These Gorgeous Outdoor Lighting Ideas Will Encourage You To Get Outside More!
This weekend I was looking at a boundary wall of my home. It looks pretty boring. Lights, I thought. Lights would make it look so pretty at night! I started looking around……
Are you looking for great, inspirational outdoor lighting ideas for your home? Look no further – here are some great ideas and tips that will show you how to enhance your outdoor areas and make them look beautiful as well as functional.
General Outdoor Lighting Tips
One of the most important things to remember is that you need multi-dimensional lighting:-
- Functional lights to keep your entrance well-lit so that it’s easy and safe to find your front door. A well-lit entry makes your guests feel welcome and well-looked-after
- Decorative lights to highlight features of your property and make the space more enjoyable
- and clever lighting can even combine the two!
Wall sconces and uplighters – using energy efficient LED lights of course – can help to show off your home to its best advantage by highlighting its good features (and perhaps hiding some less attractive parts!) 😛
Lights in key areas of your yard and/or garden let the eye travel outwards at night, so that you and your guests see more than just your immediate surroundings.
And don’t forget that old-fashioned methods still work well – flickering fire pits and lanterns hung on trees or walls add warmth and atmosphere.
Be inspired by the 5 outdoor lighting ideas showcased below.
Path Lighting To Illuminate The Way
Walkways, paths, and driveways are the main areas to highlight and illuminate so that you can navigate safely through your yard.
But good path lighting does more than just improve night safety – it can also add a statement design element.
If you have a suitable garden, add interest to night pathways by spotlighting particular plants. This will make your guests’ short journey more interesting.
But just be sure that the path lights you choose, offer sufficient light going downwards onto the path – uplighters can be lovely but they’re not much use when you’re trying to find your way along a path!
You don’t need to add permanent lighting to your paths if you don’t want to. You could simply drop some mason jars or lanterns along the path and remove them afterwards.
Place some Epsom Salts or sand or gravel in the bottom of your mason jars, then place a lit candle or tea-light in the middle. Most candles last for several hours, and just replace candles if necessary.
Alternatively, many attractive jars and regular lights come with little solar panels on top. Charge the panels by leaving them in daylight all day, then the LED inside will glow safely at night!
Lighting options like mason jars and solar lights are very flexible – once your guests are inside, you can move the lights from your path to your patio or indoors if you wish!
Patio Lights Encourage You to Spend Time Outdoors
Cafe lights add a beautiful glow to an outdoor living space. String them up along walls or trees or anything with height.
Or choose lights in beautiful shapes like those in the photo above.
If you’ve got an area you’d love to highlight, consider this energy-efficient led light kit . Light strips can be used indoors or outdoors, and their light can be steady or flash in different modes. Light strips are also great for lighting up awkward areas.
In the photo below you’ll see a delightful mix of curtain lights, lanterns with LEDs, string lights on the plants, and graphic lights to add shapes. The patio looks warm, welcoming and inviting.
Heaven Lights or Bliss Lights for Fireflies
Heaven lights or bliss lights are a unique indoor / outdoor lighting idea. They use laser and holographic technology to project thousands of moving pinpoints of light. They make your home look like you are surrounded by beautiful fireflies.
The projector has a stake that you can stick onto the ground. Of course, the lights are LEDs, and you can choose different colors. Kids love them and they’re great for parties and get-togethers too.
Dazzling, Twinkling Lights On Branches
If you are lucky enough to have beautiful trees or tall items in your garden, adding lights to them really bring them to life at night.
Just be aware that getting them to look effortless, actually takes quite a bit of work. One great tip is that for a more formal look, create a “stopping point” along each of the trees. This will add symmetry – even if your trees are different heights, it won’t matter at night. In this photo, the lights all start at the same level, and continue upwards over each tree, making the whole effect very balanced and perfect.
Outdoor Lighting Ideas With Wrapped Hedges
It’s lovely to wrap hedges, shrubs and bushes with twinkling lights for night-time entertaining. But it can be quite time-consuming if there are many you want to cover. In this scenario, consider net lights instead of strands – you will definitely save time.
Summary
The easy availability of outdoor lights makes it delightful to spend time outdoors after dark. It’s very green and eco-friendlly to be with Nature rather than watching a screen. Enjoy!
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Warm regards,
P.S. Don’t forget to download your free green living handbook “Live Well, Live Green” here.
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