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Your outdoor living space is somewhere you spend a lot of time hanging out, eating and entertaining guests. Taking care that your patio lighting, garden lighting or other outdoor lighting is as pleasant and efficient as it should be is a great way to make it every bit as comfortable as the interior. In this article, we’ll provide you with a few ideas to get started planning your patio and decking lights.
 Ways to Use Wall Lighting Around a Patio
Using LED patio lights, you can turn the space immediately outside of your home into a place you’ll love to be. Check out some of these patio lighting ideas to get started.
Layer Your Lights
Much like you would inside your home, layering your outdoor lighting can provide an even spread of illumination and make the space feel more complete. Layered lighting includes ambient lighting, accent lighting and task lighting. It can be accomplished with patio lighting fixtures such as outdoor downlights, outdoor wall lights and lamps.
A simple way to incorporate one layer of lighting into the space is to choose the LWA211 6 Watt LED Black Outdoor Wall. This light features a simple cylindrical shape that can blend in or make it stand out as much as you would like it to. Inside is an LED bulb that shines 430 lumens of 3000k warm white light, giving it a soft glow that is easy on the eyes.
Light Your Dining Table
Using metal rods and fairy lights, you can create a unique frame of light around your dining table. This can be done by creating something of an arch over the length of the table, making it inviting and cosy in appearance.
Try Paper Lanterns
If you want to go for a whimsical feel, adding paper lanterns will accomplish this. You can add lanterns all in one neutral colour or bring the area to life with some vibrant hues.
Focus on Accent Lighting
If you have trees or structures on or around your patio, using accent lighting to draw attention to them is wise. Using such lights will more easily incorporate the area into the patio itself, making it feel whole and more complete.
Incorporate Practical Lighting
To make your patio easier to navigate, it is a good idea to include lighting with the main purpose of illuminating key areas. These areas can include pathways, staircases and other places that must be safe for moving about. Outdoor step lighting, such as concrete step lights, can shine a light on the walkways from a low angle. This provides plenty of lighting while still keeping with your stylish, modern theme.
Give Your Patio a Rustic Look
Adding festoon lights can add a chic rustic or cottage look to your outdoor living space. You can allow such lights to gently hang down near the table to provide a romantic, gentle lighting effect.
Opt for a Pendant Light
Outdoor downlights such as pendant lights are perfect for the ambient layer of your lighting. Suspending the pendant light fixtures above outdoor dining furniture lights the space well and adds a focal point to the table. They are also a useful choice for hanging over seating areas.
Frame Your Fireplace
An outdoor fireplace can be made even more appealing when you install wall lights on either side of it. Even when there is no fire roaring, these lights will give the space purpose and added visual appeal.
An impressive choice of wall light for flanking your outdoor fireplace is the LWA454 6 Watt Wall Wash LED Outdoor Wall Light. The square shape and sleek, small design make the light a subtle choice but one that draws attention to and balances the fireplace all the same. When turned on, it shines 600 lumens of warm 3000k LED light downward. It washes against the wall, giving the area a more artistic effect.
Use a Floor Lamp
To bring the styles of the inside outside, consider a floor lamp. Putting a standing floor lamp near your seating area creatively adds more ambient lighting while also decorating the exterior.
How To Light Your Entertaining Area Under a Pergola
Your pergola offers a unique opportunity for decorations, especially lighting. Below are a few ideas for this unique space.
Hang Curtain Lights
Curtain lights can bring the light from top to bottom under your pergola without making the structure feel too walled off. These lights give a gentle glow that can make dusk feel more magical.
Choose a Chandelier
Hanging a chandelier or other such outdoor downlight provides you with a larger wash of illumination over your space, making a great choice for the ambient light layer. A more dramatic chandelier can also serve as a focal point in your pergola.
Surface Mounted Lighting
If you don’t want a bold chandelier or similar downlight, you could instead opt for simple surface-mounted lights. Lights like the LBL249 12 Watt Round Black Surface Mounted Soffit LED Downlight can be attached directly to the underside of the pergola where it will shine 1000 lumens of 3000k warm white illumination down onto the area. This ambient light works well with black pergolas thanks to the black finish on its high-quality aluminium exterior.
Hanging Lanterns
Put a whimsical touch on your pergola by hanging small lanterns underneath it. These allow you to get creative with colour and personality to make any pergola design out of this world.
Add Sconces
You can add sconces to the posts of the pergola, bringing you the benefits of wall lighting even in this type of structure that has no walls to speak of.
