You can't just read about how to make a beautiful turkey, stuffing, or ribbon curl without practicing; you have to do it for yourself. The same is true with stringing lights on a Christmas tree. It takes some mental acrobatics, even if you know how to install lights on a tree, to determine how many bulbs you'll need for your Christmas tree. However, there is no universal guideline for determining how many lights your tree needs (just like everyone has their own pick for the best Christmas movies on Netflix). But there are some easy rules to follow when determining how many lights your Christmas tree needs.
Overall:
According to prop stylist and craftsman Karin Lidbeck-Brent, "the average person usually has a 6-foot tree." "So, as a simple guideline, you should use one strand of lights for every foot of tree height. My personal favorite are the 150-bulb strands."
Lidbeck-Brent, who has decorated over a thousand Christmas trees in her career, cautions that this is merely a suggestion. As a first consideration, your tree's height is crucial: Naturally, more lights will be required for a higher or wider tree compared to a shorter or thinner one. Also, everyone has their own traditions and tastes when it comes to decorating their Christmas tree. There are those who prefer a dazzling display of dazzling lights, while others prefer a more understated style that puts the spotlight squarely on the ornaments themselves. In either case, you'll need to think about where you'll put the Christmas lights the other 11 months of the year, when you won't be decorating a tree.
How many bulbs will your Christmas tree require this year?
Get a rough estimate of your tree's height and plan to use one string of lights for every foot. (If your light strands are unusually lengthy, you may need to use less of them.) Furthermore, if you used the same number of lights on a tree of a comparable height last year and were satisfied with the result, there's no reason to change anything this year.
Do You Need to Buy More Lights?
Even though Lidbeck-Brent uses more Christmas tree lights than the average person, she still advises everyone to have a backup set on hand. Then, if after you've finished decorating the entire tree, you notice a gap in your coverage, you may use the extras and an extension cord to fill it. Three extra sets of lights is a good precaution to take if you're a true lighting enthusiast.
In most cases, 150 lights per strand is just enough, but you can find Christmas lights with more than that if you need a really bright tree or a less dazzling one.
"Prioritize your needs before you begin the decorating process. Reduce the number of lights on your tree if you want the focus to be on the decorations. Overdoing the lighting will cause the glare to be too much and obscure your ornaments "as Lidbeck-Brent puts it.