter lip beautifully is not always the one that tucks nicely under a shingle. I keep both in the same bin and just grab whichever one fits the section I’m on.

One tip that took me two seasons to learn: clip the hooks onto the light strand first, on the ground, sitting down, with a cup of coffee. Then carry the whole prepped strand up. Fiddling with tiny plastic clips at the top of a ladder in December wind is genuinely miserable, y’all!

3. Outdoor Command light clips

These are for everything that isn’t a roofline. Vinyl siding, wood trim, porch columns, the frame around the front door, the little section over the garage — all of it. The adhesive strips are water-resistant, they hold through weather, and in January you pull the tab and they come off clean.

A few things I’ve paid for in pure embarrassment, because I have absolutely had a whole strand slide down the front of the house:

Clean the surface first with rubbing alcohol, not a household cleaner. Anything with soap or oil in it leaves a film and the adhesive never really grabs. Then press each strip for a solid thirty seconds and — this is the part everyone skips, including me — walk away for an hour before you hang anything on it. That hour is the difference between clips that hold all season and clips that don’t!

Also, don’t put these up when it’s cold. Adhesive hates cold! If your December is genuinely freezing, do this part in November on a mild afternoon and thank yourself later.

I’ll also say: skip the vinyl siding hooks that slide up under the lap of the siding. I tried them. I could never get them to sit where I actually wanted the lights, and cracking a piece of siding in cold weather is not a repair anybody wants to be making in December.

4. Brick clips for the mortar line

If any part of your house is brick, this is the one I wish I’d found first. These clips have a spring bottom that grips the top and bottom of a standard brick, so they hold on with tension instead of hardware. No drilling, no anchors, no dust. They’re rustproof, they’ll hold real weight (I use them for a wreath on the front of the house too, not just lights), and they pop right off in the spring.

The only catch is that they fit a specific brick height, so measure one of yours before you order. Most standard brick falls in the range these cover, but if you have anything oversized or a thick mortar joint, check first. It takes thirty seconds and saves you a return!

5. An outdoor extension cord that’s actually rated for outside

I used an indoor extension cord my first year. Please don’t do what I did! An outdoor-rated cord has a heavier vinyl jacket that handles moisture, sun, and being stepped on, and it costs about the same as the indoor one.

Get green if it’s going through a flowerbed or along shrubs, because it disappears. Get the three-outlet end so you can run the porch, the roofline, and the little tree by the walkway off one cord instead of three. And leave yourself a drip loop — that’s just a little downward U in the cord before it reaches the outlet, so water runs off the bottom of the loop instead of following the cord into the plug. Tiny thing, takes two seconds, and it’s the difference between a tripped breaker and a normal evening!

6. An outdoor power stake timer

This is the thing I wish I’d bought first! It’s a stake you push into the ground or a flowerbed, with six weatherproof outlets and a dusk-to-dawn timer built in, plus a remote so you can turn everything off from inside the house.

Before this, my routine was: stand at the window at eleven at night, remember the lights are still on, put on shoes over pajamas, walk out to the side of the house in a robe, unplug a cold cord, come back in. Every single night. For a month. My daughter thought it was hilarious. I did not.

Set it once and you’re done for the season! The dusk-to-dawn sensor means it adjusts as the days get shorter, so you’re not resetting a schedule in the middle of December.

7. Kasa outdoor smart plug

If you’d rather run it from your phone, this is the one I’d get. Two independent outlets, IP64 weather resistance, no hub required, and it works with Alexa and Google Home. Two outlets means you can put the roofline on one and the yard on the other and control them separately, which is more useful than it sounds — I like the porch on a little earlier than the big stuff.

The real reason I love it: sunrise and sunset scheduling. You set it once and it just follows the actual daylight. And when you’re out at a Christmas party and realize you never turned the lights on, you can fix it from the car. (I have done this. More than once.)

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That’s it. Match the clip to the surface, prep your strands on the ground, put the whole thing on a timer, and you never touch a nail or a staple gun. My house has zero holes in it from Christmas lights and I intend to keep it that way!

If you get your outdoor lights up with any of these, please post a photo and tag me @sugardesignco on instagram so I can see your house all lit up! I love seeing these.

-Ciera

Made something with this? Tag me @sugardesignco — I love seeing them.