Looking to get a festive head start on the new year? Here are some decoration and lighting tips that might help.

How Can I Decorate for New Year’s This Year?

New Year’s Eve (NYE) decorations can be a tricky business. New Year’s Eve celebrations often focus on ephemeral things like fireworks and confetti poppers, many people aren’t immediately sure what to do for decorating their homes for the holiday.

The most important thing to remember is that your decorations should be things you enjoy. To help you think about what works for you and your family and friends, you might want to consider what traditions you can incorporate into your New Year’s Eve party decorations. Depending on where you live or where you’re from, people might have certain styles or themes that they use for their decorations at the start of a new year. This could include things done by your culture or country, your ancestral origins, or even just the things your family has always done for the holidays. If you don’t know about these things, consider doing a little bit of research to find out how your ancestors celebrated the new year, and see if any of those traditions would be fun to use for your own family today. Making your celebration personal and meaningful to you is more important than making it like everyone else’s.

What are Some Ideas to Make My Yard and Terrace Festive?

If you’re looking to decorate for some New Year’s Eve visitors, you probably want to pay some attention to both the inside and outside of your home. When it comes to a yard, terrace, or any other outdoor area, lighting can play a huge part in setting the mood that you want to achieve.

To light your terrace for NYE, start by thinking about the lights' purpose: are they for illumination, or decoration? Decorative lights are often more colorful and scattered, while illuminating lights are brighter and more focused, often only in shades of white. If you are planning to host a late-night party on your terrace, you’ll probably want a mix of these so that you can keep things safely lit up while also making the area look festive. Additionally, think about if you’re planning to watch fireworks from the terrace (or maybe set off some of your own nearby). If you are, remember that making your decorative lights too bright might interfere with the fireworks show by having the lights that are near you wash out the ones further away. If you plan on watching fireworks from your terrace, make sure to keep the lighting somewhat dim or set it up, so it’s easy to dim or turn off the brighter lights once the show starts.

You can also set up a New Year banner over your porch—saying something like "Happy New Year." to guests. Some party kits come with banners, but they're pretty easy to make out of construction paper or multiple sheets of printer paper with paint. New Year banners fit in with the glitter, party hats, and other things guests will love.

What Colors Should I Light My House With?

Some holidays have clear color schemes associated with them (black and orange usually mean Halloween, for example), but New Year’s Eve is one holiday where the colors can leave people a little stumped sometimes. People associate New Year’s with fireworks, which can be a lot of different colors, and with celebrations in general, but there isn’t normally a set color scheme that immediately signals that something belongs to a set of New Year’s decorations.

Fortunately, at least one color works incredibly well for New Year’s, no matter what else you have going on: gold. Because New Year’s Eve is a time that traditionally celebrates the chance for a new start, chosen colors are usually meant to represent the valuable nature of this chance, and the festive and excited feelings around the holiday. Gold is a great choice for these purposes because it is associated with value and beauty, two concepts New Year’s Eve holds for many people.

When it comes to gold decorations, there are plenty of options you can go with: streamers, confetti poppers, balloons, glitter, plastic silverware (or real metal silverware designed to loom gold.), table runners, and, of course, gold-colored lights. While yellow lights will have much the same effect, you’ll likely be able to find some lights designed specifically to appear golden instead of merely yellow. Some smart lights may also allow you to get a more precise gold coloration.

What colors should you use besides gold? Well, there are some obvious pairings: silver goes well with gold and shares many of the same associations with the themes of NYE, and black and gold just look nice together. Aside from these, take your inspiration from a fireworks show and choose bright and cheerful colors that accentuate most of your decorations. A bright red (or any other primary color) centerpiece on a gold-decorated table might be a great way to draw attention and keep the gold from being overwhelming. Your lighting can be treated in a similar way, with accent lights taking on various bright colors as an homage to the fireworks that New Year’s Eve usually brings.

What Type of Lights Should I Use for NYE Decorations? What other kinds of light decoration ideas can help you prepare your home for New Year’s? Now that we’ve talked a little about color, another thing to think about when it comes to lighting is the type of lights that you want to use.

Now, you can always use colored light bulbs to replace some of your normal lights. This can work especially well for outdoor, wall-mounted porch lights, for instance, and gives you a fun splash of color.

Another type of light you could use is simply traditional holiday lighting setups, like the kind you might often see on Christmas. These kinds of lights can sometimes be attached to controllable smart systems which allow you to change their color and lighting patterns however you want, sometimes even allowing you to sync lights to music or create other pattern changes in your lighting. Adding some colors to your home in this way can again help you represent the look of a firework display by having bursts of bright colors appear and then disappear along your holiday light strings.

Fairy lights are another excellent option for New Year’s lighting. As their name indicates, these lights are intended to have a more ethereal, magical look, and are small and more subtle than many traditional holiday lights. Strings of fairy lights can be hung vertically to emulate trailing sparks or horizontally to remind viewers of the star-lit sky. They’re also a great way to add just a little light and attention to any outdoor (or indoor) features of your home that deserve the spotlight.

Window lights are another fun option. Look for window displays that can light up to mimic sparklers or more intense firework displays, or find ones that simply spell out well wishes for the holiday, like “Happy New Year”. Are Permanent Holiday Lights Worth It? Permanent holiday lighting is an option for home lighting that stays installed all year round, allowing you to change your lighting decorations to match whatever holiday or event you’re currently celebrating.

Unlike non-permanent lights, this kind of holiday lighting is intended to remain on display constantly. Of course, you won’t always need to have them on if you don’t want to—but the option will always be there when you need it. Many permanent lighting systems are designed to be installed in a way that doesn’t draw attention to the lights or cords except when activated, making them blend in well with your home’s roof or walls. These lights are also designed to last a long time without needing to be replaced, and many will be able to be controlled through a smartphone or smart home device whenever you want to change things, as well as being programmable.

Depending on how big your home is and how much of it you want these lights to cover, permanent holiday lights can run a little expensive; some homeowners might pay a few thousand dollars for these systems to be purchased and installed

In short, while permanent holiday lights will cost quite a bit more than non-permanent lights, their durable and versatile nature might make them a worthwhile investment for people who want to always be ready to show their enthusiasm for celebrations.

How Can JellyFish Lighting Help Me? You can contact JellyFish Lighting today to learn more about installing a permanent holiday lighting setup for your home that will let you adjust your decorations for any holiday, all year round.