String lights are nothing but a series of lights suspended from thick durable wires. These lights are usually used for festivities and other occasions, and are not normally used in everyday day life. Festive occasions are of course another matter. It is normal to see streams of lights hanging everywhere for Christmas, from homes to offices and factories. One of the first things anyone thinks of when you say Christmas is lights.
These lights are used because of the way they tend to color up the entire place that they are used in although their illumination potential is not necessarily of a high order. This of course is not a problem at all as nobody considers them a lighting system; only as decoration.
There are very many different kinds of lights and the size of the bulb basically depends on the purpose for which these lights are to be used. If you are going to decorate your Christmas tree, then the tiny ones are the best especially since they give off a soft glow, rather than a bright light. You can also choose whether you want to go with plain white lights or solid colored ones or even multi-colored ones that go chasing after each other. If you are decorating your driveway for the same Christmas, you would go with slightly larger ones. In fact these days you get string lights with differently shaped bulb covers so that you can set the mood for your party or the entire season for that matter. An example would be to use streams of small Santa Clauses, or snow men or any other designs that you feel appropriate hanging in your driveway. If you are hosting a party for Valentine’s Day, using small heart shaped lights would look really nice.
Different combinations of lights, sizes and shapes can be found in almost all stores, and you do not have to go to much trouble before finding one of your choice. If however you are a little picky and do not want the “usual” ones, it might be better for you to go online and check because there is always the chance that there might be something out there that is more to your liking. The prices range from a very cheap $10 for a set of 10 multicolored paper lanterns and go upwards for the more elaborate ones. Even the new age LED glow lamps cost only around $20 for a length and you probably will get a few hundred lamps.
Although string lights are usually used for special occasions, there are some places where they will not seem out of place even if they are used as part of the theme. Restaurants use them all the time to set the tone of their place. This is actually a good idea for most kitchen owners as a few tables and chairs under the open sky with streams of different colored or shaped lights for a roof is a very cost effective way of adding a few more tables to the restaurant. This is of course not possible when the weather is bad, but is still a very good idea. Using solar powered lights is probably a good idea here as they will be a one time installation, and although costing more than the normal ones give you the option of moving them around to change the “look” every now and then at no additional expense.
String lights are a universal phenomenon and there is no one place that can lay claim to it. Every place under the sun uses them, with a few eastern countries even making strings of paper lanterns with little candles or oil lamps inside them. There are some who actually attach one end to a huge kite and send them up. You will have to see this in darkness from afar to experience it.