One of the best things we love about Diwali is how warm and fuzzy everything feels, thanks to the gorgeously lit up homes on every street. When you're done with the deep-cleaning for Diwali that we all love to put off, the one thing to get to is the lighting. We take our Diwali lighting seriously, and if you're anything like us, you're already scanning online stores for the best lights to get this year. Here are 15 Diwali light decoration ideas that'll make your homes sparkle this festive season.
15 Diwali Light Decoration Ideas To Make Your Home Festive Ready
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Earthen Diyas
One of the earliest memories most of us have of Diwali is lining up our balconies and entryways with earthen diyas, hand-rolling the cotton wicks and ensuring they stay lit through the night. Earthen diyas inspire nostalgia, and are a classic favourite for most of us, despite electric lighting being common. Make sure to shop from your local vendors and hand-paint them by yourself so you're supporting a small business this Diwali.
Tea Light Candles
Candles have taken off as the next best alternative to traditional diyas over the last few years, thanks to their ease of use. With tea light candles, you don't have to DIY them as much. Get pretty lanterns and candle holders for the outdoors, and use a combination of pillar candles and votives to create centrepieces indoors. Just make sure there's a lot of ventilation around where you're lighting them, since they could produce soot over a few hours of burning.
Brass Lamps
If you thought brass oil lamps are only meant to be in the Pooja room, here's an idea—go traditional with your lighting and bring out the brass oil lamps from the storage this Diwali. Shine them up with a little salt and soaked tamarind before using, and they'll be as good as new. You could use them in combination with florals and place them on stairways, entryways, and corners of your home.
Traditional Diwali Lanterns
A fool-proof balcony Diwali light decoration idea is to get traditional Diwali paper lanterns from your local store. Place a warm white light inside and watch it light up your balcony like nothing else does.
Oil Lanterns
Old school glass oil lanterns look fabulous, especially when used outdoors. Hang them up on your balcony to give it a vintage vibe. If you'd like to skip the hassle, you could also get candle light holders shaped like oil lanterns to give you the look minus the hassle of using sticky oil for fuel. We recommend using them outdoors since they run pretty hot in just a couple of hours.
LED Strips
One of the best innovations to have come out in the last few years, we love LED strips for how versatile they are. If you have a false ceiling, line them along the inner corner to create ambient lighting at no extra cost. You could also place them on your balcony railing to create lighting that's safer than an open flame. What's more, you also get variants that you can switch on and off, or even switch colours via a mobile app.
Glass Bottle Lights
Get your DIY game on this Diwali and upcycle the old glass bottles you may have lying around your home. Clean them thoroughly and insert battery operated string lights to create a cosy table top light for your dining table. If you'd like to create a display, you can use a longer piece of string light and use it for multiple bottles at the same time. Make sure to use copper wired or white coloured lights so it looks pretty even when switched off. If you'd like to conceal the lights inside, paint your bottles with acrylic or washable poster colours to create ambient lighting.
Round Paper Lanterns
No Diwali lighting design for home is complete without a paper lantern setting, especially for the outdoors. If you have a bigger garden or balcony space, use orb lights or paper lanterns on your bulbs to create a beautiful, cosy effect. You could also use just one of two of them for small balconies to get the same warm and fuzzy effect. This is great if you like changing up your decor every year, since they're good for a couple of uses before you dispose.
Taper Candles
One of the most affordable diwali light decoration ideas you could use, this hack is great especially if you're on a budget or are decorating a large space. Get inexpensive taper candles from your local pooja store at a bargain and use them for open spaces like terraces. They last longer than tea lights, are more affordable, and you don't have to put in much effort to make them look cute since the candle light does the job pretty well. You can use paper tea cups underneath them to keep the wax from staining your floors.
Pro Tip: Clean candle brands
String Lights
No Diwali is complete without obsessively hanging up string lights or rice lights wherever we possibly can. Get bigger, multi coloured ones if you're lighting up a bigger home, say an independent house, and smaller ones if you're decorating a balcony. You could create a beautiful canopy on your balcony using metal wires as a frame, and hanging the lights down from there.
Floating Candles/Diyas
Floating candles are some of the most beautiful Diwali lighting ideas for home, and the easiest to set up. Just get a big brass container, fill it up with lights, some loose flowers and add in some floating diyas or candles to watch the space light up. You could do this at entryways and living rooms. You could also substitute orange peels for diyas to add a natural fragrance to your space and for a tinge of sustainability by using home waste!
Diya Shaped String Lights
Fancy string lights like star shaped ones or diya shaped lights are popular around Diwali. Use them in your balcony in addition to hanging lanterns to create some variety, appropriate for the festive season.
Festive Lamp Shades
If you tend to use floor and table lamps around your home, how about switching out the lampshades to make them more Diwali appropriate? Head to a local haat or handicrafts market to get yourself some lampshades highlighting Indian craftsmanship. They look stunning and are a smart purchase considering they can be reused as the years go by. Just make sure you keep a balance of solids and prints when you're using them.
Pro tip: Best floor lamps
LED Photo String Lights
If you're having over old friends or close cousins over for Diwali, how about creating a photo display with all your pictures on it? You could collate images of all the Diwalis gone by, print them out on polaroids and hang them up to create a cute display. Make sure you include all your favourite memories, including pictures of your favourite food or your fur buddies. It could be a great conversation starter for new acquaintances too and can become a tradition down the line.
Battery Operated Candles
Battery operated candles are one of the best Diwali light decoration ideas if you're allergic to smoke or have kids in the home. You can practically replace all your diyas or candles with them without having to worry about someone getting hurt, both for indoor displays and outdoors too. Some of them are also remote operated, and the fact that they'll possibly last you for the next Diwali goes without saying.
