Permanent Roofline & Christmas Lights in River North, Chicago
Custom Christmas lighting and permanent roofline lighting for River North, designed for timber frame loft conversions, gallery frontage and buildings measured in stories rather than gables.
Christmas lights from $799 · Permanent roofline from about $3,000
The Unique Charm of River North
River North sits north of the Chicago River, south of Division Street and west of Wabash. The name is younger than the buildings: developer Albert Friedman coined it in 1974 while buying and restoring property in what was then a skid row. Before that it was Smokey Hollow, where the forges and factories put out enough smoke to block the sunlight, and the Merchandise Mart still has railroad tracks running underneath it. What followed the name was galleries: within a few years the district held the largest concentration of art galleries in the United States outside Manhattan. Holy Name Cathedral and the Merchandise Mart anchor it, and CTA stops at Chicago, Grand, Merchandise Mart, Sedgwick and North Clybourn.
Our Services in River North
From magical Christmas displays to permanent architectural lighting, we have professional solutions for every property and every season.
Residential Holiday Lighting
Residential River North is loft conversions and high rises rather than houses, which changes the unit of work entirely. There is no gutter line and usually no roofline anyone can see from the street. What reads is the window grid, the entry, and any setback terrace, so that is where the design goes. Every residential package is all inclusive: custom design, install, mid season maintenance, takedown and storage.
Commercial Holiday Lighting
This is the most commercial neighborhood we cover. Galleries, showrooms, restaurants and hotels sit in heavy timber frame warehouses with deep window openings and strong masonry piers, and lighting those openings and the entry is what makes a ground floor read at night from across a wide street.
Permanent roofline lighting in River North
Permanent roofline lighting is mostly a house product, and River North has few houses with a visible roofline. Where it fits is a townhouse roof edge, a setback terrace or a storefront, and in any building with an association the plan goes to the board first. Once installed it runs warm white or color from your phone. Permanent systems start around $3,000 for a typical roofline. If you would rather keep it seasonal, color changing RGBW C9 lights start around $1,400 and cover Halloween through Christmas from one October install.
Warehouse conversions are lit through the openings
The old Smokey Hollow building stock is what makes River North look the way it does: heavy timber frames, thick masonry piers and tall deep set windows. Those buildings do not have the roof edge a house has, and nothing gets fastened into the masonry, so the design works with the openings instead. Outlining window reveals and the entry follows the structure the architect already built, which is why it reads as part of the building rather than as decoration applied to it. It is also the only approach that survives being seen from six lanes away.
What a River North install costs
Seasonal lighting for an average house starts at $799 and up, depending on the complexity, height and access of the job. That figure is for a suburban house and does not describe this neighborhood. Work here is quoted by elevation, by height and by access: a ground floor gallery frontage is straightforward, while anything above the second story needs a lift rather than a ladder, and building management sets the window in which that lift can be on the street at all. We quote the whole job after we walk the roofline, never off a rate card or a square footage table.
See the full Chicagoland cost guideWhat Our Clients Say
5.0 average from 35 reviews on Google, Yelp and Facebook
- Grace Wang-BishopGoogle★★★★★
We had a great experience with our permanant holiday light installation! Vitalli did an excellent job with amazing attention to detail — everything looks beautiful and perfectly aligned. Communication was clear and professional from start to finish. Highly recommend!
- Aprita KaurGoogle★★★★★
We hired Hanging Lights Club last year to set up lights for Diwali. They did such an amazing job that we called them again this year. This time we upgraded to color changing lights so we can use them for other holidays like Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas. The team was professional and friendly. I really loved how the set up turned out for us this year!
- MaryAnne CefaluGoogle★★★★★
Hanging lights did an amazing job on our home. It looks fantastic we would recommend them to anyone and everyone!
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Get your free River North quote
Tell us about your property and we will quote seasonal, color changing or permanent lighting, with an honest take on which one fits.