The living room is where Christmas happens: the tree, the presents, the long evenings on the sofa. These 8 ideas light it up corner by corner, from the tree and the window to the mantel, the coffee table and the shelves, and most of them run on batteries, so you are not limited to the spots next to a socket.
1. Make the tree the centrepiece
The tree is where every eye goes first, so give it the most light. Ribbon lights wrap it in a sheer gold or silver ribbon with fairy lights built in, so the ribbon and the lights go on in one step: spiral it down from the top or drape it in long loops. It runs on a battery box, so the tree can stand in the best spot in the room, not just the one next to a socket.
Shown: Christmas ribbon lights, 5 m or 10 m, gold or silver, with warm-white, cool-white or multicolor LEDs. Want the tree to move? The smart Christmas tree lights show animations you pick in the app. More ideas: 8 Christmas tree decorating ideas.
2. Turn the window into a moving picture
Hang smart curtain lights inside the living-room window and the glass becomes a screen: 400 individually controlled LEDs show Santa, falling snow, a winter village or a message you type in the app, and they move with the music. From the sofa it is a glowing backdrop to the evening; from the street it is a light show. The timer switches it on and off every day.
Shown: smart animated Christmas lights, 2 × 2 m or 3 × 3 m, 400 LEDs, with hooks, remote and app. For a Christmas built around faith, the Christian Christmas lights show the Nativity and the Star of Bethlehem. More ideas: 8 Christmas window ideas.
3. Drape a velvet bow over the mantel
The mantel is the living room's second stage. Tie a big velvet bow in the middle and let the long streamers fall down both sides, then line the shelf with a few lit pieces from the ideas below. The velvet is wired, so the loops keep their shape all season. No fireplace? The same bow looks just as good on a sideboard, a mirror or the staircase banister.
Shown: velvet Christmas bow, about 40 cm wide, with 160 or 180 cm streamers, in Burgundy, Classic Red, Emerald Green, Ivory White or Blush Pink. It also tops the tree.
4. Put a lighted birch on the sideboard
A white birch with warm fairy lights along every branch brings a soft glow to a sideboard, a console table or a windowsill, and it suits the room from the first frost through to the New Year, long after the tree has gone. Its branches bend, so you can shape it to fit the space, and it runs on USB or batteries.
Shown: lighted birch tree, 24 LEDs and about 60 cm tall, or 144 LEDs and about 63.5 cm tall, warm white.
5. Flameless candles on the coffee table
Candles make the living room feel like Christmas, but a flame next to wrapping paper, curtains and curious hands is a worry. These pillar candles have a 3D flame that flickers like the real thing, and one remote switches all three on and off, dims them, changes between flicker and steady light and sets a timer of 2 to 8 hours that lights them again at the same time the next day.
Shown: flameless candles with remote, set of 3 in three heights, 7.5 cm wide, in White, Ivory or Smoke Gray.
6. A little village on the bookshelf
Give a bookshelf or the windowsill a tiny snowy street. Each village house is painted resin with snow on the roof, and a warm LED inside makes the windows glow. Start with one and add a new house every year: there are four to collect.
Shown: light-up Christmas village houses: Snowy Chapel, Timber Cottage, Brick Townhouse or Stone Cottage, 6 to 9 cm tall. More ideas: 8 Christmas village display ideas.
7. A tree with a train on the side table
For a touch of nostalgia, put a light-up tree with coloured bulbs and a glowing star on the side table, with a little train running round and round its base. It runs on batteries with no cable, so it can go next to the armchair, on the piano or in the middle of the village from idea 6, and it is the piece children stop to watch.
Shown: light-up Christmas tree with rotating train, about 19 cm tall and 11 cm wide at the base.
8. A wall of Christmas cards above the sofa
Christmas cards deserve better than a pile on the side table. Run photo clip string lights across the wall above the sofa in two or three rows, clip the cards on as they arrive and they glow every evening. The clips slide along the wire, so new cards fit anywhere, and after Christmas the same lights hold family photos.
Shown: photo clip string lights, 2 m with 20 LEDs, 5 m with 50 LEDs or 10 m with 100 LEDs, warm white, with clear clips.
Before you start: power and practical tips
- Sockets: only the curtain lights and the smart tree lights need a USB adapter (not included); the birch runs on USB or batteries. Everything else here runs on batteries, so plan the sockets around the tree and the window, and put the rest wherever it looks best.
- Batteries: the ribbon lights take AA batteries in their battery box, the photo clip lights 3 × AA and each flameless candle 3 × AAA; these are not included. The village houses come with their 3 × AG13 button batteries; keep button batteries away from small children.
- Timers: the flameless candles, the curtain lights and the smart tree lights have timers, so set them once and the room lights up by itself every evening.
- Delivery: free tracked shipping, dispatched in 1 to 3 business days and delivered in 7 to 12. Order by 10 December to have everything up before Christmas.
- Returns: unused items in their original packaging can be returned within 30 days of delivery.
More ideas
- Decorating other rooms too? See 8 Christmas bedroom ideas, 8 Christmas table ideas and 8 Christmas balcony ideas.
- Browse all our Christmas decorations or our 12 Christmas gift ideas under $30.
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Decorating the fireplace too? Here are 8 Christmas mantel decor ideas.
Decorating the hallway too? Here are 8 Christmas staircase decor ideas.
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