How smart lights make your Christmas magical

Christmas is a magical time of year, with snowy scenes, festive music, and, of course, the twinkling lights on trees and houses. Christmas lights were originally enjoyed as the warm glow from candles and a fire in the hearth, but they have changes drastically over the years, becoming brighter, more colourful, and in modern homes smarter.

Smart Christmas lights are a perfect addition to your home during the holidays, allowing you to change up your Christmas decorations for each special moment: set the mood for Christmas dinner, wash the walls with fun colours of light as your family opens their gifts, and more. Use our tips to make your holiday even more magical with smart Christmas lights.

Use a smart plug for app-controlled Christmas lights

The centrepiece of many homes during Christmas, a brightly lit Christmas tree almost always comes with an unsightly power supply. Disguising the plug often means crawling awkwardly under or around your tree, being poked by pine needles to get to a tucked-away wall socket.

Bright idea: Ditch the traditional Christmas lights and weave a Philips Hue Lightstrip into your garland instead. Set it to red or green or create a light routine that switches between the colours every so often.

Make gift-giving part of the decor

Beautifully wrapped Christmas gifts nested under the tree are decorations in and of themselves. Make them an even bigger part of your Christmas decor by using paper and ribbon that matches the colours of your ornaments. For example, if you choose for traditional dark red and gold tree ornaments, use red and green plaid wrapping paper with golden ribbon to tie it all together.

Bright idea: Use the portable Philips Hue Go to light up your tree and its gifts. Place the Hue Go between your gifts, aiming it up into your tree to illuminate its branches and add a touch of unexpected charm.

Smart outdoor Christmas lights illuminate Rudolph's way

Nothing says December like outdoor Christmas lights on your home. Choose a colour palette that matches your home's exterior and go to town: string larger lights along the eaves of the roof, then smaller icicle-style lights underneath for a crisp, clean look, or use rainbow lights instead for a more non-traditional feel.