10 Outdoor Lighting Ideas For Your Backyard

Outdoor lighting is undoubtedly an exceptional addition to your backyard. It doesn’t only add ambiance, but it also helps improve your property’s security.

Depending on your preferences, you can highlight a piece of garden décor or certain plants, add warmth to your outdoor entertaining area, and light a walkway. The possibilities are endless with today’s energy-efficient lighting options, and they don’t need to break the bank.

If you don’t know what outdoor or landscape lighting ideas to consider, keep reading below or visit https://washingtonoutdoorlighting.com/landscape-lighting-tacoma-washington/ to get help from professionals.

1. Use Lanterns

Lanterns aren’t only made from paper anymore. At present, there’s a wide selection of available lanterns in the market made from all kinds of materials, such as wood, steel, and metal.

Regardless of your personal taste, there are lanterns suited for your backyard. The good thing about them is that you can quickly control how bright you want your backyard to be. You can select a few lanterns for a soft light or stack them sideways for full brightness.

Unlike string lights, lanterns can stay outside year long. Usually, they’re considered more temporary because you’ll need to turn them on individually instead of flipping a light switch.

2. Illuminate Your Backyard With Pendant Lights

Like pendants that hang from necklaces, pendant lights hang down above a particular surface they’re lighting. It means if you have something like a pergola or similar covering, pendant lights are a good outdoor lighting idea. Often used above outdoor kitchens, pendant lights can be used to illuminate your whole backyard or create cozy sitting areas.

3. Avoid Tripping Hazards With Deck Lighting

Deck lighting is another excellent outdoor idea if you want to avoid tripping hazards and eliminate visual clutter while accentuating nearby garden features. This kind of lighting is moderate to high-intensity, designed to help everyone get across the deck by night.

Typically, it’s installed underground, allowing you to walk over them safely. You can also install deck lights between the stairs or along the deck stair railings.

4. Consider Uplighting Or Spot Lighting

One of the permanent outdoor lighting solutions is uplighting, which helps highlight some of your property’s features. For instance, you can use it to showcase an ornamental feature or a plant. Instead of shining light down below like another lighting, uplighting shines the light up.

Usually, uplighting is installed on the side of your house to highlight balconies or sconces. You can also install it above ground level or below your lawn ornament to make them look more beautiful.

When lighting taller objects like trees, consider installing bullet-shaped lights. Bullet lights often have an adjustable head that casts bright lights over longer distances at your preferred angle. For shorter features like shrubs, you can consider round or well lights that cast light upwards over a short distance. When appropriately installed, uplighting provides your backyard a softer glow and upgraded look.

5. Hang String Lights

String lighting is low-voltage accent lighting that can be used to evoke an intimate and warm ambiance that’s desirable for entertaining. Whether or not you have activities in your backyard, you can hang string lights to illuminate your patio or brighten up your outdoor kitchen.

When shopping around for outdoor string lights, look for the traditional battery-operated, waterproof, solar-powered, and waterproof string lights, preferably those that have long-lasting bulbs. The good thing about this outdoor lighting idea is that you don’t have to run extension cords across your yard. Moreover, you can ensure that the lights stay on safely even if it rains.

6. Patio Lighting

Another outdoor lighting idea to consider is patio lighting. Since the patio is another living room for most homeowners, illuminating this space can let you stay outdoors longer to enjoy the open space and fresh air.

To improve your patio lighting, you can add lighting to the patio’s perimeter with discreet light fixtures, which nestle in the landscape beds. Patio lighting may also prevent falling and slipping and improve the movement within this space.

7. Brighten Up Recessed Areas With Outdoor Wall Lighting

If you want to avoid areas where shadows lurk in your backyard, you can opt for outdoor wall lighting. Its accent and safety lighting are used primarily to improve navigation and illuminate your backyard.

Typically, wall lights can be mounted on vertical surfaces, such as above stairways, along with your pergola’s interior, and around the pools, sunken seating areas, and some low-lying spots. Wall sconces with open-bottomed designs are the best options since they cast the maximum light onto the recessed areas. If there’s a scarce space on your exterior walls, you can install semi-flush-mount sconces rather than flush-mount sconces with the entire fixture up against your wall.

