Diwali Decor

Diwali or Deepavali - “The festival of lights” is one of the most important festivals for Hindus. This festival gets its name from “Deepa” meaning “Light” and “Avali” meaning “Row”.
It symbolizes the victory of good over evil and an even deeper meaning is to drive away our inner darkness with light.

To this day, Deepavali is celebrated with lights. It’s also a time for togetherness, love, family, sweets, lights, and fireworks! During this festival, homes are cleaned and decorated inside and out.

Living in the USA, away from the country and culture that I grew up in, the holiday season has become more special for my family and me. It’s the time to teach our children about our culture while encouraging them to enjoy the diverse cultures present in the country they are growing up in.
The holiday season for us starts with Diwali and ends with New Year. We decorate our homes inside and out to celebrate the season.

Today, we’re sharing how we decorated the exterior of our home just in time for Diwali with the help of The Home Depot.

Back in the day, oil lamps were lit as there was no electricity. Today, the choices to light up our homes are endless.
Here is how I used lighting from The Home Depot to light up the exterior of my home.

The peaks of our roof line were decorated with a row of C9 lights and it gives such a beautiful look to the entire home.

We used icicle lighting to light up the rest of the roof line. The twinkling of these hanging lights feels like little drops of joy and brings about a feeling of cheerfulness.

We used mini lights to decorate the door and the pillars in our doorway. Don’t be fooled by the name! The impact of these lights is anything but mini. They lend a subtle charm to the overall lighting look we were going for.

While thinking about lighting, most people focus on the roof line, the doorway, and the front of the home. One area that often gets overlooked is the bushes in the front yard. Net lighting is a perfect solution for the bushes in our front yard.

They make me feel like happiness is spreading everywhere. If I may say so, this is probably one of my favorite types of light.

We used curtain lights to decorate the two front windows of our home. The curtain lights add a beautiful waterfall-like calming effect while maintaining a perfect shimmer in that area of the house.

Last but not least, I used a few solar stakes to light up the area around the yard. I know I am going to keep them there all year round trying to hang on to joy that lights bring about in our lives. Here is what our home looks like all lit up for Diwali and the rest of the holiday season.

Wait! Things don’t end here. There’s more to decorating for Diwali than just lights.
Being a DIYer, I could not let go of the opportunity to add to the decor by creating something with my own two hands and of course, with a little help from The Home Depot!

Diya or Deepa is a clay lamp that is lit during Diwali with oil and a cotton wick. Instead of just placing the diyas like I normally do, this year I decided to do something a little extra for my lamps.

I built diya stands and hung them on the wall in my doorway and oh boy, do they look good!
I bought two pieces of 1x6 pre-primed boards and one piece of 1x4 pre-primed board.

I bought pre-primed boards because I knew I would be painting these stands.
Since this is a festive decor project, I couldn't help but pick up the most vibrant colors I could find. I chose Red, Green, Orange, and Blue spray paints and I am so happy I did!

The next step is to hang the diya stands onto the wall. I attached sawtooth hangers to the back of the stands and hung them using Tapcon concrete anchors.

The final step is to add the diyas. While I could have gone with the traditional option of oil and cotton wick, I decided to make it easy on myself and used tea lights instead.

Not only are they so cute, but they are also a simple and less messy option. Changing them is so easy and my diyas don’t need to be cleaned.