Seasonal Trends: What's New This Year
From the Gallery: Our Gallery Hub features the best work in the industry. This article covers current trends and what's emerging.
Trends in holiday lighting move slowly compared to fashion or technology, but they do move. What clients request today is measurably different from what they requested five years ago. Understanding where the market is heading helps you make smart purchasing decisions, train your crews on emerging techniques, and position your services ahead of client demand rather than behind it. Here is what is actually happening in the field this season and where the industry is headed.
Trend 1: Permanent Lighting Systems Are Mainstream
The most significant shift in the industry is not a design trend. It is a delivery model trend. Permanent LED track systems installed on the fascia, soffit, or gutter line are no longer niche products. They are a mainstream residential option that a growing percentage of homeowners request by name.
What is driving it: Homeowners are tired of the annual installation cycle. They want lighting that works year-round: warm white for the holidays, patriotic colors for July, school colors for game day, subtle ambient lighting on regular evenings. The hardware stays mounted permanently. The color and pattern change via app or controller.
What it means for installers: Permanent systems are an installation-and-go product, not a recurring seasonal service. The upfront installation revenue is higher than a traditional seasonal install, but the recurring annual revenue disappears. You are trading a $1,500/year recurring client for a one-time $4,000-$8,000 installation. The math works differently.
Smart installers are offering both. The permanent track handles the roofline. Traditional seasonal installation handles trees, garlands, wreaths, and accent features that cannot be served by a fixed track. The permanent system becomes the base layer. Seasonal service becomes the enhancement layer. This hybrid model preserves recurring revenue while meeting client demand for permanent roofline capability.
What to watch: Track system quality varies enormously. The low-end products entering the market through direct-to-consumer channels have durability issues: poor UV resistance, inadequate waterproofing, dim output after 18-24 months. Professional-grade systems from established manufacturers cost more but justify the premium with multi-year warranties and field-proven longevity. Align yourself with quality products and position against the DIY alternatives.
Trend 2: Warm White Dominance Continues to Grow
Warm white (2700K-3000K) has been the leading residential color choice for several years, and its dominance is still growing. Multi-color installations are declining as a percentage of total residential jobs, though they remain strong in specific demographics and neighborhoods with traditional preferences.
What is driving it: Design media, social media, and real estate staging have conditioned homeowners to associate warm white with premium quality. When clients browse holiday lighting on social platforms, the images that get the most engagement are overwhelmingly warm white. The aesthetic has become self-reinforcing.
What it means for installers: If you are not already stocking heavily in warm white, adjust your inventory. Warm white C9, C7, and mini lights should represent the majority of your residential product stock. Maintain multi-color inventory for clients who request it, but do not over-invest.
The opportunity within the warm white trend is differentiation through design rather than color. When every home on the block is warm white, the installations that stand out are the ones with superior design: better hierarchy, more creative use of garland and wraps, architectural sensitivity, and flawless execution. Color used to be the differentiator. Now execution is.
Trend 3: Garland and Greenery Integration
The most visible design trend this season is the increased use of lit garland as a primary design element rather than an accent. Front door frames, porch railings, mantels, window boxes, fence lines, and entrance arches are all receiving garland treatments with integrated lighting.
What is driving it: Clients want texture and dimension that light strings alone cannot provide. A garland-wrapped porch column has a three-dimensional presence that a mini-light-wrapped column does not. The combination of greenery (real or high-quality artificial) with embedded lighting produces a richer, more layered look that photographs well and feels premium in person.
What it means for installers: Garland work is higher margin than string light work. The material cost is higher, but the perceived value is disproportionately higher. A 20-foot garland with integrated C7 lights, a bow, and professional mounting hardware costs you more in materials than 20 feet of C9 roofline string, but commands two to three times the price.
Build garland fabrication into your pre-season shop workflow. Source quality artificial garland in bulk (minimum 9-foot base branches with dense needle count). Pre-wire with your light strings of choice. Pre-attach bows and accent elements. Deliver to the job site ready to mount. The on-site labor is hanging and securing, not fabricating.
