How To Hang Patio Lights Without Nails (9 Surefire Ways)
Decorating your patio to be in keeping with this festive season sometimes involves the use of string lights but it’s hanging them up that is usually the hassle.
However, hanging lights on the patio without holes or nails on any surface is definitely possible.
These inexpensive alternatives are the perfect option to prevent drilling damage and they are easily removable.
The best ways you can hang patio lights without nails is using gutter hooks, adhesive hooks, clear tape with a strong and reliable hold, using a hot glue gun, or staples to hang the lights. Other methods include zip ties, wrapping the lights around pot plants, or attaching them to the trees.
Although your options may be limited depending on where exactly you would like to hang these patio lights without drilling and using nails, a few of the methods mentioned in this list will probably work for you.
The first two ways are probably the best ways to hang lights but the others do work as well.
Here’s a more detailed insight into each one of these methods:
Table of Contents
Ways To Hang Lights Without Holes Or Nails
1. Gutter hooks
See this set of 100 gutter hooks for string lights on Amazon
For a tried and tested method, your best option would be to use gutter hooks.
These are S-shaped hooks that you can pick up at any local hardware store and they can be attached to the gutter on one side while the other end can be used to hang the lights.
These are easily removable and they can be placed anywhere you want them to be. It’s the perfect way to hang string lights on your patio.
2. Adhesive hooks
Get this set of damage-free command hooks from Amazon
An alternative to the previous hooks would be to use adhesive hooks.
These hooks are a peel and stick option where the flat surface will be stuck to the surface and the hook part can be used to hang your lights.
You can find these hooks in a set and the great thing about this idea is that it can be used on most surfaces.
However, you’ll want to pay careful attention to the quality of these adhesive hooks to ensure they are reliable and stable so they can withstand the weight of the lights which will be attached to them.
Do note that since some adhesive hooks have a sticky surface (depending on the quality), it’s hard to say whether it will damage the walls or not as it can leave some residue.
3. Tape
Here’s another method you could try and that’s using tape.
You’ll want to try using clear tape since this will be less obvious. Duct tapes will ruin the overall aesthetic of these lights.
Try to find a tape that has a sufficient amount of stickiness so that the lights will actually stay up on the area where you plan to hang the lights anywhere on the patio.
4. Glue Gun
Since you want to avoid drilling holes into the walls, you could try using a glue gun to hang your lights.
Alternatively, you could even try to glue the hooks to hang the lights.
Usually, a hot glue gun has a pretty decent amount of hold so try doing a test and see if this method works for you.
The only problem with this option is that you may be left with glue marks or residue on the surface which might be a pain to clean up after.
5. Staples
The great thing about staples is that they can be easily removed with pliers nor does it create any visible damage.
At most, you’ll probably only have two small pinholes really. Normal office staplers probably won’t do the job so you’ll want to get the correct stapler that is typically used in carpentry for this one.
But if you’re hanging something like string lights on the patio, this would be a good option.
6. Railing
So this idea doesn’t technically involve hanging the lights but you can try wrapping the string lights around the railing of your patio.
You’ll still be able to create that ambient and aesthetic vibe even if the lights are not hung up.
But you can make use of any of the other options on this list like the adhesive hooks, tapes, or staples to hang the lights on the patio.
7. Zip Ties
You can use zip ties to hang the lights from one area to the next and this is particularly great for using on plants without any damage.
If you would like to be frugal, you may get a set of reusable zip ties so that you don’t need to cut them or throw them when you’re taking down the lights.
A similar alternative to using zip ties is twist ties. This will involve using a piece of the tie and twisting it to close it off.
Both options are generally inexpensive and they do a fabulous job!
8. Pot Plants
You can display or hang the string lights by attaching them to pot plants.
But you will need to ensure that these plants are heavily weighted so that they all don’t tip over if the lights are attached to more than one of them.
9. Trees
The last option would be to attach these lights to the trees.
You’ll have to wrap one end of the lights to the branch or you can drill a hole into the branch instead to attach the nails or hooks to hang these patio lights.
This will prevent any structure of your home from getting damaged but it probably won’t do much damage to the trees either.
Conclusion
These are the best alternatives to drilling holes if you need to hang patio lights.
From this list, I would say the best option would be to try using gutter or adhesive hooks but a lot of the other methods will work just as well depending on a few factors.
But considering that the main focus is to avoid drilling, these options are great.
You’ll be able to avoid the use of nails and you won’t have a problem taking down the lights in the future since they can be easily removed and taken down.
If you have any additional methods that I may have missed, do share them below for others to learn about.
Before you go, I’d love to recommend a few more ideas you may enjoy reading:
