Styling Decorative Lighting For Retail Window Displays

21 September 2023

Window displays play a crucial role when it comes to upping the curbside appeal of your lighting retail store and drawing customers inside! Styling window displays can almost be an art form but even with a little bit of imagination, you can create some brilliant displays!

One issue decorative lighting retailers may face is knowing how to style lighting for a window display – products like clothing are easy but what do you do with lights?

Read on for our tips on styling decorative lighting for retail window displays.

Styling Decorative Lighting In Window Displays

When it comes to styling decorative lighting in window displays, you have several options. You can go down the route of setting up a mock room in the window (a bedroom or lounge, for example) or you can display the lights on their own.
 
If you refer to our previous article on styling decorative lighting to maximise sales, we discuss how customers are always keen to see how products would look in their homes. For this reason, you could make a good argument that setting up a mock-up home or room in the window is a good idea.

This could be achieved quite easily with a trip to Ikea! For example, a small shop window could contain a lounge chair, a small side table, and some soft furnishings such as cushions, a rug, or curtains. Decorative lighting can be added to the scene such as a table lamp, floor lamp, and even a ceiling pendant.

You can do something similar by mocking a bed up (unless you have very large windows, an actual bed perhaps isn’t the best idea), adding bedside tables and soft furnishings to create a bedroom ‘scene’ – again, add appropriate lighting to bring your display to life.  

The display will look much better if you can get a power supply to the window to make sure your lights actually work! This is important in the winter months too when the UK generally has very overcast days and it gets dark early. You want your window display to shine!

Making A Feature Of Lights In Window Displays

If you don’t want to set up a home-like scene in your showroom window, you can display lights all on their own and still get an amazing effect.

I regularly drive past a lighting showroom that has both the windows at the front of the store festooned with ceiling pendants at all different heights – the effect is really striking and catches my eye every time I pass by!

When displaying lights in your showroom window you can really let your creativity flow – you could use painted or wallpapered boards and display a variety of wall lights together or use a bunch of eclectic tables and show off all your favourite table lamps.

Seasonal Decorative Lighting Displays

Usually, at least in bigger stores anyway, window displays change with the seasons. Even if you don’t want to fully change the entire display, you can make a nod to the season, such as using coloured bulbs for Christmas and putting a tree up.

Christmas provides an opportunity to really up your retail window game and many stores compete for the best eye window displays. We’re thinking of a Dickensian outdoor Christmas scene using a product like our Alex lamp post for a touch of whimsy!

If you have a home lifestyle scene set up, you can simply make changes to cushions and other soft furnishings to nod to the season, such as using earthy tones like brown and orange in the autumn.

Additional Tips For Styling Decorative Lighting In Showroom Windows

Here are a few additional tips to ensure your decorative lighting looks great in your window display:

• Don’t skimp on products – you want people to know you sell lights! Get as many in there as possible!
• Make sure all lights are clean, look their best and have working bulbs
• Don’t obscure your display with window stickers – if you are using window stickers or boards, make sure your design incorporates them
• Make sure your window display is safe from the back – some stores may use boards to make sure people don’t wander into the display or accidentally break anything
• Don’t have any lights pointing outwards – you don’t want to blind people looking in the window!
• Use coloured bulbs and unusual lamp bulbs for maximum impact
• Make sure you regularly clean your display and freshen it up – if you're using soft furnishings or furniture these will need cleaning occasionally
• Don’t be afraid to ask customers what they think of your display! Use their feedback to improve your displays.

And finally, don’t forget to have fun – creating window displays are your opportunity to showcase your brand, what you’re all about and of course, your wonderful products.

Searchlight Electric

If you are looking for wholesale or retail decorative lighting to jazz up your window displays, then look no further than Searchlight Electric.

Searchlight are a leading provider of decorative lighting supplying retail outlets, independent brands and more with quality lights.

With over 3,000 products in stock, hundreds more added each year, and high availability, make us your number one choice when choosing new stock.

Feel free to shop on our website or download a catalogue.