8. Use Undercap Lighting For Improved Aesthetics

If you want to improve your outdoor aesthetics, you can install undercap lights under the edges of a sitting wall or permanent fire pit. Since these lights are often installed under the edges, the lights can shine down toward the ground, providing much-needed safety around the fire. They also get rid of the risk of tripping over the corners or running into obstacles along the path.

9. Deter Would-Be Burglars With Security Lighting

Typically, the brightest backyard lighting, security lighting, is another excellent outdoor lighting idea for your backyard. It works as a safety lighting to deter would-be burglars and destructive animals while illuminating big areas.

Security lighting is ideal in high spots like above a garage or the eaves to cast wide beams of light down onto the backyard fence entrance. When planning to install security lights, your best bet is a motion-sensing floodlight that you can mount to the surface of walls or exterior siding. The intense light from security lighting exposes prowlers and can fool them into thinking that your home is on alert even if you’re sound asleep inside.

10. Navigate Your Walkways Effectively With Path Lighting

Path lighting is a soft-to-moderately bright landscape and safety lighting designed to help you navigate your walkways with ease. You can install this kind of lighting on the ground along both sides of your walkways.

Typically available in low voltage options, the solar landscape lighting options consist of decorative bulb housing units attached to a short stake. If you prefer low voltage lights, you’ll have to use a transformer to lessen the 120V house current to 12V. On the other hand, energy-saving solar versions don’t require extra wires. Although your walkways are shaded, such lights can stay bright for hours after dusk, thanks to the remote solar panel or solar rechargeable battery.

What To Consider When Installing Outdoor Lights

Before installing your preferred outdoor lights, there are various things you need to consider. First and foremost, evaluate features in your yard to emphasize with lights. For instance, the spa, pool, and steps are the areas to illuminate for safety purposes.

In addition, consider highlighting outdoor rooms, plants, and architectural features. You might like to add uplighting in other areas, while you can aim for silhouette shapes in some areas. So, the kind of fixture to purchase may vary depending on your outdoor lighting’s purpose.

When choosing lights, always make sure to contact your state’s building department. This will help you know the essential local codes that dictate the correct lighting levels or types. Once you know the types of lights to install, play around with clip-on lamps or light strands in various parts of your backyard.

Be sure to position them at different levels to see how the lighting looks in the space. It would be best to practice lighting safety like using outdoor bulbs only and being mindful of electrical safety when there’s water.

Types Of Available Outdoor Lighting Bulbs

When it comes to lighting bulbs, there are various options you can choose from. The most common types include the following:

• Halogen Bulbs – They’re much less efficient than LEDs. However, they’re inexpensive to purchase. This is why some people still prefer halogen bulbs over LEDs available in either cold white or warm white.
• LED Bulbs – These are the most popular lighting around for both outdoors and indoors. It’s because they’re not just more energy-efficient, but they’re also cheaper over time since they last longer than other bulbs.

Besides lighting bulbs, you also need to consider lighting controllers that may come in many forms. The most common is an automatic timer, but some people prefer fobs and wireless keypads because they allow them to control the lights manually.

Outdoor Lighting Maintenance To Remember

When you decide to install outdoor lighting, the next thing you should prioritize is its upkeep. Overgrowing plants and leaves mustn’t obstruct the lights to avoid overheating. Once it happens, get rid of the offending bulb immediately to prevent the rest from suffering because of short-circuiting.

You should also pay attention to condensation, particularly if you’re living in a cold or rainy climate. The best way to prevent it is to rub petroleum jelly on the bulb’s base part during the installation process. Check every bulb a few times a year may also come in handy.

Wrapping Up

Outdoor lighting won’t only improve your home’s curb appeal, but it’s also a good investment that can add fun, security, and safety to your patio, deck, or landscaping. However, not all outdoor lighting options are suited to your backyard. So, make sure to research them thoroughly to find the perfect ones that fit best into your needs and budget.