Newbie with a bad house needing advice on decorating.

[trevwill]

This is my first time doing any exterior decorating. I was just looking for something to keep myself busy, and this is what I came up with. Now it seems that all my spare time is devoted planning my display, coming up with ideas for next year, building dispay part, etc, etc.

My display is pretty basic so far, I only have 16 channels. And because I live right on the main street in town, with my commercial rental property in front of my house, I really don't have a yard that can be decorated. My back yard butts into the alley and then a mechanics garage. So I only have an area out front that is 3 foot deep by 28 foot wide to decorate. The side of my building is 60 foot that faces an empty lot. The other side butts against a museum. (I know, I know, why would I buy a house like this in the first place? At least it's right on main street, so everyone in town will be able to enjoy it)

I have made some wraped mini trees that fit nice out front, all are made from 3/8 rebar, all are LED, they are:

2 - 3 foot mini trees, 105 blue, 200 warm white

2 - 5 foot mini trees, 210 blue, 400 warm white

2 - 8 foot mini trees, 315 blue, 600 warm white

1 - 12 foot mini tree and star, 140 green, 280 cool white, 280 red, 280 blue, 300 multi, and 140 orange for the star.

Each of the paired tress has 2 colors on 2 channels. The 12 foot tree has four channels. The house lights are on a timer and turn off when the show starts on the trees. Everything is sequenced and ready to go, and looks pretty good.

My questions are this, does anyone else decorate a small "yard" like mine? Should I decorate up? Am I better off decorating the side of my house? I can't really use the empty lot. Is there something amazing I can do on the flat side of a house? I plan on ordering 4 more 16 channel LOR controlers next spring, so lights and channels shouldn't be a big deal. Any ideas would be great, my girlfriend and I are plumb out. I will try to post pictures of the house. (Once my camera is fixed)

BTW, I am super excited to be a part of the LOR family. I have been reading the forum for a month now, and everyone seems very helpful, and very understanding to newbie troubles. Thank you in advance.

[Rick Hughes]

Pictures will certainly help generate ideas. But you can certainly do an awesome display in a small space. It just takes a bit more creativity. Once I have my display in place and operating I'll post some photos. Front to back my display area is only about 10 feet, but it goes up two stories and about 40 feet across.

And ... welcome to the group. A nicer bunch of folks you won't find elsewhere.

[motorcycle jack]

I have a friend with a similar type lot. What he has done it create a walk way from the main street through his lot, along the front around the side and back out. This way everyone who enters can be "in" the setting. One good thing he found out about doing it this way, the displays don't have to be real big to impress those who walk his path. In fact he has a very small hidden display that they only see when back around the house, it's beside the garage and the lot wall and measures 3' by 10' with three small megatrees in it (3' high each, 16 channels). Maybe you could do something similar?

[trevwill]

We never even though of doing a walk through, that is a great idea!! Now if the snow stops tonight, I can string lights and rework some sequences all day tomorrow. Thank you for your help. That's why I enjoy this forum sooooo much. Great people with great ideas. And thanks for the warm welcome.

[Josh Burdick]

I have a commercial building that I decorate. Most of the display is on the roof, in the windows and mounted to the face of the building. My customers love the display.