Trend 4: Ground-Level and Landscape Lighting
Roofline lighting is no longer the only expectation. Clients increasingly request ground-level features: pathway lights, landscape uplighting, lit yard sculptures, ground-projected patterns, and illuminated planters.
What is driving it: As roofline lighting has become standard, it no longer differentiates a property. The new differentiator is what happens between the roofline and the ground. Clients who have had roofline lighting for two or three seasons are looking for "what's next." Ground-level features are the natural year-two and year-three additions described in the Designer Spotlight evolution roadmap approach.
What it means for installers: Ground-level installation is faster than roofline work (no ladders, no roof access, no fall risk) and uses lower-cost product (pathway stakes, spot lights, net lights). The labor-to-revenue ratio is favorable. A $400 pathway lighting addition takes 30 minutes to install and uses $80 in materials.
Incorporate ground-level options into every proposal as an add-on tier. Present them as the "complete property" treatment rather than as optional extras. Many clients who would not have requested pathway lights will approve them when presented as part of a complete design vision.
Trend 5: Smart Controls and Scheduling
Clients expect their holiday lighting to be controllable via smartphone, voice assistant, or at minimum an astronomical timer that adjusts to sunset automatically. Manual on/off switches are no longer acceptable for premium installations.
What is driving it: The broader smart home trend. Clients who control their interior lighting, thermostat, and security system from their phone expect the same from their holiday lighting. They want to turn the display on from the couch, set schedules, and adjust brightness.
What it means for installers: At minimum, install a quality astronomical timer on every job. These timers automatically calculate sunset and sunrise based on GPS coordinates and adjust daily. No client interaction required, no seasonal reprogramming. For premium clients, offer smart plug integration compatible with their existing ecosystem (typically Alexa, Google Home, or Apple HomeKit).
Do not over-complicate this. The vast majority of clients want two things: lights on at sunset, lights off at a specified bedtime. An astronomical timer with an adjustable off-time delivers this for under $30 in hardware. Smart plugs add app control for under $25. This is not a significant technology investment. It is a basic client expectation.
Trend 6: Larger-Scale Residential Displays
The average residential installation scope has grown. Five years ago, a typical residential job was roofline and maybe one tree. Today, the typical job includes roofline, two to four trees, garland on the entrance, foundation net lights, and at least one additional accent feature. Total material per job is up significantly.
What is driving it: Social media visibility and neighborhood competition. When one home on the block has a full-property professional installation, adjacent homeowners feel the pressure to match. The "keeping up" dynamic raises the baseline expectation for what a professional installation includes.
What it means for installers: Your average job revenue should be growing year over year. If it is not, you are under-proposing. Present comprehensive designs that include the full property, not just the roofline. Clients can always scale back from a comprehensive proposal, but they rarely scale up from a minimal one. Start high and let them choose their comfort level.
Trends to Watch for Next Season
Several emerging developments are worth monitoring but have not yet reached mainstream adoption:
- Projection mapping on facades. Currently limited to commercial and municipal installations due to equipment cost, but the technology is becoming more accessible. Animated light scenes projected onto a building surface without any physical mounting.
- Solar-powered accent lighting. Solar pathway stakes and small accent lights have improved in quality. Not yet suitable for primary display lighting but viable for supplemental ground-level elements.
- Integrated audio-visual displays. Synchronized music and lighting using consumer-grade controllers. Growing in the DIY enthusiast community and beginning to cross into professional service requests.
- Extended season installations. Clients requesting holiday lighting to remain active through Valentine's Day or into early spring with color changes. This extends the revenue period for permanent system clients.
Applying Trends to Your Business
Trends are market information, not mandates. You do not need to adopt every trend. You need to understand what clients are requesting, what the market is rewarding, and where the revenue opportunity is shifting. Stock for the trends you see in your specific market. Train your crews on the techniques that matter for your client base. Position your marketing around the trends that align with your business model.
The installers who thrive are not the ones who chase every new product. They are the ones who read the market accurately and adjust their offering one step ahead of client demand.
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