Play with Uplights
Using uplighters, you can cast illumination up and onto the structure itself, a wall behind it or a feature inside of the pergola’s bounds to draw attention to it.
Fairy Lights
Similar to curtain lights, fairy lights can make the atmosphere of an outdoor structure feel playful, casual and relaxed. The lights can be strung up along the upper bars of the structure to add sparkles of light along its borders.
Incorporate Shapes
Another way to use lights in your outdoor space is to think of them as a practical decoration. Downlighters like pendants and surface-mounted lights in bold shapes can add modern flair to the area. Attaching a light such as the LBL186 5 Watt Square Black Surface Mounted Soffit LED Downlight to the cross sections of the pergola will add some visual charm with its square shape and boxy look. The black hue works well with structures of any color, so there is no fear of clashing. From the inside of the high-quality aluminium exterior shines an LED light that produces 430 lumens.
Invaluable Ideas for Lighting a Decking Area
From complete deck lighting kits to individual LED decking lights, there are numerous ways to incorporate stylish illumination into your deck area. Check out some of the deck lighting ideas below to get inspired for outdoor lighting project.
Use Statement Lighting
Adding an oversized lamp or other large, structural light fixture will draw attention to it in its own right, creating a focal point. If applicable, you could also attach a bold-looking pendant light to any overhead structure and get a similar effect.
Tiered Deck Lighting
If your deck has a few steps around it leading up to the main platform, then LED step lighting is a good idea. Step lighting for decks not only adds extra visual appeal to the area but also makes navigating the stairs a safer task.
Recess the Lights
Having recessed lights around the edge of your deck can provide a soft glow that makes for relaxing nighttime illumination. This style of light can not only be used to highlight the border of your deck but could also shine upward to light your garden wall. The ODL029 9 Watt 316 Stainless Steel Recessed LED Ground Light is a good example. The 120-millimeter aluminium recessed light shines light upward onto walls or other structures on the deck, making for pleasant accent lighting. The 800-lumen output makes the lights bright enough to be the only ones on at night for entertaining.
How to Enhance an Outdoor Decorative Feature
If you have a water feature, split-level back yard or tree growing through the middle of the deck, you can use accent lighting to make it the focal point. Surrounding it with wall lights or shining an uplighter onto it are just a few ways to accomplish this.
Festive Festoon Lights
Make your deck feel more rustic and cosy with festoon lights hanging throughout. They can be draped along a back wall for gentle decorative lighting or hung low near tables to create a more intimate environment.
Permanent Downlighters
If your garden has some sort of exterior wall, you can use it to host permanent downlighters. These are great for seating areas, dining areas or just along walls to help provide those necessary layers of illumination.
Highlight the Perimeter with Strip Lighting
Around the soffit of your home connecting to the deck, you can hang strip lights to provide overhead illumination. This may also help to keep the deck apart from the rest of the home visually while still giving it a smooth transition from the interior space to the exterior.
How To Use LED Step Lighting in the Garden
From concrete step lights to recessed lighting in wooden tiers, layered decks are not complete without step lighting. Get inspired by some of the step lighting ideas below.
Under Stair and Step Lighting
Step lighting for decks with deep steps comes in the form of under-stair lighting. These lights can shine a glow beneath the stair itself, making the steps appear to be glowing instead of shining a light down onto them. This is one of the most modern ways to light up your stairs.
LED Strip Lights
Flexible LED strips can be tucked beneath the stair treads on your steps, offering a subtle glow that makes the path of the stairs obvious all the same.
Ways to Use Low Level Lighting on Steps
Recessed lighting placed on either side of the stairs that shines light down onto them can make your space feel cosier with a subtle glow. A good example of this type of lighting is this ODL041 1 Watt Square Recessed Black Outdoor LED Wall Light. This light features a square shell that hosts a single lightbulb. It shines down onto the step below it, covering its surface with a warm glow through a total of 70 lumens. Adding these lights to each step can offer an artistic look while still making it easier to see for navigating the steps.
Floating Candles
Adding lights above the stairs themselves using surface-mounted lighting can create the look of floating candles on their edges. This is a particularly romantic way to add decorative step lighting to your deck.
LED Ground Lights
Think outside of the box and use ground lights to light up either side of the staircase instead of the steps themselves. Ground lights come in any manner of shapes, from round to square and in just as many finishes. Through them, you can get the perfect style to match the appearance of your outdoor space.
