Clever Outdoor Lighting for Your Home
You’ve got the perfect alfresco area, a beautiful outdoor dining table, and a top-of-the-range barbecue. But have you thought about how you’ll keep your guests lingering for longer after the sun has set? Don't forget the lighting when you're sprucing up your outdoor spaces for summer entertaining. While moonlight does set the scene for a charming evening, you need more than that to impress your guests.
Hotondo Homes has a few clever ideas when it comes to outdoor lighting for entertaining your guests in summer. Not only are they functional but they’re also elegantly aesthetically pleasing.
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String Lights
You really can't beat string lights in terms of affordability, variety, ambience, and ease of installation. These are soft, low-voltage lights that you can hang anywhere: along the eaves to brighten your outdoor living space, across a pool, in trees, or from the posts of a pavilion or gazebo. Tiny fairy lights or larger bistro style lights add a romantic touch in your trees and along your rooflines. Look for a set of string lights with a remote control so you can change colours to reflect your mood.
When you're buying string lights, make sure they're battery or solar-powered to avoid unsightly extension cords running across your yard.
Path Lights
The simplest way to light your paths in the yard are solar-powered light stakes. These are designed to highlight walkways so you can safely navigate them in the dark. They come in a range of styles so you can pick whatever complements your home, and are very super easy to install. Simply stick them in the ground along your walkways. You can also highlight your garden with path lights placed along the contours of the garden beds.
Uplighting
A subtle way to light your outdoor living space is to add some uplights under your trees. They cast a bright light up towards the branches and in a circle around the tree, giving off soft light around the tree perimeter. You can opt for the standard light colour in a warm yellow or white or add a stylish flair with coloured uplights.
Underglow Lighting
If you have permanent seating areas in your yard, like benches around a fire pit, you might want to install underglow LED lighting under the ledge of the benches. Another trend is to install LED lighting along the perimeter of the fire pit itself, so you have soft lighting being cast towards your seating areas.
Statement Lighting
If you want to make a statement with your outdoor lighting, there are plenty of options out there. Best of all, modern bulb and battery technology means you don't need to hard-wire your fixtures, so you can change them with the seasons. Big, bold, and colourful lights are trending now, and if you can't commit to them all the time, save them for the holidays and go back to your everyday lighting after the festive season.
Try some of these to give your outdoor space a lot of oomph when you entertain:
- Globe lanterns in a range of sizes - from large ones in planters to pendants in trees - are a classic style, but update them with coloured bulbs that complement your outdoor furnishings.
- Sconces and wall fixtures range from the traditional coachman's lantern to on-trend matte black or copper and bronze statement light fittings to add elegance to the space just in time for your holiday celebrations.
Are you ready for summer entertainment? For more interior decorating tips, visit the Hotondo Homes blog today.
