The past two years have created something of a renaissance in outdoor spaces. What was once neglected and dusted off only for summer barbecues became many people’s only way to socialize with others without risking illness. While most social distancing requirements have now been dropped, interest in creating a beautiful outdoor living space has not waned.
Are you planning on entertaining people this spring and summer? If you have a porch, patio, or backyard you want to use to party after sundown, read on! Our guide will give you some ideas to light up your outdoor living space.
String Lights Are a Summer Classic
If you think about the classic porch party, chances are, you imagine strings of lights woven around the deck or strung from one support pole to another. These lights can take many forms, from basic bulbs to little paper lanterns that flicker like candles.
The benefit to this type of outdoor lighting is that it’s usually battery-powered, making it easy to use and take down at will. However, it doesn’t give off much light unless you have a particularly powerful strand or a lot of strands strung together.
Fiber Optics: The Outdoor Lighting of the Future
If you want the latest and greatest technology for outdoor lights, then you need to invest in fiber optics. You can incorporate these weavable fixtures into pools, fountains, chandeliers, and many other outdoor fixtures.
What’s even better is that you can choose the color you want for these fixtures at will in most cases. Need basic white lighting to illuminate a backyard barbecue or softer light for something more intimate? With a click of a button on a remote, fiber optic outdoor lights can adjust to your needs.
When you shop for fiber optic lighting, you can invest in some stunning backyard lighting ideas.
Light Your Pathways
When you buy lights for backyard use, you should keep your pathways in mind. It’s all too easy to stumble and fall over plants or stairs that you simply couldn’t see after sundown. And you can’t always rely on the lights in your house or your phone’s flashlight to guide you.
Trust us, you need to light the pathways leading to and from your outdoor living space. Your guests and your ankles will thank you later if you do.
Live By Lantern Light
Lanterns are another common source of outdoor light. People have navigated by lantern light for centuries, so there’s an inherent historical appeal to using this type of fixture. Most lanterns these days use LEDs to generate their light. Although, you can still find some traditional candlelit ones if you must have an authentic experience.
If you’d like the appearance of authenticity without the dimness and fire hazards associated with candle lanterns, many modern options have the ability to flicker like candles on the inside. This is a great way to balance your desired antique aesthetic with modern conveniences.
Unleash the Power of the Sun
Are you looking for backyard lighting ideas that work well and show that you care about the environment? If so, then you can unleash the sun’s power for entertainment purposes using solar lighting. These lights will drink in sunlight during the day, then illuminate where you need to see once the sun sets.
This can help offset potential energy expenses incurred by lighting your outdoor living space with more conventional means. Plus, it comes without the risk of the battery dying on you in the middle of your summer night party.
Enhance Your Outdoor Living Space With Spotlighting
Spotlighting is the standard for landscaping and with good reason. These lights shine up from a fixed point on the ground and often get used to illuminate focal points in the yard. You can also use them underneath your outdoor furniture to create a trendy backlit look.
However, with spotlighting, you need to watch your color temperature. Warm-toned spotlighting looks inviting, while cool-toned can make your house look haunted. Unless it’s Halloween, we doubt that’s what you want to go for.
Create Shimmering Curtains on Your Porch
Need a lot of light in a small amount of space? Got a tall fence that cuts off your potential light sources from elsewhere? If so, curtain lights might be just the solution you need.
Curtain lighting is, well, strands of string lights woven into a curtain. These make for exceptional backyard fence lighting but can work well as a “wall” all their own. This type of light creates an intimate effect, making it best for small outdoor living spaces and nooks. This also makes it especially nice in apartment balconies.
Don’t Forget Security Lighting
Last but not least, we can’t talk about outdoor lighting without discussing security lighting. For many houses, this is the only lighting your yard currently has. These lights tend to be incredibly bright and high-powered, but don’t provide much warmth or comfort. They serve an important purpose in keeping your property secure but don’t help much with creating an outdoor living space you want to be in.
Most services recommend using motion sensor-based security lights to deter burglars. The higher power of the bulb, the better.
Looking for More Ways to Illuminate Your Outdoor Living Space?
We hope that our guide sheds some light (sorry) on ways that you can illuminate your new outdoor living space. However, while the methods we listed here are some of the most common, these aren’t the only options out there.
If you’d like to learn more about outdoor lighting, or home lighting in general, check out the Lifestyle section of our blog for more content like this!