Do You Need to Use a Special Type of Light Outdoors?
Because outdoor lighting is exposed to the elements, you need lights that won’t rust or corrode. To ensure your lights pass the test, choose the proper IP rating for them. IP ratings are indications of how well a light can hold up against solid and liquid particles.
Generally speaking, IP65 ratings are the best way to go, but there are others you can consider depending on your outdoor space. Below, you can get familiar with what each means.
Protection From Solid Debris
Below are the indicators for the first number of the IP rating, which is solid materials:
0 – Offers no protection.
1 – Offers protection from objects that are greater in size than 50 mm.
2 – Offers protection from objects larger than 12.5 mm.
3 – Offers protection from objects that are greater in size than 2.5 mm.
4 – Offers protection from objects that are greater in size than 1 mm.
5 – Dust Protection protects against most dust entry.
6 – Dust Tight protects against any dust at all.
Protection From Liquid
The second number indicates how well sealed the light is against moisture:
0 – Offers no protection.
1 – Offers protection from vertical dripping water.
2 – Offers protection from vertical dripping water at a 15-degree angle.
3 – Offers protection from vertical water spraying at a 60-degree angle.
4 – Offers protection from splashes of water.
5 – Offers protection from light water jets.
6 – Offers protection from strong water jets.
7 – Offers protection from complete immersion up to 1 metre.
8 – Offers protection from complete immersion deeper than 1 metre.
How To Create Lighting Effects with Low Level Wall Lighting
Low level lighting is a kind of light that either sits on the surface of the wall or is recessed into it at a lower height. As it sits close to the ground, it tends to shine light downward or at an angle parallel to itself. This creates a cosy glow that can be turned on at night when you aren’t interested in bright lighting.
You can achieve this effect by choosing recessed lights that fit into the wall near the ground, such as the ODL703 3 Watt Rectangular Black Recessed Outdoor Wall Light. This rectangular light shines a wide beam of 3000k warm white light down onto the ground. Its soft 300 lumens of light makes it great for adding ambient lighting but can still light the ground and make it easier to see.
This ODL701 3 Watt Round Black Recessed Outdoor Wall Light offers a similar effect, but it has a round shape. Those who want more subtle low level lighting that fits a traditional aesthetic may prefer this shape. It, too, shines 300 lumens of warm white LED light.
What Colour of Light Is Best for Outdoor Lighting
The question of whether to use warm or cool outdoor lighting often comes down to preference. If you want to create a warmer, cosier, more intimate-feeling outdoor space, you should use warmer lighting colors. Warm lights are better for seating areas for this reason, and they are gentle on the eyes.
Cooler lights are not good for seating areas, but they do have their place. You can illuminate plants in a more natural way using cool lights. You can also use cool light to show off any structures you might have in your outdoor area, like statues, arbors or other unique features.
How To Use Candles and Lanterns in Your Decking and Patio Areas
You can incorporate candles and lanterns in any number of ways in your outdoor areas:
- MANTELS, TABLETOPS AND ENTRYWAYS. You can light up an oversized candle lantern and place it on a table to create a nice centerpiece. Grouping lanterns near the entryway to the patio or deck may also add a warm and inviting feel to the space. Placing candles and lanterns on a mantel will bring light to areas that are otherwise sometimes difficult to illuminate.
- Placing candle lanterns on the floor of a deck can bring light down to the ground and create a softer glow. They can be used to outline seating areas, walkways and more in a way that has lots of rustic charm and personality.
- HANGING LANTERNS. Suspending a lantern will give off a rustic, cabin-style feel as well. It can be hung using wire, chains or ribbons to achieve the look you prefer.
Is It Safe To Use 240 Volt Lighting on Your Decking or Patio Area?
It is indeed safe to use 240-volt lights outdoors, but it is important that a qualified electrician does the job for you, much like the installation of lights anywhere else. Lights featuring 240 volts have become more popular than 12-volt lights over time, not just for their easy installation but also for their efficiency.
Lights featuring 12 volts are thought to be safer but are nowhere near as easy to install as 240-volt lights, since they need a transformer. The 12-volt lights also suffer in the way that they need cables that are a certain length, or you will experience a voltage drop, causing the lights to flicker or dim.
Final Thoughts
Outdoor patio and decking lights can transform your outdoor living areas. In this article, we have explored various ideas to help you get started with lighting up your space. We have also discussed the requirements for outdoor lighting and answered some common questions, so you can feel confident embarking on your outdoor lighting journey.
