Case study

Victorian Terrace, Barnes

Our smallest install and one of the most-photographed: one temperature, one brightness, and lines that follow the building.

BarnesRoofline, bay, hedge, wreathWarm white pea fairy and fresh wreath

Victorian terraced house in Barnes with restrained warm white Christmas lights along the roofline and a lit front hedge

Property: Victorian terrace
Area: Barnes, SW13
Palette: Warm white only, nothing flashing
On site: Half a day, two fitters

Schemes like this run £1,500–£1,600 for the season

The brief

A Victorian terrace in Barnes, five minutes from our own front door. Modest frontage, one bay window, a hedge to the pavement. The owner's instruction was short: "tasteful, nothing flashing."

What we installed

Warm white roofline following the eaves and the parapet return
A single vertical drop each side of the bay
Hedge lit low and close-wound, so it glows at knee height rather than glaring
Porch wreath with a warm micro-string threaded inside it

The constraint

Restraint. On a terrace, the neighbours' houses are part of your composition whether you like it or not — go too bright and the house looks like it is shouting. The brightness was set deliberately low, one temperature, no twinkle, no chase modes.

The result

The smallest install in this library and one of the most-photographed. Proof that the budget matters far less than the discipline: one colour, one brightness, lines that follow the building.

Same treatment, your house