Getting Inspired: 6 Excellent Landscape Lighting Ideas for Your Project This Year

As you plan out the next steps in your landscape renovation, it can often be difficult to know how to design a great outdoor lighting plan. There are so many landscape light fixtures out there; where do you even start? We want to provide some inspiration for you to help you design a lighting theme for your most active outdoor spaces as well as the ones that rarely get used. In this article, you’ll find six of our recommendations for bringing fantastic lighting to your landscape. Read on to get some excellent landscape lighting ideas!

Lanterns Bring Subtle Ambience

The first light source that humans ever used was fire. Fire light continues to be a useful way to illuminate outdoor spaces. Many outdoor living spaces such as this one with its fire pit will rely on the flickering orange and yellow flames to bring life to the space after dark. Keep in mind that fire won’t sufficiently light a space by itself. Just like with any other light source, obstacles such as chairs, walls, columns, and plantings will create dark spots; and of course, once the fire is out you’ll need lighting.

One way to keep outdoor lighting from competing with firelight is to use small lanterns, either at ground level or suspended. Lanterns add a touch of elegance while keeping the ground surfaces illuminated. The lantern pictured above is the excellent Treviso Teak Lantern from Restoration Hardware. And today, you never have to worry about lanterns being a fire hazard. Simply place an electric candle inside and you’ve got an excellent ambience builder.

String Lights Inject Life Into Any Party

As the center of your outdoor living space, your patio needs to be a place where your friends and family can gather in comfort. While typical landscape lights bring safety to a space, many homeowners have adopted string lights into their outdoor lighting scheme simply because they’re fun, and easy to install. Though the string light category includes the so-called fairy lights which may bring some festive cheer to the winter holidays, many string lights have much more to offer. Add vintage flair with LED Edison bulbs. Choose from a variety of sizes and styles to elevate the mood. Use them along a walkway, or over a key destination spot like a fire pit area.

Start small because string lights put out a fair amount of light. Start with one strand of string lights above the patio. If you feel you need more light, either add another line parallel to the first about 10 feet apart; or cross them over the center of the patio to give more illumination to the center while still lighting up the perimeter. These lights can fit practically any landscape and home design and there are some beautiful options out there. We recommend the Edison Bulb String Lights from Vocevos, which give a retro feel to a space while washing the area in warm light.

Draw Attention to Your Home

One of the first things that landscape lighting design can do is draw attention to the house. This will not enhance curb appeal, but it will also make your guests comfortable by highlighting their destination. Combined with ambient landscape lighting techniques, you can use a more direct spotlighting technique to build drama around your home while adding dimension to your landscape as the light bounces off the walls of the home.

Add relatively subtle spotlights to the base of the walls of your home and angle them upwards to provide dramatic uplighting. Or, hang spotlights from the eaves of your roof or other vertical surfaces to provide downlighting and make the space even more dynamic (just be sure that the light is aimed directly at a wall and not onto any pedestrian surfaces). For spotlights on the ground, we recommend the Landscape Spotlights from SUNVIE. For wall-mounted spotlights, we recommend the Small Bullet from H HOMENHANCEMENTS.

Embed Lights Into Masonry

One thing that landscape designers and homeowners have to consider whenever they put together a landscape lighting plan is visual clutter. Anything you add to your landscape will either add or detract to its appearance. And while many outdoor light fixtures are beautiful works of functional art, sometimes you just want a cleaner look. If you have a masonry retaining wall, try embedding light fixtures into it or into other masonry structures like pillars, garden steps, the walls of your outdoor kitchen, or even the walls of a water feature or fire feature. Not only will you add light where you need it, but that light will be interesting. It will highlight textures and make even the simplest feature more exciting after dark.

You can add light fixtures inside your masonry features either before they’re constructed or afterwards, though retrofitting lights into existing masonry takes a bit of work. One incredible wall light fixture we recommend is the 15746WHT27 6-LED from Kichler. The metal frame fits between blocks in your masonry structures and hides and protects the wiring within. It’s subtle lighting that will make a huge impact on your outdoor living space.

Dining Under A Gorgeous Chandelier

Chandeliers have been a staple of luxurious home interiors for centuries, but they rarely adorn outdoor living spaces. We think that’s a shame! Today, you can find chandeliers designed for outdoor applications and they’re just as gorgeous as the ones you see indoors, bringing a high level of elegance and beauty to a space.

Chandeliers are perfect for al fresco dining. Hang one over an outdoor dining table. It will complete the scene of a beautifully decorated table, delicious food and drinks, and some fantastic company.

To extend its lifespan, a chandelier should be protected from the harshest elements. Place a chandelier under the cover of your covered patio or inside a pavilion where the fully closed roof will keep the worst weather away from the electrical components. There are plenty of outdoor chandeliers that are reinforced for variable weather conditions and fit into both rustic and contemporary designs. We recommend checking out the Modern Farmhouse Outdoor Chandelier Ring from Trade Winds Lighting, which takes the basic shape of a steel wagon wheel and glass jars protecting the lights to give a gorgeous and vibrant retro feel.

Safe and Practical Walkway Lighting

The primary function of landscape lighting is safety. The first lighting system you plan out should be walkway lighting. For best results, use low-lying lights along the edge of a walkway. This strategy focuses the light energy on the walking surface for ambience as well as safety. We recommend the Showscape Collection #28304 from Kichler are brilliant bronze walkway lights that direct the light downwards and hold up against all weather conditions. These lights can truly transform your landscape!