Colored or White Christmas Lights? The Great Christmas Light Controversy

Dec 20th 2024

two cartoon Christmas trees dueling with candy canes. One is decorated with white lights, the other is decorated with colorful Christmas lights (Image is AI generated)

The very first electric Christmas lights were white. And blue. And red. When Edison Electric Company Vice President Edward Hibberd Johnson strung together 80 electric lights to decorate his family’s Christmas tree in 1882, he unknowingly sparked a debate that has raged seasonally ever since. (add resources link: Why do we hang lights at Christmas?)

It seems people have intense opinions about the color of their Christmas lights. Some say multi-colored lights are distracting; others insist that all-white lights are too basic.

To help restore true Christmas spirit – and subdue spirited arguments during the holidays – we offer the following observations on the topic.

large stucco house decorated with warm white Christmas lights (AI)

White Lights vs. Colorful Lights

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White Lights are Serene

White Christmas light lovers say colored lights diminish a Christmas tree’s natural beauty. Outdoors, there’s just something pure and serene about a scene set with all-white lights, especially after a snowfall. A word of caution, however: Pay attention to the “temperature” of your white lights and don’t mix warm and cool tones.

Multicolored Lights are Festive

While white light enthusiasts find colorful Christmas lights overpowering, those in the multicolored Christmas light camp consider them playful and exuberant. They bring vivacious color to a landscape that, in many parts of the country, is drab and dreary. Colored lights say, “Let the Christmas party begin!”

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White Lights Offer a Neutral Backdrop

White Christmas lights echo the ongoing design trend emphasizing neutral shades. They project a warm glow without distracting from the decorations, so your ornaments (and the tree itself) can take center stage. Fans of white Christmas lights also point to their timelessness and elegance. Both indoors and out, white Christmas lights create a cohesive look that complements any style.

Colored Christmas Lights Offer Visual Excitement

Big, colorful Christmas lights – especially the newer versions of Grandpa’s retro incandescent bulbs – express the unrestrained joy of the season. They are “merry and bright.” While a house decked in hundreds of colored lights would look like a carnival attraction any other time of year, at Christmastime, those same lights blaze and blink cheerfully in time to the beat of countless Christmas melodies.

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White Lights Offer Flexibility

White Christmas lights coordinate with every color scheme. They create a blank canvas for your decorating options and enable you to change themes from year to year. White lights look as beautiful on a frosted Christmas tree as they do on a green pine – and they’re striking in a color-drenched room!

Colored Lights Can Support a Theme

On the other hand, multicolored Christmas lights can establish or solidify a theme. Use red, white and green lights for a traditional look, or experiment boldly with solid blue, pink or purple. Colorful Christmas lights inject energy and playfulness into your Christmas decorations.

American White House at Night with National Christmas Tree decorated in white, red and green lights

Famous Christmas Trees

To further explore the multicolored Christmas lights vs. white Christmas lights debate, let's look at a few well-known Christmas trees.

The 2024 Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree, possibly the most famous Christmas tree in the world, contains 50,000 multicolor LED lights. However, all the other trees in the surrounding plaza appear to be decorated with white lights.

The first National Christmas Tree, erected on the White House grounds in 1923, bore 2,500 red, white and green bulbs. The 2024 National Christmas Tree features thousands of multicolor lights. The lighting ceremony will be televised on Friday, December 20.

The 83 Christmas trees and additional decorations inside the White House boast more than 165,000 lights. Judging by media photos throughout the years, Christmas lights used on trees and Christmas decorations throughout the White House are consistently white. Well, that makes sense.

Judging by the multitude of artfully adorned trees on home décor websites, most interior designers prefer white Christmas tree lights. Designers appreciate white lights as a backdrop, adding glimmer and shimmer but not competing with elegant decorations.

However, if you’re going for sheer impact, nothing beats colored lights. Just ask the winners of any of the Christmas light contests held around the country. The more blinking, pulsing, chasing, musically orchestrated lights the better.

It's a Tie!

If, like ours, your debate on white vs. colored Christmas lights ends in a stalemate, consider a compromise. Why not borrow a beat from the White House and Rockefeller Center and incorporate both kinds of Christmas lights into your holiday decorating scheme? Place white lights in some areas and colored lights in others.

If that doesn’t work for you, some families take turns, using all-white lights one year and multicolored Christmas lights the next.

White and Colored Lights: Now You Can Have Both!

Thanks to LED lighting technology, some upscale pre-lit artificial Christmas trees allow you to switch between white and multicolored Christmas lights – or use a blend of both.

For instance, the highly realistic artificial Christmas trees in Christmas Central’s Real Touch™ Elite line offer 10 lighting options, including white, multicolor and soft color, plus fade and flashing sequences.

In addition, Real Touch™ Elite trees feature Instant Power Technology. With IPT, all lighting is pre-wired through the central pole (tree trunk), so there’s just one plug to connect.

It's Your Choice

When it comes down to it, the color of your Christmas lights is a personal preference. Christmas decorations evoke so many emotions and memories that there isn't really a wrong way to decorate for the holiday.

So go ahead – hang your Christmas lights. We promise not to complain about your color choice.

Visit our Lighting Resource Center for more information on types of Christmas lights, technical information and decorating tips.

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