As a first time homeowner, I have never had the opportunity to decorate the outside of my own home for Christmas until now. I always loved helping my dad put up lights, but when you are a kid, you do not realize how much actually goes into a task that seems so simple. Not that the task is very difficult, but I did want to record a few things I learned, and lessons that I’ll take into next year when I go for round two.

  1. Start on the front (the side you care about the most)
    • I had to go back and get more lights a few times, and this left half of the front covered for longer than I would have liked. Just start on the most important side first.
  2. Route strand sets in alternating order
    • This is mainly a problem because I have to bring power from inside of my garage, but my extension cord routing this year has some room to be improved. Next year I can help myself out by limiting the amount of spots I have to run a cord up to the roof.
  3. I am awful at estimating how far a light strand will go
    • Since I already have bought the lights, and ideally they last more than one year, this should not be too much of a problem, but I stink at estimating how long of extension cords, and how many light strands I’ll need.