Christmas Lights on a Two-Story Colonial

The House

A 2,400 to 4,500 square foot two-story with a continuous front eave, a front-facing two- or three-car garage gable, and a covered entry, built between about 1990 and 2010. It's the house on most streets in Solon, Hudson, Aurora, Twinsburg, Concord, and Mentor.

The Three Lines That Matter

The main front eave, end to end. The garage gable, outlined as a triangle. The entry, either the porch roofline or the columns. Those three lines give the house its silhouette from the street. Adding the second-story ridge or every dormer usually makes it read as noise, not design.

Where the Bulbs Go

Warm white C9s on custom-cut cord, clipped to the gutter lip along the eave and the shingle edge up the gable, spaced a foot apart so the line reads as individual points of light from the road. The cord is cut so the run ends where the design ends, with no slack and no plug in the middle of a gable.

What You'll See on the Mockup

Exactly those lines on a photo of your own house, so you can add the porch columns or drop the garage before anything goes up. Most colonials install in one to three hours from the ground and the gutter line.