Lighting a Closet With Holiday Lights

Got any unused holiday light strings and a closet that doesn't have a built-in light (as is often the case in older homes)? Have too many shadows in your closet? Those LED push lights from the dollar store don't cut it? I'm showing a way I lit up a dark closet with unused light strings. I could do the same with LED light strings as described in another Instructable, but I wanted to use some spare light strings. Since the lights are only on sparingly, the amount of electricity used with LED or incandescent lights is negligible.

The hardest part was to get special hooks to secure the lights in case I wanted to change or remove them. The hardware store is likely to carry plastic clip hooks for supporting cable, but I opted for drive rings (top ring in picture) so I can remove the lights for repair or replacement. A few places provide the rings online for low prices (another variety is the bridle ring, which can be screwed on). Hammering the 1/2" drive rings shook my closet jamb and I was worried about it separating from the wall, so I cut the rings down with a Dremel (bottom ring in picture) and pre-drilled holes on the jamb inside to push in 11 rings on the inside of the closet (3 across top and 4 on each side).

I found this nifty plastic switch at the hardware store and installed it on the common side of the wires. The common wire in a three-wire string runs straight from the plug and only connects to 2 or 3 lights (three-wire strings use a combination of parallel and serial connections so one burned out light doesn't affect the whole string). The switch can be installed on either wire of a two-wire string (which are found on older lights), but I recommend getting a three-wire string so you rarely have to worry about replacing bulbs. The switch was fixed to the wall by driving a screw through the bottom plate (without touching connections) of the switch.

After wrapping the lights around the inside of jamb, I added extra protection from rubbing by the corner rings by covering the wire in short pieces of unshrunk heat-shrink tubing (sliced lengthwise and slipped over the wires); black electrical tape also works.

As a closet without an original light is unlikely to have an outlet, I put a hole in the wall and ran an extension cord (made from lamp wire and plugs) from the light string to an outside outlet. Now my wife and I appreciate having nicely-lit closets!

A view drive rings (or other holder you use) support the lights at the top of the door frame.

Make sure lights are not plugged in when installing switch, and the cover attached before plugging in.