20 Easy Ways to Hang String Lights

Transform your backyard or balcony with these outdoor string lights ideas!

20 Ideas for Backyard String Lights: collage of photos of string lights

Outdoor string lights are wildly popular, and for good reason! They feel magical and bring a warm, intimate ambiance to any party or outdoor living space.

Inexpensive, simple for the average person to DIY, relatively easy to put up and take down with the seasons, and the list goes on…

And if you’re still not sure what kind of lighting is best for your outdoor living space, I walk through more backyard lighting options in this post.

Which String Lights Are Best?

If you’re shopping for string lights, you’ll want to check out this post where I tested and reviewed 20 different brands. Spoiler: These are my top pick.

The Best Outdoor String Lights: Tested & Reviewed for 2025

String Light Poles & Posts

Ready-Made String Light Poles

outdoor string lights hung from in-ground string light poles over a backyard fire pit

The very easiest way to hang outdoor string lights is to buy ready-made poles. And honestly some are less expensive than the materials required to DIY them.

This year I bought and tested 15 different poles to review, and I was pleasantly surprised with the quality of some (though not all) of them. These 10′ fork-style poles were the all-around winners for best quality, ease of installation, and value. You can read all the reviews here: The Best String Light Poles: Tested & Reviewed.

DIY String Light Poles: The In-Ground Method

My patio dining space at my old house was right next to the house, with no convenient trees nearby. So while we could hang them from hooks on the house side, we really needed some poles on the other side of the patio.

backyard patio with DIY string light poles in the ground

We came up with this ultra-simple and inexpensive method for installing string light poles. The PVC stays in the ground year-round, but the poles themselves can be pulled out at the end of the season and stored in the garage. You can watch my quick video tutorial here:

How to Hang String Lights When You’re Renting

Here’s a slight variation on the string lights poles above. These poles use a patio umbrella stand as the base. They can be moved around easily and are perfect for wedding receptions, outdoor parties, or anywhere you don’t can’t dig holes in the ground. And did I mention this one only requires 3 tools and takes about 20 minutes tops?

patio hung patio lights using DIY umbrella stand string light poles

How to Hang String Lights On A Deck

I recently got these inexpensive deck railing string light poles for my parents’ new deck, and the installation took about 20 minutes. The poles come with brackets that attach them to the deck railings.

We tested two different brands of poles and were equally happy with them. Here’s the tutorial: How to Hang String Lights on a Deck

nighttime photo of deck with string lights hanging from string light poles attached to the deck railings

If you have a deck with railings, you’re already halfway there. Check out this ultra-simple tutorial from Jenna Kate at Home:

deck with a DIY string light pole attached to the railing

Julie from Red Head Can Decorate hung them on the deck railing.

deck with glowing string lights hung directly along the railing

How to Hang Outdoor Lights From Trees

If you’ve got big trees near your patio or deck, you’re in luck! You can use eye hooks, cup hooks, or coaxial staples to secure them to the tree.

Cyndy from The Creativity Exchange anchored her patio lights to a tree in this beautiful outdoor dining space.

glowing string lights hung between a tree and a rooftop

Ariel from PMQ for Two made use of some nearby trees to hang lights over her super-fun outdoor living room.

outdoor living room with string lights hung from trees overhead

Or drape them in the lower branches of a tree, like my friend Kippi did for this gorgeous backyard 4th of July party.

summer party with string lights draped through tree branches overhead

Wall, Fence, or Building

If you want to hang your cafe lights from your house or another wall or fence, simply drill a pilot hole and screw either an eye hook, a cup hook, or a coaxial staple into the wall.

We used this method on the house side of our patio.

close-up of string lights attached to the side of a house with a cup hook

I hung string lights on the wall behind my new boho porch swings! You can see the whole porch makeover here.

Boho porch swings with string lights glowing in the background

My aunt & uncle hung lights along their backyard fence using nails:

You can also attach string light poles to a fence, like Ben from Tree Farm Design Co. did over this pretty garden.

Jenna from Jenna Kate At Home hung string lights along her house next to her patio to create this ultra-casual look.

patio dining table with string lights draped in the background

Deck Ceiling or Covered Patio

April from Love Our Real Life has a roof over her deck, and she has a great tutorial for hanging patio lights from the ceiling.

covered deck with string lights hung from the ceiling

I hung string lights in the kids’ playhouse using a similar method- small cup hooks in the rafters. It takes 5 minutes to hang the lights up each Spring and take them down at the end of the Summer. You can see the whole playhouse makeover here.

playhouse with string lights hung from the ceiling

We used screw-in cup hooks to attach lights to the underside of the balcony above my parents’ beach house deck:

string lights attached to the ceiling over a deck

Emily from Table & Hearth used a similar method to hang her string lights under her covered patio… but she hung them in a criss-cross pattern.

covered patio hung with outdoor string lights

Meredith & Daniel from House on Austin made use of the holes on their industrial string lights and attached them to the exterior of their cute shed’ porch roof.