To get into the swing of Christmas, there’s nothing better than getting the decorations down from the loft and sprucing up the house for the festive season.

It’s never too soon to start thinking about your decorations, deciding whether or not you want a theme and checking to see if you need to splash out on some new decorations.

Don’t forget the garden in your planning because outside lighting looks fantastic on those cold winter nights as the festive season approaches. Outside lighting can be as simple as stringing a set of lights around a tree or, for people who are mad about Christmas, creating a winter wonderland in the garden.

Whatever style you choose, the most important point is to make sure that your lighting is safe.

Outside lighting differs from inside lighting because, by design, it is water and frost-resistant to protect it from the elements. Outside lighting can be either mains, or low voltage, so make sure you check the type you require before buying anything.

Low voltage lighting is supplied with a transformer that plugs into the socket in your home and is connected to your lights, but you must read the instructions as all types of lighting vary.

If you choose lights that are mains voltage, you must make sure that they are plugged into an RCD (Residual Current Device).

Before you start planning your outdoor Christmas lighting, you may want to think about getting an external socket installed. Remember, you can only plug mains voltage lighting into an external socket as low voltage lighting requires a transformer – and most of these are not suitable for outside use.

You should always seek professional advice before having an outside power point installed.

When it comes to garden lighting, a low-voltage set-up is the simplest to install – and it’s the safest. There are literally hundreds of different types of low-voltage lighting units.